Carrie Hannigan (Ph.D., TECH) Publishes Technical Writing Textbook
Carrie Hannigan (PhD, TECH) has published Kaplan Technical Writing: A Resource for Technical Writers at All Levels. The 624-page textbook is coauthored with Diane Martinez, Tanya Peterson, Carolyn Stevenson, and Carrie Wells.
Technical writing is presented as an essential form of straightforward communication that allows readers to accomplish a specific task using easy-to-understand directions.
The textbook also dispels the myth that all technical writing only pertains to user manuals; rather, technical writing covers a host of purposes including interoffice memos, e-mail, and other basic forms of daily communication.
Part I of the textbook is written, designed, and sequenced for an introduction to technical writing course. Taking into account that most students in such a course are not familiar with technical writing, or consider it a form used only by scientists or "techies," the material in Part I is introductory in nature. Only the most relevant details that students would need to apply to their own writing projects are examined. Each of the sections in Part I is developed on a much more advanced level in Part II, to which students in an introductory course can refer if they have an interest in learning more about a given topic.
Part II also has a dual purpose in that it can be used as a textbook for several advanced technical writing courses or as a technical writing handbook or desk reference for working technical writers--it presents full coverage of topics and issues in technical writing. Topics that a technical writer would encounter on the job are covered with precise detail. Students in an introductory technical writing course have to know how design affects the overall readability and success of a document; Part I introduces students to the concepts of basic page design. However, in Part II, students go beyond the basics and learn details about the kind of document design that is expected in a professional setting. Part II also discusses digital document collaboration, professional development, and research methods giving the book an innovative, multi-faceted approach.
Book cover image and book summary source: Kaplan Publishing.
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