Technical Communication Strategies for Today offers students all of the topics and genres they need for their technical communication course—in fewer pages and at a significantly lower price.   Students want their textbooks to cost less, and they want comprehensive topical coverage presented in a succinct and clear writing style. Technical Communication Strategies for Today offers both and speaks to today's students.  Instructional narrative is “chunked,” so that portions of text are combined with graphics. The chunked presentation also integrates an awareness of how documents are read—often skimmed by readers seeking the information they need, and it models the way today’s technical documents should be designed.    The contemporary writing style is matched by an approach that accurately reflects the modern day computer-centered technical workplace: Technical Communication Strategies for Today presents computers as thinking tools that powerfully influence how we develop, produce, design, and deliver technical documents and presentations. 

Table of Contents:
Preface   PART 1: ELEMENTS OF TECHNICAL COMMUNCATION   Chapter 1 Communicating in the Workplace   How Important is Technical Communication?      What is Technical Communication?       Technical Communication: Actions, Words, Images    Technical Communication is Interactive and Adaptable    Technical Communication is Reader Centered    Technical Communication Relies on Teamwork    Technical Communication is Visual    Technical Communication Has Ethical, Legal, and Political      Dimensions    Technical Communication Is International and Cross Cultural      Your Career and Technical Communication    Help: How to Learn New Software Quickly      Exercises and Projects Chapter 2 Readers and Context of Use    Profiling Your Readers    Identifying Your Readers    Profiling Your Readers’ Needs, Values, and Attitudes    Help: Profiling Readers with Search Engines    Profiling Contexts of Use    Identifying the Context of Use    International and Cross-Cultural Communication    Differences in Context    Difference in Organization    Differences in Style    Differences in Design    Listen and Learn: The Key to International and Cross-Cultural      Communication    Exercises and Projects Chapter 3 Working in Teams    The Stages of Teaming    Forming: Strategic Planning    Step 1: Define the Project Mission and Objectives    Step 2: Identify Project Outcomes    Step 3: Define Team Member Responsibilities    Step 4: Create a Project Calendar    Step 5: Write Out a Work Plan    Step 6: Agree on How Conflicts will be Resolved    Storming: Managing Conflict    Running Effective Meetings    Mediating Conflicts    Firing a Team Member    Norming: Determining Team Roles    Revising Objectives and Outcomes    Help: Virtual Teaming    Identifying Team Roles    Using Groupware to Facilitate Work    Performing: Improving Quality    The Keys to Teaming    Exercises and Projects Chapter 4 Ethics in the Technical Workplace    What are Ethics?    Where do Ethics Come From?    Personal Ethics    Social Ethics    Conservation Ethics       Help: Stopping Cyberbullying and Computer Harassment    Resolving Ethical Dilemmas    Confronting an Ethical Dilemma    Resolving an Ethical Dilemma    When You Disagree with the Company    Copyright Law in Technical Communication    Asking Permission    Copyrighting Your Work    Plagiarism    Exercises and Projects Chapter 5 Starting Your Career    Setting Goals, Making a Plan    Setting Goals    Using a Variety of Job-Seeking Paths    Preparing a Résumé    Types of Résumés    Chronological Résumé    Functional Résumé    Designing the Résumé    Help: Designing a Scannable/Searchable Résumé    Writing Effective Application Letters    Content and Organization    Style    Revising and Proofreading the Résumé and Letter    Creating a Professional Portfolio    Collecting Materials    Organizing Your Portfolio    Assembling the Portfolio in a Binder    Creating and Electronic Portfolio    Interviewing Strategies    Preparing for the Interview    At the Interview    Writing Thank You Letters and/or E-mails    Exercises and Projects   PART 2: COMMUNICATING IN THE TECHNICAL WORKPLACE   Chapter 6 Researching and Managing Information    Beginning Your Research    Defining Your Research Subject    Narrowing Your Research Question    Formulating a Research Question or Hypothesis    Developing a Research Methodology    Mapping Out a Methodology    Describing Your Methodology    Using and Revising Your Methodology    Triangulating Materials    Using Electronic Sources    Using Print Sources    Using Empirical Sources    Managing Information and Taking Notes    Managing Information    Careful Note Taking    Documenting Sources    Help: Avoiding Junk Science on the Internet    Appraising Your Information    Is the Source Reliable?    How Biased is the Source?    Am I Biased?    Is the Source Up to Date?    Can the Information Be Verified?    Avoiding Plagiarism    Exercises and Projects   Chapter 7 Designing Documents and Interfaces    Five Principles of Design    Design Principle 1: Balance    Weighting a Page or Screen    Using Grids to Balance a Page Layout    Using Other Balance Techniques    Design Principle 2: Alignment    Design Principle 3: Grouping    Using Headings    Using Borders and Rules    Design Principle 4: Consistency    Choosing Typefaces    Labeling Graphics       Creating Sequential and Nonsequential Lists    Inserting Headers and Footers    Help: Using Styles and Templates    Design Principle 5: Contrast    Adding Shading and Background Color    Highlighting Text    Using Font Size and Line Length    Cross-Cultural Design    Exercises and Projects Chapter 8 Creating and Using Graphics    Guidelines for Using Graphics    Guideline One: A Graphic Should Tell a Simple Story    Guideline Two: A Graphic Should Reinforce the Written Text, Not Replace It    Guideline Three: A Graphic Should be Ethical    Guideline Four: A Graphic Should be Labeled and Placed Properly    Displaying Data with Graphs, Tables, and Charts    Line Graphs    Bar Charts    Tables    Pie Charts    Gantt Charts    Using Pictures, Drawings, and Screen Shots    Photographs    Help: Making Visuals with a Spreadsheet Program    Inserting Photographs and Other Images    Illustrations    Screen Shots    Using Cross-Cultural Symbols    Exercises and Projects Chapter 9 Websites and Social Networking (Web 2.0)    Creating a Website    Planning and Researching a Website    Organizing and Drafting the Website    Using Style in a Website    Designing the Website    Help: Using Web-Authoring Software    A Warning about Copyright and Plagiarism    Websites for International and Cross-Cultural Readers    Using Social Networking (Web 2.0)    Starting a Social Networking Site    Blogging and Microblogging    Updating Videos and Podcasts    Contributing to a Wiki    Exercises and Projects Chapter 10  Preparing and Giving Presentations    Choosing the Right Presentation Technology    Organizing the Content of Your Presentation    Building the Presentation    The Introduction: Tell Them What You’re Going to Tell Them    Help: Giving Presentations with Your iPod, MP3, PDA, or Smartphone    The Body: Tell Them    The Conclusion: Tell Them What You Told Them    Preparing to Answer Questions    Choosing Your Presentation Style    Creating Visuals    Designing Visual Aids    Using Graphics    Slides to Avoid    Delivering the Presentation    Body Language    Voice, Rhythm, and Tone    Using Your Notes    Practicing and Rehearsing    Practice, Practice, Practice    Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse    Working Cross-Culturally with Translators    Exercises and Projects PART 3:  GENRES OF TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION Chapter 11  Letters, Memos, and E-Mail    Basic Features of Letters and Memos    Basic Features of E-Mail    Planning and Researching a Correspondence    Determining the Rhetorical Situation    Organizing and Drafting Letters, Memos, and E-Mails    Introduction with a Purpose and a Main Point    Body that Provides Need-to-Know Information    Conclusion that Restates the Main Point    Types of Letters, Memos, and E-Mails    Inquiries    Responses    Transmittal Letters and Memos    Claims or Complaints    Adjustments    Refusals    Using Style in Letters, Memos, and E-Mails    Strategies for Developing an Appropriate Style    Designing and Formatting Letters and Memos    Formatting Letters    Formatting Envelopes    Formatting Memos    Help: Using E-Mail Internationally    Revising, Editing, and Proofreading    Exercises and Projects    Chapter 12  Technical Descriptions    Basic Features of Technical Descriptions    Planning and Researching Technical Descriptions    Planning    Addressing ISO 9000/ISO 14000 Issues    Researching    Partitioning the Subject    Organizing and Drafting Technical Descriptions    Specific and Precise Title    Introduction with an Overall Description    Description by Features, Functions, or Stages in a Process    Description by Senses, Similes, Analogies, and Metaphors    Conclusion    Using Style in Technical Descriptions    Designing Technical Descriptions    Designing a Page Layout    Using Graphics    Revising, Editing, and Proofreading    Revising for Conciseness    Help: Using Digital Photography in Descriptions    Editing and Proofreading for Accuracy    Exercises and Projects