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Technical and Professional Communication

Required Materials

There are no required textbooks for this class; generally speaking, texts cost exorbitant amounts of money that college students would be better off putting toward food. Besides, with the miracle of technology -- translate that "the web" and "Photocopiers-R-Us" -- instructors are now able to easily "build" their own customized textbooks tailored to the specific course, rather than tailoring the course to fit a specific textbook. Nice how that works out; instructors get more of what they want, and it costs students significantly less.

That said, you will probably have to spend a little money on photocopying the papertexts which are assigned in this class; folders containing all assigned non-web-based materials are on reserve both in the library and in Pat Marra's office, 4703 Sage, just down the hall from our classroom. Obviously, you can read them, put them back, and not make copies if you wish -- but please, only mark up copies which you have made for yourself.

Be prompt in returning the folders; your classmates also need the material! If you have any difficulty locating one of the assigned readings, post your concern to the class list to see if anyone knows where it is; it is far too easy to inadvertantly walk away from the library with something or to accidentally leave it in the copier.

There are about 15 websites listed in the bibliography below; before you go to the trouble of printing any of them out (and to be honest, I will discourage this practice for reasons we will discuss in class), find out what specific parts are assigned -- in multinodal websites it can be very difficult to ascertain where the reading "ends." If you try to print out the Strunk work, for instance, you will probably pay more in printer fees than the 70-page paperback would cost you at Barnes and Noble.

In addition to the readings below, you will need to do the following:

  • be subsribed to the class electronic mailing list, techpro@rpi.edu -- if you are registered for the class by the second week of the semester, this will be done automatically for you;

  • subscribe to an electronic mailing list related to your major, career interests, or a related field;

  • participate in (this can mean "read and lurk on") a newsgroup related to your major, career interests, or a related field;

  • maintain copies of all your work on at least one floppy disk formatted to the program and application of your choice, and papertext copies of all appropriate materials in a portfolio for presentation at the end of the semester;

  • begin general reading of resources (electronic and papertext) in your field of study -- this will help you both in the collaborative work and oral presentation, and in finding a target audience for your final project.

    Comprehensive Bibliography

    Texts are listed alphabetically by author. They are listed on the class calendar by the author's last name(s).

    Actual Writing from Church Bulletins and Insurance Claims. No authors identified. Collected and coded from various websites for RPI-Tech/Pro, 1996.

    ASEAN-Australian Economic Cooperation Program. Technical Report Writing -- Checklist. Copyright 1996.

    ---. Oral and Presentation Skills Menu. Copyright 1996.

    Bennahum, David. "Fly me to the MOO: Adventures in Textual Reality." Lingua Franca  (June 1994): 1, 22-39.

    Bofinger, Mark. English Rules of Thub (sic). Copyright 1996.

    Chauss, Karen McGrane. Reader as User: Applying Interface Design Techniques to the Web in Kairos: A Journal For Teachers of Writing in Webbed Environments   1.2 (Summer 1996).

    Downes, Stephen. The Logical Fallacies. 13 August 1996.

    Galin, Jeff. MOO Central.

    Grice, Roger A. "Online Information: What Do People Want? What Do People Need?" in The Society of Text: Hypertext, Hypermedia, and the Social Construction of Information  ed. Edward Barrett. The MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass., 1989: pp. 22-44.

    Jordan-Henley, Jennifer. Tone and Audience Awareness. Copyright 1996.

    ---. Avoiding Sexist Language

    Kotmel, Allan. Hypertext vs. Papertext: Don't Fire the Paperboy Yet!

    Larson, Charles R. "It's Academic, Or Is It?" in Newsweek  (November 6, 1995) p. 31.

    Lay, Mary M. (et al). Technical Communication.  Irwin, Inc.:Chicago, 1995.

    MagicPublishing, Inc. A Brief 'Net Primer. Copyright 1996.

    Management Recruiters of Boston. Ingredients for a Successful Interview.

    Monday, Jacquelyn L. and Mary C. Hester, "Protecting your Work: Professional Ethics and the Copyright Law" in Techniques for Technical Communicators  ed. Carol M. Barnum and Saul Carliner. Macmillan Publishing: New York, 1993: pp. 339-358.

    Nelson, Vee. "Sweat the Small Stuff -- Editing For Consistency" in Techniques for Technical Communicators  ed. Carol M. Barnum and Saul Carliner. Macmillan Publishing: New York, 1993: pp. 291-304.

    Porush, David. A Short Guide to Writing About Science.  Harper Collins: New York, 1995.

    Rea, Jane. The Struggle for Gender-Free Language: Is It Over Yet?

    Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Department of Language Literature and Communication. The Writing Center Homepage. Various authors. Copyright 1994.

    Rockport Institute. How To Write An Exceptional Resume.

    Siering, Greg. Lend Me Your Compass, Cap! Towards Informed Linking.

    Strunk, William. The Elements of Style. Geneva, NY: Press of W.P. Humphrey. Transcribed, proofread, and marked-up in HTML, May 1995. Markup, graphics, and added files copyright 1995-96 by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York.

    Templeton, Brad. 10 Big Myths about copyright explained.

    Waddell, Craig. Basic Prose Style and Mechanics. Copyright 1992.

    Waxman, Maron L. Using Editors Where and When It Counts Part II: How to Edit Instructions

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