Customer Reviews

Reporting Technical Information

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was a required text for an introductory Technical Writing course. I would not have purchased it otherwise. The emphasis of the book is on writing standard business reports and does not cover the full scope of modern Technical Writing. (no white papers, no procedural manuals, no scientific articles, etc.)

The book is wordy and poorly organized. Several editing errors were spotted.

I personally feel there are far better references than this for technical writing.

Try:
The Non-Designer's Design Book
Untechnical Writing - How to Write About Technical Subjects and Products So Anyone Can Understand (Untechnical Press Books for Writers Series)
Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications Third Edition

This text is being used for my Advanced Business Communications course at a college that has an equal number of traditional and non-traditional students. The information provided in the book is good, but the tone is not appropriate for anyone who has work experience. There are many statements about how "life is different after college". The majority of people taking this course are non-traditionals who are very aware that there is a difference between school and work. Also, considering that the subject matter is communications, there are an inordinate number of grammatical and typographical errors. I would recommend this book to for a course targeted at introductory level business students in a traditional college setting, but not for experienced non-traditional students. I would recommend that the authors place more emphasis on editing their own work in the next edition. Some of the errors make it very difficult to interpret what they are trying to say and slow down the reading process.

Although intended as a college-level textbook for technical writing students, many working professionals, both writers and engineers, will find this book useful as well. It provides a sound discussion of fundamental techniques and processes with extensive examples. The chapters on writing, collaboration, writing ethically, and writing for international readers cover topics that are important in business, yet not often covered in textbooks. My only wish is that part 3 included more document types to make this book an even more useful daily reference.

The book was required for a Junior level course I'm taking at a local college and that is why I bought it. My personal opinion is that there were too many writers on this book. It is poorly organization and broke some of the basic rules in writing a reference book, such as referencing various studies without actually providing the citation for the study.
I personally feel there are far better references than this one for technical writing.

This book came in great condition and arrived on time. It was previously a library book, and did not have any writing or highlighting inside.

I ordered this text book for my son for his college classes. He found the text book to be very useful.

Reading and absorbing this text will strengthen key skill areas of technical communication. Even if you're not reading this text in conjunction with a technical writing course, I highly recommend you take the time to do at least one of the exercises at the end of each chapter.
Check out the accompanying web site that supports the text. One gripe: some of the chapters have self-tests, and some don't. However, there is no way to tell until you've clicked on the link, and waited for a blank page.

This text is well written, and focused like a laser beam on the challenge of creating information that adds value to the reader, rather than burdening the reader with time wasting prose.

Favorite chapter: Creating Tables and Figures.

I used this book for my technical writing class. I found the readings straightforward. Sometimes, the actual chapters were too common sense. This book really shines in its use of examples. There are examples of each type of document. The handbook in the back is also a handy reference.

Order was prompt and shipping was quick. This was a required text ... what more is there to say?

THe product was exactly as described and I would buy future items from this seller