Documentation Help Needed for tech writing classes

[Don K Pierstorff]

Professor,
        I'd appreciate a favor---I've never subscribed to this list serve
nor do I need it.
However, I've no idea how to get off the list. Any ideas?
                Warm regards and thanks,
Don K Pierstorff
Professor of English and Technical Communication Emeritus
Orange Coast College, Costa Mesa CA
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On Mon, 9 Apr 2007 01:00:44 EDT MalcolmA0 at aol.com writes:
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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