Technical Editing (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication) [Paperback]

Carolyn D. Rude (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 29, 1997 | ISBN-10: 020520032X | ISBN-13: 978-0205200320 | Edition: 2 Sub

For courses in technical editing. Best-seller. Comprehensive practical approach. Defines editorial responsibility in terms of overall document effectiveness, not just correcting grammar. New: up-to-date coverage of technology, info on global concerns, Chapter 21 on legal and ethical issues.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The demand for technical communicators, particularly in the computer industry. is greater than the supply of people specifically trained for these jobs. Companies compromise by hiring English majors who don't necessarily understand the technical jargon, genres, or audiences or by hiring computer science majors who aren't trained in writing. This book will aid both types of employees who need on-the-job training. As in the first edition, Technical Editing progresses from basic copyediting to comprehensive editing to management issues, but now includes electronic editing and the editing of nonprint documents and an emphasis on global communication. The new edition also reflects recent changes in technology, workplace practices, and the global marketplace. Technical editors, writers, document designers, computer scientists.

About the Author

CAROLYN RUDE teaches professional writing and chairs the Department of English at Virginia Tech. Before becoming a professor, she worked as a technical writer and editor. She is past president and fellow of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. She is also a fellow of the Society for Technical Communication and winner of its Jay R. Gould Award for excellence in teaching. She believes that understanding editing has enhanced her administrative work, not just because of required writing and document design but also because of the focus of comprehensive editing on readers and purposes, reading styles, and project management.

 

ANGELA EATON ([e-mail]) is an Associate Professor of Technical Communication and Rhetoric at Texas Tech University. Her research interests include technical editing, grant writing, and technical communication practices and pedagogies. She is the owner of the technical editing and grant writing firm Angela Eaton & Associates, LLC, is a member of the Association of the Teachers of Technical Writing, and is a senior member of the Society for Technical Communication . She was the 2005-2006 winner of the Society for Technical Communication's $10,000 Research Award. Her research has been published in Technical Communication, Business Communication Quarterly, and three edited collections.

 

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 422 pages
• Publisher: Allyn & Bacon; 2 Sub edition (September 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 020520032X
• ISBN-13: 978-0205200320
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #780,559 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for all fields, editors and writers, February 11, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Technical Editing (Hardcover)

Dr. Rude did a masterful job of explaining the concepts behind good writing. Reading this book improves your entire writing process by teaching the reader what he should not do when constructing any component within a document, be it a sentence, paragraph, chapter, etc.

It also provides an excellent reference for copy editing symbols, defines the various levels of editing, and defines the roles that writers, editors, and publishers should have.

Overall, Technical Editing has done more to improve my writing than all other writing books combine. It is a must have for your reference library and excellent for classroom instruction

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guidelines, not Rudes (Rules), April 17, 2007

By 

J. Vick (Alexandria) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Technical Editing (4th Edition) (Paperback)

Dr. Rude was one of my technical writing professors. I recall using an early addition of this book when I was taking her class, identifying and suggesting edits as part of the class work...an instructive process. I have always found her guidelines to be clear and user-friendly. I do not agree with one reviewer's example of "handicap", as Dr. Rude was using that as an example within the admonition for caution, a sophisticated concept that was perhaps lost on the reviewer at the time.

This book is agreat reference and will be very useful for technical editors in any branch of the profession.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A solid reference or textbook, July 22, 2007

By 

Christine M. Sigman "International technical ... (Boston, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Technical Editing (4th Edition) (Paperback)

Carolyn Rude's Technical Editing (fourth edition) is a solid, comprehensive volume equally suitable as a textbook or a desktop reference. It attempts to support the writer or editor of technical prose in the collaborative process of shaping rough text into a polished and accurate final product. Its scope is ambitious, ranging from exercises in proofreading hard copy using standard markup symbols to explorations of the legal and ethical ramifications of technical prose.

I like the way that the author captures the real-world constraints that editors face: there is never enough time, content will never be perfect, and tradeoffs frequently need to be made. Just as important as his or her attention to details and standards are an editor's ability to compromise and work collaboratively with writers. In this regard, Dr. Rude's book stands in for an editing coach.

I am not familiar with the earlier versions of Dr. Rude's book, so I don't know when the sections related to online editing and website editing were added. Sometimes the grafting of this content seems a bit clumsy; likewise, some of the content on laying out text for a typesetter seems dated. Even so, this book offers good and lasting value.