{"id":32,"date":"2017-12-07T19:30:03","date_gmt":"2017-12-08T00:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting\/?post_type=part&p=32"},"modified":"2023-10-31T13:06:42","modified_gmt":"2023-10-31T17:06:42","slug":"techcomm","status":"publish","type":"part","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/technicalwriting\/part\/techcomm\/","title":{"raw":"1. WHAT IS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION?","rendered":"1. WHAT IS TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION?"},"content":{"raw":"
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Chapter 1 Learning Objectives<\/p>\r\n\r\n<\/header>\r\n

\r\n\r\nThis chapter will help you\r\n
    \r\n \t
  1. Understand what technical writing is, why its important, and what it looks like<\/li>\r\n \t
  2. Apply a \"problem-solving\" approach<\/a> to communications tasks, starting by learning how to fully define the problem before looking for solutions<\/li>\r\n \t
  3. Recognize the main conventions and characteristics<\/a> of technical writing, and how they differ from other forms, such as academic and journalistic writing<\/li>\r\n \t
  4. Understand the importance of defining the \"rhetorical situation<\/a>\" in which you are communicating<\/li>\r\n \t
  5. Apply what you have learned so far by examining \"case studies<\/a>\" that demonstrate the costs of poor communication<\/li>\r\n \t
  6. Appreciate the complexity and iterative nature of a writing process<\/a> in determining what writing process works best for you.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
    \"Some of the most accomplished engineers of all time have paid as much attention to their words as to their numbers, to their sentences as to their equations, and to their reports as to their designs.<\/em>\"\r\n

    Henry Petroski, \"Engineers as Writers\"[footnote]H. Petroski, \u201cEngineers as Writers.\u201d American Scientist<\/em>, vol. 81, no. 5 (1993): 419\u201323. http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/29775007.[\/footnote]<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\nWhen you hear the term \u201ctechnical communication,\u201d what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of scientific reports, specifications, instructions, software documentation, or technical manuals. And you are correct. However, technical communication is so much more than that. Technical Writing is a genre of non-fiction writing that encompasses not only technical materials such as manuals, instructions, specifications, and software documentation, but it also includes writing produced in day-to-day business operations such as correspondence, proposals, internal communications, media releases, and many kinds of reports. It includes the communication of specialized technical information, whether relating to computers and scientific instruments, or the intricacies of meditation. For an interesting example of technical communication on TikTok and Instragram, check out this video:\u00a0 Tech Comm Examples: Black Forager - Enoki vs Deadly Galerina<\/a>.\u00a0 And because oral and visual presentations are such an important part of professional life, technical communication also encompasses these as well. We might define technical communication, then, as using various modes (oral, written, visual) of communication to manage technical information to analyze a problem, find and evaluate evidence, and draw conclusions in a way that allows people to take action.\r\n\r\nHere are some examples of things that you might not have thought of as \"technical writing\" -- but they have analyzed and addressed a problem and suggested possible solutions:\r\n

    Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptations and Vulnerability. Working Groups II Contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge UP<\/strong> (in press). Available: https:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/report\/ar6\/wg2\/<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 (downloadable versions available) Note that the website contains downloadable \u201cSummary for Policymakers<\/a>\u201d and \u201cTechnical Summary<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0 What do you suppose are the key differences between these two summaries?<\/p>\r\n

    The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation<\/strong> website (housed at the University of Manitoba) contains several reports that address various audiences and purposes related to the extensive work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada<\/a>. For example, \u201cHonouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada<\/strong>\u201d (2015).\u00a0 Available:\u00a0 https:\/\/ehprnh2mwo3.exactdn.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf<\/a>.\u00a0 This Executive Summary is over 300 pages long, indicating the depth and breadth of the commission\u2019s findings overall. It allows readers to see the extensive information available and choose which parts would be most appropriate for their context.<\/p>\r\n

    One of the sections of the larger TRC report, which is available separately, is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action<\/strong> (2015). Available: https:\/\/www2.gov.bc.ca\/assets\/gov\/british-columbians-our-governments\/indigenous-people\/aboriginal-peoples-documents\/calls_to_action_english2.pdf<\/a>.\u00a0 Note that this document is presented largely in easy-to-read bullet points in organized numbered sections, making the 94 calls to action (note that it does not use the word \u201crecommendations\u201d) very straightforward to understand and implement.\u00a0 Calls to action 62-65 directly address Education for Reconciliation. Institutions committed to decolonization make extensive use of this document to guide their decisions-making and policy changes.<\/p>\r\nThus, technical writing is highly \"transactional\" as it conveys information to enable and encourage specific actions.\r\n

    Why are Technical Communication Skills Important?<\/h1>\r\nIn a recent presentation on the topic of Co-op Work Term Reports, [footnote] S. McConkey, \u201cWriting a work term report,\u201d ENGR 120 Plenary Lecture<\/em>, University of Victoria, March 3, 2017.[\/footnote] the Engineering co-op coordinator for the University of Victoria presented the following statistics regarding the importance of communication skills in the professional world of engineering:\r\n
    \r\n\r\nThe Reality: Technical Writing and Communication<\/strong>\r\n