Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Get rid of noise words and phrases such as “situation”, “perform”, “it is often the
case that”, “done”, or “during the course of”. In general, choose the simplest suitable
word or the most precise suitable word; and consider the reader's vocabulary.
Citation and Acknowledgement . People who contribute to written material can
reasonably expect to be acknowledged, and you should fully acknowledge any exter-
nal sources whose material is used in your work. (This also includes source code.)
It is wrong to take credit, implicitly or explicitly, for work done by others. That is,
it is unethical to fail to cite technical papers, texts, Web pages, and other resources
when their ideas or content are used. This matters even in emails! They are not as
ephemeral as you might think (or hope).
The passive voice is just as unhelpful in this context as in any other. Don't write
“it was decided that the rollback module would not be proceeded with”; make clear
who did what.
A “Professional Writing” Checklist
￿
What is the task that the document addresses?
￿
What is the purpose of the document? To inform or persuade?
￿
Is the purpose of the document clear to the reader? How prominent are the key
messages?
￿
Is the writing appropriately professional and independent?
￿
What other tasks must be undertaken to complete the document? For example,
does code need to be written, or systems tested?
￿
How will the document be consumed? Will it be read once, or form part of a
permanent record? How polished does it need to be?
￿
How will the document be published? What form will it take? What form do such
documents usually take in your organization?
￿
Who is the audience? What is their level of expertise? Will it be necessary to
explain basics?
￿
Are you proceeding from shared values?
￿
Who will be affected by the document, and what will their reaction to it be?
￿
What is a reasonable amount of time to allocate to the task? Should it be worked
on full-time, or amongst a mix of other tasks?
￿
If time is limited, how will it be spent?
￿
Have all participants in the activity been recognized or credited appropriately?
 
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