Documentation Help Needed

[reilmccall at aol.com]

 Many years ago in an M.A. Editing class with Bill Coggin at Bowling Green, I was introduced to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Levels of Edit. As I recall, it had something like 7 different levels, all the way from a simple proofreading to working with manuscripts from authors for whom English was a second language. I haven't tracked the use of JPL, but it's possible that this is the standard for NASA and others in the aerospace industry. That might influence your choice of style guide.
 
 At this time, I teach MLA in my Professional Communication class (technical & business writing), as well as in my Technical Writing class. I am not satisfied with MLA because it isn't elastic enough to accommodate all the types of sources I encourage my students to consider. So I'm grateful to you for raising this question.
 
 One final thought -- my husband, a Ph.D. chemist, uses the American Chemical Society style when writing for his journals.
 
 Regards,
 Mary McCall
 Adjunct, English
 University of Detroit Mercy
    
 -----Original Message-----
 From: jsoneil1063 at comcast.net
 To: stc-ac at lists.stc.org
 Sent: Mon, 19 Mar 2007 10:46 AM
 Subject: [stc-ac] Documentation Help Needed
 
  Imagine having taught for over 40 (forty) years and still not sure of what "proper" documentation style to use in business! 
 
 I sit here in my little study, retired, surrounded: Gregg, MLA, APA, IEEE, CMS, Campbell, Turabian. 
 
 Life was so simple in 1959 in Chicago: "Use Turabian." 
 
 Now, what do I recommend, use, teach, show, illustrate, demonstrate--to my business majors who are taking a business writing class taught by the English Department? 
 
 Oh, easy for Gregg/Sabin: "You may need to familiarize yourself with more than one style." For sure. After writing all those MLA graduate papers on Chaucer and Shakespeare, did I get surprised when I took my first course in the education program. "APA All the WAY!" 
 
 My latest Technical Communication (italicized, or underlined?) states that I should submit manuscripts using The Chicago manual of style, 15th edition. But the References in the text are quite like APA. BECAUSE Chicago states that "two basic systems preferred by Chicago--notes and bibliography on the one hand and the author-date system on the other" are described, compared, and illustrated in the 15th edition: 
 
 Doniger, Wendy. ...Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. ["favored by many writers in literature, history, and the arts"] 
 
 OR 
 
 Doniger, W. 1999. ...Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ["used by many in the physical, natural, and social sciences"] 
 
 BUT: 
 
 "Among other well-known systems...Modern Language Association, American Psychological Association, and American Medical Association.... 
 
 AND HERE IS GREGG (and the Business Style shown in the text I am using, Contemporary Business Communication by Scott Ober): 
 
 Doniger, Wendy, ...University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1999. [author, book title, publisher, place of publication, date. Note commas.] 
 
 MY QUESTION OR SEARCH: 
 
 1. What do you teach/prefer in technical writing courses? 
 
 2. What do you teach/prefer in business writing courses? 
 
 3. What do you use in technical writing? 
 
 4. What do you use in business research reports? 
 
 Any answers are welcomed. 
 
 Thanks. 
 
 Jim O'Neil 
 --- 
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