Documentation Help Needed for tech writing classes

[MalcolmA0 at aol.com]

Hi Traci,
 
I'm retired, but I have also used the US Printing Office Guide and you might 
also consider the Chicago Manual of Style.  You might also teach a few rules 
of your own.  I taught students to consider using the following style variants:
 
USE OF THE AMPERSAND: Bill & Mary and John & Nancy will ... .  He took black 
& white photographs.
 
COMMAS IN COMPOUND SERIES: Most guide say dropping the comma before and is 
both preferred and options, teach that a writer should stick with a rule.  I use 
and taught the rule that if a compound element contains more than one work, 
then use the comma, e.g.
 
The flag is red, white and blue.
 
BUT  The flag has seven red stripes, six white stripes, and a blue field with 
white stars.
 
There are other rules like these and if one's goal is communication then I 
think these make sense.
 
I also like to use numbering and bullets where appropriate--perhaps more than 
some other writers.  I use numbers where there is some ordinal relationship 
and bullets where there is not.
 
I'm also a big fan of tabular data.  The technical reader can find what they 
are looking for often in a table where blocks of text require more searching.
 
Those are my thoughts.
 
Andrew Malcolm, retired,
Associate Professor of engineering English
Rochester Institute of Technology
 
 
 



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