What Is Technical Writing

What is Technical Writing? • • • • • •

Defining Technical Writing; Characteristics of Technical Communication; What Professional Scientific and • Technical Communicators Do; Technical Professionals as Technical Communicators; My Definition of STC; Final Points.

Defining Technical Writing According to the International Society for Technical Communication, scientific and technical communication is defined as: "All processes by which humans convey meaning about the development and use of technology." "All processes... • Written; • Spoken; • Visual; ... by which humans convey meaning... • Proper syntax; • Linguistic conventions; • Organization and design (identifiable patterns); ... about the development and use of technology." • Technology is using tools? • Technology is humanity at work? • Technical - specialized knowledge and information in any field or profession "Producing technical communication involves creating, designing, and transmitting technical information so that people can understand it easily and use it safely, effectively, and efficiently. Most technical communication is produced by people working in or for organizations." -- Mike Markel Technical Communication 6th ed. 2001, p.4

Characteristics of Technical Communication -- taken from Rebecca Burnett Technical Communication 5th ed. P.7 Content • Conveys technical aspects of any field; • Presents accurate, appropriate information adjusted to the audience. Context • Responds to specific situations; • Fulfills specific, identified needs; • Often becomes easily dated (time sensitive).

Purpose • Informs and persuades. Audience • Addresses identified readers, listeners, or viewers who often have multiple needs and constraints; • Recognizes that multiple interpretations of text, oral presentation or graphic occur. Organization Presents information so that it is logical, accessible, and retrievable, so that it's easy to comprehend and recall. Visuals • Often conveys content through various kinds of visuals and graphics (rather than text) that aid understanding and decision making. Document Design • Designs documents to contribute to the accuracy and speed of comprehension and recall of information; • Uses paper and electronic formats to take advantage of audience expectations. Usability • Assures that a document is functional, usable; that it enables users to easily and accurately complete the task or activity for which the document is intended. Language Conventions • Attempts to be straightforward; differentiates opinions from verifiable information; • Uses clear and direct language without unnecessary complexity; often uses short to medium-length sentences, subject-verb-object word order; stylistically varied but simple.

Technical communicators make scientific, technical, and practical knowledge available to a variety of audiences in many kinds of media (print, video, multimedia, and web media). They also manage communication processes within organizations and represent those organizations to the wider public in newsletters, brochures, and web sites. What Professional Technical Communicators Do • • • • • • • • • •

Design web sites and produce videos for organizations; Write manuals for industries; Publish computer documentation; Produce newsletters and brochures; Assist engineers, researchers, and scientists in writing reports and articles; Write for specialized technical and medical trade journals; Translate technical and scientific information into other languages; Develop sales and public relations campaigns; Write on-line help files for complex software packages; Conduct internal training programs for organizations.

Technical Professionals as Technical Communicators When there is a common need for specialized knowledge, some people build the networks that make the sharing of that knowledge possible. In short, some people need to be communicators, those who build the networks and share the knowledge. When that knowledge is specialized, especially when it is scientific or technical or practical, then the network builders are commonly referred to as technical communicators. • Technical professionals devote at least one-fifth of their time writing (Anderson, 1985); • Engineers can spend as much as 40% of their time writing (Beer & McMurrey, 1997); • Supervisors spend 40% of their time reading and writing; managers 50% (MIT, 1984). A technical professional, then, is a technical communicator.

Final Points • Producing technical communication involves creating, designing, and transmitting technical information so that people can understand it easily and use it safely, effectively, and efficiently. • How? Content; Purpose; Audience; Organization; Visuals; Design; Usability; Conventions • Context • Technical Communicators - those who build the networks and share the knowledge.

What is Technical Writing? Part II My Definition of STC; Context; The Hobbes/Boyle Debate; Ancient and Contemporary Roots; Lewontin's Perspective; The Public Arena; Final Points. My Definition of Scientific and Technical Communication Scientific and technical communication is a process of gathering, organizing, presenting and refining information. It is also a process of persuasion which often appeals to objectivity to convince an audience. Finally, it is a process inevitably shaped by its contexts, and which is improved when it recognizes its contexts.

A process. STC is best understood as a series of discreet and connected tasks. When you first write a lab report, manual or résumé you may follow a pre-establish form slavishly. But as you learn the form you gradually adopt it to the content and context in which you are writing. Presented objectively. In STC the formal document is "cleansed" of what goes on as the document is produced. Shaped by its contexts. To analyze science and technology in action we examine STC in, for example, its historical, social, rhetorical and economic contexts.

Context and Scientific and Technical Communication Context is typically understood in one of two ways. 1. As the parts preceding or following a written or spoken word, phrase or statement. 2. As the set of circumstances surrounding a certain event or situation. What we designate as an event necessarily takes place within the flow of other historical and social events. In both instances context refers to a bigger picture we must recognize to reach a proper conclusion or take appropriate action. The difficulty lies in discriminating which contexts are significant to the practices of science and technology, how we account for and manipulate them, and how we communicate about them.

Historical Contexts:The Hobbes/Boyle Debate The form scientific inquiry should take and what, ultimately, should count as knowledge was the subject of passionate, sustained debate in mid-seventeenth century England. Perhaps the two most prominent participants were: Robert Boyle (1627-1691) and Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679).

Boyle's Position Boyle and a fledging group of "experimentalists" advocated the use of experiments in settling disputes concerning natural phenomena; the existence and composition of a vacuum for example. Science, Boyle argued, was properly conducted in a space where experiments could be performed and witnessed. Experiments provided knowledge because results could be observed. Experimental knowledge did not require the type of faith necessary to believe in "things metaphysical."

Still, requirements regarding when experiments were needed, who would perform them, and who would assess them, did not go unquestioned.

Hobbes' Position Thomas Hobbes challenged Boyle's conception of experimental science. In "Dialogus physicus" (1661), Hobbes goads Royal Society members in an exchange between unnamed interlocutors: "... Cannot anyone who wishes come, since, as I suppose they meet in a public place, and give his opinion on the experiments which are seen as well as they? ... Is this Society not constituted by public privilege?" The reply: "I do not have an opinion. But the place where they meet is not public." Advocating an open intellectual forum, Hobbes conceived of science as doing "natural philosophy" - a more speculative form of determining fundamental principles of nature through public debate. Opening inquiry to the public, Hobbes reasoned, would help avoid the corruption that went on behind closed doors. One of the major differences between Boyle and Hobbes turned on who experimentalists or natural philosophers - would serve as the model for a citizen pursuing knowledge.

Who Won? Ultimately, Boyle's arguments triumphed. One reason given for the success of Restoration science in England was the ability of the experimentalists to adapt the activities of their community with the political landscape. Science survived where other intellectual enterprises were condemned because it protected the larger political and social order, while offering the possibility of economic reward.

Hobbes/Boyle - Ancient and Contemporary Roots (Richard Lewontin, Agassiz Professor of Zoology and Biology, Harvard - Review of Sagan) "What is at stake here is a deep problem in democratic self-governance. In Plato's most modern of Dialogues, the Gorgias, there is a struggle between Socrates, with whom we are meant to sympathize, and his opponents, Gorgias and Callicles, over the relative virtues of rhetoric and technical expertise. What Socrates and Gorgias agree on is that the mass of citizens are incompetent to make reasoned decisions on justice and public policy, but that they must be swayed by rhetorical argument or guided by the authority of experts." Gorgias: "I mean [by the art of rhetoric] the ability to convince by mean of speech a jury in the court of justice, members of the Council in their Chamber, voters at a meeting of the Assembly, and any gathering of citizens, whatever it may be."

Socrates: "When the citizens hold a meeting to appoint medical officers or shipbuilders or any professional class of person, surely it won't be the orator who advises them then. Obviously in every such election the choice ought to fall on the most expert." Lewontin's Perspective "Conscientious and wholly admirable popularizers of science like Carl Sagan use both rhetoric and expertise to form the mind of masses because they believe, like the Evangelist John, that the truth shall make you free. But they are wrong. It is not the truth that makes you free. It is your possession of the power to discover the truth. Our dilemma is that we do not know how to provide that power."

The Public Arena • The presence of increasingly diverse audiences; • The proliferation, ownership and marketing of knowledge and information; • The ethical problems presented by developments in science and technology, and the need to balance individual and social responsibilities. • You will serve as gatekeepers within your profession in determining who has access to knowledge and information; • You will serve as mediators among the interests and concerns of professionals and lay persons; • You will serve as translators of specialist language to and from the language of other specialists and laypersons.

Final Points Scientific and technical communication is a process the concerns of which are: Content; Context; Purpose; Audience; Organization; Visuals; Document Design; Usability; Language Conventions. • A technical professional is a technical communicator; • Scientific and technical communication lies at the heart of how technical information and knowledge (specific to disciplines, fields and professions) is organized, used and diffused throughout society.

Memorandums Memorandums (or memos) are used primarily within an organization, where authors and readers are likely to see each other often. Consequently, the design of memos dispenses with ceremony; their tone may be likewise informal.

Sections - often distinguished by subheads

• • • • • •

Purpose Summary Discussion/Background Conclusion Recommendations Continued Communication

Because many messages cross a reader's desk (or computer screen) daily, the first thing she is likely to ask upon seeing one is "Should I read this?" The purpose answers that question. A very direct opening like "The purpose of this memo is to ..." is perfectly acceptable. The summary is a brief recounting of the entire memo, including discussion/background, conclusions, and recommendations. Its placement as the second section allows a reader who does not need to know the details to stop reading. The discussion/background describes the method by which the conclusion was reached. This section provides details of the subject and the justification for the conclusion. This is often the largest section of a memo; it is directed to those who need to know details, laboratory assistants and clerical staff, for instance. The conclusion is derived directly and obviously from information described in discussion/background. In other words, the reader, given the same background, should be able to draw the same conclusion. If the connection is less than obvious, the conclusion should explain it. The recommendation/action offers the author's opinion of what should be done regarding the conclusion. The assurance of continued communication may appear as a single line: "If you have any questions regarding these recommendations, please contact me at x1212 or drop by my office (Rm. 912)." Some authors omit this section, assuming that it is implied; we recommend its inclusion as a means to ensure that the reader does not feel alienated, however upsetting the content of the memo. Aesop Educational Software 1118 Santa Luis Blvd. San Diego, CA 5543 Memorandum To: Rikki O'Neill, Bud Kelley, Marketing From: Sam Collins, Software Design Subject: More thoughts on the Worldview CD marketing strategy Date: September 16, 1999 Just a note with a few thoughts about the multi-media package marketing strategy. The Worldview CD package has been aimed primarily at the 9-12 age group; I think there may be reasons to redirect it to adults. We had the prototype at home last night, and my brother-in-law was visiting. I showed it to him, and four hours later he'd run through every video in the mini-encyclopedia, taken the tour of the outer solar system and learned to identify several North American conifers. My point is, the man is technologically illiterate, and by the end of the night he was showing me how to make the CD do things even I didn't know it could do. What I'm saying is this system has several features, among them the tutorial system, with great appeal to adults. I know you folks have thought about this a lot longer than I have, but I thought you would want to hear this. If we're going to make any serious changes in the marketing plan, we need to do it soon. I'll be in St. Louis at the HDTV conference next week, and I'd like to talk this over before I leave. If you could get back to me about this before Thursday, I'd appreciate it. Study: Web, E-mail Monitoring Spreads Stephen Shankland, Staff Writer, CNET News.com, July 8, 2001, 10:00 PM PT Up to 14 million U.S. workers are subject to continuous surveillance of their e-mail and Internet use, according to a new study. That means roughly one of every three of the 40 million employees using e-mail or the Internet on the job are monitored, the Privacy Foundation says in a statement announcing the report, to be released Monday. Worldwide, 100 million workers, or about 27 percent, are monitored, the nonprofit group said. The study was based on financial reports from companies that sell software that helps employers monitor online activities. The most popular software surveillance packages are Websense for tracking Internet use and MIMEsweeper for scrutinizing e-mail, the foundation said.

Companies that monitor employees' online activities include 20th Century Fox, Glaxo Wellcome, Nike, Duracell, Barclays, Marriott, Texaco, American Express, Premera Blue Cross and Zenith Electronics. Government agencies include the U.S. Army, the Small Business Administration, the National Park Service and the City of Boston. The foundation estimates worldwide sales of employee surveillance software at $140 million per year--roughly $5.25 a year per monitored employee. The dropping cost of surveillance software is the primary reason for its increasingly widespread use, the foundation said. "Employee monitoring, as measured by the sales of surveillance software, has increased at least twice as fast as the number of U.S. employees with Internet access in the past few years," the foundation said. Though companies often cite liability concern among the reasons for using such software, such a process might backfire, the study said. "By creating and storing a detailed audit trail of employee activities, organizations may be inadvertently stockpiling large amounts of potential evidence that could be used against them in future litigation," the foundation ICQ logs spark corporate nightmare Paul Festa, Staff Writer, CNET News.com, March 15, 2001, 11:05 AM PT Thousands of confidential messages between the CEO of an Internet company and top executives have been posted on the Web, stirring up a hornet's nest of corporate intrigue and providing a rare glimpse into a dot-com as it struggled to cope with a brutal shakeout. "... Hundreds of pages of the ICQ instant messaging logs were posted on the Web and copied onto various sites, creating the kind of information security breach that has become one of the worst corporate nightmares of the digital age. The logs, which were apparently snatched from a PC used by Sam Jain, CEO of eFront, have nearly paralyzed his company and created a personal nightmare for Jain. "I'm tired of it; I just want to go on with my company," Jain said. "People out there are stalking me, threatening me with death threats...scanning my cell phone frequency." William S. Hubbartt is a human resources consultant The New Battle Over Workplace Privacy (1998) "The employee should ask the company what the policy is on employment issues, on e-mail use, and Internet use. Learn what they are and comply with them." "If the firm has not defined them, then it becomes a little bit more difficult. Part of this issue comes back to this [scenario]: if you are on the job, using company equipment, using company time, getting paid by the company, and you are doing personal stuff and you get caught doing personal stuff [then] you're not doing your job when you are supposed to be doing your job." 7 Myths Regarding E-mail Emails can be deleted. Reality: By using utilities or by checking recipients' workstations, they can almost always be recovered. Emails get "lost" among the millions being sent around the Internet. Reality: Sophisticated search tools, as the FBI's Carnivore program illustrates, let their users find almost any email from anyone. Emails go to the people you address them to. Reality: Emails are often distributed broadly to people you often don't know because of forwarding. Comments made in email aren't that powerful. Reality: Even if unintended by the sender, certain comments or idle remarks can be perceived as threats or harassment. For example, referring to a coworker as a "dinosaur" can become the basis for an age discrimination lawsuit. You can send emails from work in a personal capacity. Reality: When sent over company systems, the law recognizes emails as official company communications regardless of the content. Potential exposure is created each time an employee uses corporate email to send personal messages to friends. Private email messages are private. Reality: Emails can be accessed as part of an investigation and cause liability for employers. Your identity is protected through email communications. Reality: It is extremely easy to duplicate someone's identity for the purpose of sending fraudulent email messages. According to Michael Overly, partner in the Internet law group at Foley & Lardner and author of EPolicy: How To Develop Computer, E-Policy, and Internet Guidelines to Protect Your Company and Its Assets: "All states have a right to privacy based on a `reasonable expectation of privacy' ... But the courts have said that if there is a written policy notifying employees of monitoring, there is no expectation of privacy." If an employee is led to expect something is private, such as e-mail communications, then that privacy cannot be violated.

But, if the company informs its employees that, for example, e-mail sent over the company's network is monitored, then the employee can no longer claim an "expectation of privacy." Once the company stakes its claim over its cyber-dominion, its employees have no right to privacy there. Shanti Atkins, Content Development, Employment Law Learning Technologies: "I tell employees that if they want to have a truly private communications, don't have them from work."

To: Jane Faraday, Owner M&M Real Estate Developers, Inc. From: Doug Jones, Technical Analyst, Technical Offices, M&M Real Estate Developers, Inc. Subject: Midpoint Progress Report on the Study of Geographical Information Systems uses at M&M Real estate Date: March 1, 1995

Purpose This progress report covers the first month of my study of Geographical Information Systems and its applications. It cover Phase I (the library-research phase) and part of Phase II (interviewing the staff and making presentations to them).

Summary During the first two phases of my study on Geographical Information Systems (GIS) I have been able to find and present to staff members much helpful information. Although the real-estate industry has not yet exploited the possibilities of GIS, a great deal of information is publicly available that can be of tremendous value to realtors. The major applications will probably include neighborhood information, development planning, environmental-impact analysis, and mapping. I have opened channels for useful discussion and planning with the staff, and they seem very interested in GIS applications. These early phases of the project will be beneficial to M&M Real Estate Developers; we need a thorough understanding of GIS concepts before we begin to analyze hardware capabilities and costs in Phase III of the project. I anticipate that the completion report will be submitted on schedule.

Introduction On December 15 I was given approval to conduct a four-phase study on GIS to determine whether it might have applications for M&M real Estate. • Phase I of the study was to do secondary research to increase my awareness of the latest advances of this highly specialized field. • Phase II, which is still underway, is to meet with staff members to present basic concepts of GIS and to gather ideas for future development of GIS. • Phase III will be to contact and visit GIS hardware distributors. • Phase IV will be to visit agencies that are potential data sources. • This progress report presents the results of Phase I of the project and then offers comment on future phases. Past Work The following sections discuss Phase I, which has been completed and Phase II which is still in progress. Phase I: Research Work Completed I was able to locate a number of use ful publications on the subject f GIS and digital imagery. The two most helpful books on GIS concepts are the following:

... Phase II: Staff Interviewing Completed I have met with staff members as a group once, and with most members personally at least once. I demonstrated the basic concepts of GIS and distributed a 10-page document explaining further concepts and uses. This information has been met with much interest by all staff members up to this point.

... Future Work After completion of the staff interview and study of our specific GIS needs and wants, I will begin Phase II of the study - to contact GIS distributors - followed shortly by Phase IV - to research data sources. Conclusion Phase I has been completed successfully; I was able to gather a great deal of information to further educate myself. Phase II, meeting with staff members about GIS technology and uses, is proceeding well ... I anticipate that the completion report will be submitted on schedule.