Obscure language and verbiage can destroy the usefulness of a technical report. A balance is needed between the technical words that tell the facts and the words that explain what the facts mean. Some of the faults to be avoided are using the wrong words, too many words, passive words, and needless words. Examples from technical literature are used.

IN September 1978 our special issue (PC-21/3) on the design of audio and visual information gave pointers on achieving clarity and communication in the individual pieces of artwork that are often included in technical reports and publications. In the March 1981 issue (PC-24/1), several authors discussed the prose-text aspects of making information usable, particularly instructional materials.

IN September 1978 our special issue (PC-21/3) on the design of audio and visual information gave pointers on achieving clarity and communication in the individual pieces of artwork that are often included in technical reports and publications. In the March 1981 issue (PC-24/1), several authors discussed the prose-text aspects of making information usable, particularly instructional materials.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

This TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

The use of computer-related devices has resulted in significant improvements in word processing, permitting better accuracy and more efficient turnover of paperwork in an office. A selective combination of these components comprises a computer-assisted writing and editing system for professionals at Argonne National Laboratory, used primarily for technical reports. Text is entered and corrected at a terminal keyboard, viewed on a CRT, and stored on a magnetic disc; camera-ready copy is obtained on an electrostatic printer. Engineers and scientists enter original text and do creative editing; typewriter-qualified personnel quickly learn to handle other editing and corrections; and computer-support personnel provide periodic file-management services.

subjects the reader to such gems as these."To repeat, the sins in the world at large-at least, of the sort I'm talking aboutoften don't matter much.And sometimes, too, they don't matter in technical writing": and "-as I need hardly reiterate to this audience-."Moreover, the essay says nothing that other essays in the collection do not say with motivating verve.Mr. Harty assures us that these essays "have survived the most rigorous kind of scrutiny-that of my students ... at

subjects the reader to such gems as these."To repeat, the sins in the world at large-at least, of the sort I'm talking aboutoften don't matter much.And sometimes, too, they don't matter in technical writing": and "-as I need hardly reiterate to this audience-."Moreover,

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

A prerequisite to effective writing is logical thinking. Often the act of writing forces the organization of one's thoughts. Effective writing involves consciousness of the purpose of a message, awareness of the reader's needs and interests, evaluation of available information (quantity and quality), and attention to the order of presentation. First drafts should never be accepted; review and revision should be standard procedure.

A wealth of examples and assignment suggestions alone makes Joanna Freeman's Basic Technical and Business Writing invaluable to teachers and students of technical communication. Chapter 3, “Headings, Tables, and Figures,” includes 41 illustrations, most of them courtesy of business organizations. So impressive and useful is this array that one tends to overlook the misplaced apostrophe in one of the charts. Dr. Freeman complements even her discussion of formal reports with three full-length examples, each demonstrating a different communication problem and solution: a statistical study from the Journal of Marketing Research, a persuasive argument from the 25th International Technical Communication Conference Proceedings, and a student paper classifying and summarizing the results of research.

This Transactions is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

The author's requirement of clear and correct written communication from his students is explained to them through this story of a misadventure in business communication.

Organized thought can ease the flow of words and enhance communication in business writing. A systematic approach involves knowing the receiver — his familiarity with the subject and his opinion of the writer; providing a frame of reference in the opening statement; properly dividing thought groups; and building paragraph-to-paragraph continuity.

This Transactions is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3500 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

This Transactions is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers who have a significant interest in the communication of technical information. It is a refereed publication with quarterly distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue and is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

was edited by Miriam Balaban, who served as both general chairman and program chairman for th^ Conference.Containing transcriptions of all Conference speeches and formal discussions, the book presents a brief his tory jof scientific editing-and scientific editors' associations; a wide ly.et fairly detailed view of the problems, practices, and at titudes of scientific editors today; and glimpses of the ideas of scientific editors about their roles in years to come.Moreover, this view of the past, present, and future of scientific editor ship includes much consideration-of editors' interaction with authors, referees, and publishers.Mrs. Balaban's preface points out that Faraday, in 1821, identified "three necessary stages of useful -research": to begin, to end, and to publish.The first conference on scien tific publication, however, was not held until 127 years later in 1948, when the Royal Society Information Conference in London dealt with publication, format, editorial policy, ab stracting, indexing, classification of subjects, and training of "information officers."In 1958, the National Academy of Sciences held an Interna tional Conference on Scientific Information in Washington! it dealt with the storage and retrieval of documents.At that time, the "cycle of information" was said to be in the hands of the maker, the storer/supplier, and the user.Soon, however, six rather than three parties, links, estates, or stations, as they are alternatively called, came to be generally distinguished: author, editor, publisher, librarian, documentalist (or archivist, or information scientist), and user.And since 1958, also, associations of editors have been formed in various scientific disciplines and geographic regions.Around that year, CBF, the Council of Biology Fditors, was founded in the United States, and in 1964 appeared its European counterpart, ELSE.Eight years later, in 1972, under the auspices of UNESCO, editors and their proliferating associations formed the world information system, UNISIST.Participating in this consortium now are North and South American, European, and Far Eastern societies of earthscience editors; international organizations of the editoVs of chemical, biochemical, physics, mathematics, psychology, and philosophy journals; and,such regional and national groups as those of Nordic, Japanese, French, and German editors, the National and European Science Foundations, and several pri vate companies.A significant aspect of the movement forjeditorial unity was the formation in 1968 of STM, the International Group of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers.At present, STM is composed of about 120 commercial and institutional pub lishing houses in 20 countries.It issues a newsletter and holds semiannual seminars.Since 1972, these editorial and publishing organizations have cooperated and collaborated increasingly, seeking common grounds in matters of style, standards, practices, and philos ophy; trying to loosen clogs in the flow of information and to reduce the cost and waste which result from confusion, redun dant effort, and fragmentation (p.ix).A short-lived but important group in this movement was the informal Association for Scientific Journals which grew from the work of James Lufkin of the Professional Communication

This article offers specific guidelines to effective report writing: (1) It discusses the key issues in which top corporate personnel are most interested and explains how to present these issues in an informative manner; (2) it gives an organizational structure designed to facilitate report writing and to maximize reader interest by grouping ideas and concepts in a logical sequence; and (3) it details basic techniques on how to overcome writer's block, reinforce major points, and use charts, graphs, and illustrations to make a report visually appealing as well as easily readable.

This index covers all technical items - papers, correspondence, reviews, etc. - that appeared in this periodical during the year, and items from previous years that were commented upon or corrected in this year. Departments and other items may also be covered if they have been judged to have archival value. The Author Index contains the primary entry for each item, listed under the first author's name. The primary entry includes the co-authors' names, the title of the paper or other item, and its location, specified by the publication abbreviation, year, month, and inclusive pagination. The Subject Index contains entries describing the item under all appropriate subject headings, plus the first author's name, the publication abbreviation, month, and year, and inclusive pages. Note that the item title is found only under the primary entry in the Author Index.

Thrs TRANSACTIONS is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers, editors, and teachers

edge of the subject and your convenience totally govern how you prepare the report.Prepare a 'user-oriented' report, much as the engineer-designer gives prime" consideration to the users of a highway or an electric drill."Whether the letters ask for information (inquiry, request, and order) or give information (response and employment), the format is the same, and courtesy always prevails.Cus tomer relations letters (congratulatory, appreciation, com plaint, adjustment, and collection) are best begun and ended with goodwill, no matter whether the news is good or bad.In persuasive letters, the readers will stay interested when they are placed in the picture and shown how the product or the service relates to them.Pearsall and Cunningham elaborate on report writing by fo cusing on ( 1 ) how much information the readers need, (2) how best to create a picture of the mechanism in their minds, and (3) how to arrange the details.Instruction manuals, periodic reports, accident reports, trip reports, minutes of meetings, analytical reports, and proposals are explained with readeroriented reasons for the steps in their preparation.So are guidelines for how to compile a bibliography, how to review technical literature as part of the report, how to pre pare typical illustrations, how to tabulate data, how to fill out forms, and how to convert English and metric units.The ap pendix on usage summarizes points of grammar, style, punctu ation, capitalization, and spelling.Besides covering the important writing situations, the au thors explain how to act at an employment interview arid, in a long chapter, how to report technical information orally, es sentially what you would learn in two years as a member of a Toast masters Club.Every chapter has lots of examples, all on technical subjects from industry and government.The readability level varies from that of working adults to that of students fresh out of high school with little technical background.

edge of the subject and your convenience totally govern how you prepare the report.Prepare a 'user-oriented' report, much as the engineer-designer gives prime" consideration to the users of a highway or an electric drill."Whether the letters ask for information (inquiry, request, and order) or give information (response and employment), the format is the same, and courtesy always prevails.Cus tomer relations letters (congratulatory, appreciation, com plaint, adjustment, and collection) are best begun and ended with goodwill, no matter whether the news is good or bad.In persuasive letters, the readers will stay interested when they are placed in the picture and shown how the product or the service relates to them.Pearsall and Cunningham elaborate on report writing by fo cusing on ( 1 ) how much information the readers need, (2) how best to create a picture of the mechanism in their minds, and (3) how to arrange the details.Instruction manuals, periodic reports, accident reports, trip reports, minutes of meetings, analytical reports, and proposals are explained with readeroriented reasons for the steps in their preparation.So are guidelines for how to compile a bibliography, how to review technical literature as part of the report, how to pre pare typical illustrations, how to tabulate data, how to fill out forms, and how to convert English and metric units.The ap pendix on usage summarizes points of grammar, style, punctu ation, capitalization, and spelling.Besides covering the important writing situations, the au thors explain how to act at an employment interview arid, in a long chapter, how to report technical information orally, es sentially what you would learn in two years as a member of a Toast masters Club.Every chapter has lots of examples, all on technical subjects from industry and government.The readability level varies from that of working adults to that of students fresh out of high school with little technical background.

BEEE Transactions on

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information. This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information. This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

Have you seen time and money wasted, material and equipment damaged, lives lost or bodies damaged because instructions were not written clearly? Have you seen proposals ignored because they were poorly presented?

As Finance Chairman for all three of the

In Designing Technical Reports, two members of the Humanities Department of the College of Engineering at the University of Michigan have applied concepts of design and structural analysis to engineering writing.

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information, This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information. This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information. This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

THE next issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, completing vol. PC-20, will appear in December. Subsequent issues will be published on a regular quarterly schedule in 1978: March, June, September, and December.

The IEEE Group on Professional Communication is an association of IEEE members with a common professional interest in communicating technical information. Our members, about 1300 in number, are practicing engineers who are concerned about communicating and communicators who are concerned with engineering. We emphasize working together as individuals for mutual benefit from this dichotomy and for the benefit of other IEEE members.

THE next issue of the IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION, completing vol. PC-20, will appear in December. Subsequent issues will be published on a regular quarterly schedule in 1978: March, June, September, and December.

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information. This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.

To be used as a tool of professional writing, paragraphing must involve style organization, and a recognizable flow of thought. These characteristics are reviewed with examples, and emphasis is put on the use of a summarizing topic sentence.

The IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION is a quarterly publication with distribution in excess of 3000 copies per issue. It is directed to practicing engineers and scientists, technical project and program managers, and writers and editors who have a significant interest in or responsibility for the communication of technical information. This TRANSACTIONS is indexed and abstracted worldwide.