Technical Writing – Information Technology

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY – TECHNICAL WRITING

Content & Development of the Eight   Listed Items (include images, video and content hyperlinks where needed to   extend presentation)

• Find a      professional article online written for people in your field. Identify the      intended reader and purpose. Write description of the article      describing the elements in the article that helped you identify the reader      and purpose. Be sure to include the URL of the article.
• Study      your school’s Web site. Imagine you are a potential transfer student      looking for a new school. Analyze the usefulness of the information      available and how easy it is to locate information about various majors      and directions about applying for admission. Identify 2-3 features of the      Web site you would change in some way. Support your answer with citations      from the text.
• The      following bulletin at a large manufacturing company provides guidelines      for the plant security supervisors in assigning duties to the plant      security guards at five separate plants. Revise and reorganize to make the      bulletin easier to read and more useful to the supervisors. All      supervisors must be conscious of the need to reduce costs and properly use      available security guards int he most effective manner. Consider      staggering the start and quit times to ensure a larger force during the      peak demand hours. Every effort should be made to eliminate nonsecurity      service functions, such as airport pickup, mail runs, drives to banks,      drives to medical centers, parcel pickup. The supervisors should regularly      review the schedule to be sure the coverage meets the needs of the plant.      Guards assigned to gates should advise the shift supervisors whenever they      leave their posts, including for lunch break. Nonsecurity service      functions should be contracted out if possible. Drives to banks should be      performed by the responsible department, but a department may request a      security guard escort. Guards assigned to patrols, shipping and receiving      docks, and special surveillance should tell the shift supervisors when      they leave their assigned task, even for the lunch break. Supervisors      should consider combining spot checks with regular duties of guards. For      example, if a guard must open a gate and passes the trash center, the guard      can spot check the trash pickup on the way to or from opening the gate.      Supervisors must know about outside employment of guards. These outside      activities should not adversely affect the security arrangements at the      plant. In general, security guards should not also work at racetracks or      casinos, or any places associated with gambling. Guards also should not be      in partnership with co-workers since that relationship could negatively      affect plant security. Supervisors need to check attendance records regularly. Frequent illness      may indicate the guard cannot do the physical tasks appropriately.      Questionable illness reports should be checked. Guards who operate small      businesses may resist the normal rotation because it will interfere with      their outside employment. Security requires a 7-day operation.
• Find a      real-world letter, memo, bulletin, pamphlet, or report online. Identify      specific style problems. Evaluate the style and clarity of the document,      and identify specific areas where revision would help readers.      Support you answers with citations from the text. Be sure to      include a url to the document you are evaluating.
• Find a      Web site you use frequently and analyze how you use it. How easy is it to      find the features you want to see? Has the home page changed since you      began using it? Can you recall which features were redesigned? How      consistent is the placement of navigation links on the pages you use? How      informative are the headings and page titles? Are there any distracting      elements? Are the graphics helpful or simply decorative? Are      there moving graphics or text? If so, do they enhance the usefulness of      the site? Write a memo to your instructor, analyzing the design of the Web      site. Support your answers with citations from the text. Be sure to include      the url.
• Find      the home pages for the following: a) Ford Motor Company, b) Chrysler, and      c) General Motors. Analyze the design features of these home pages in      terms of users who are seniors or have problems making precise movements      with the mouse. Report your findings to your instructor in a memo.
• Find a      review of a computer product online. Using the information in the review,      write a task oriented set of instructions from the review. Be      sure to include meaningful tasks and graphics. Use your book as a      reference. Be sure to include the URL as a reference.