Technical Communication, MLA Update

by John M. Lannon, Laura J. Gurak

For courses in Technical Communication.   Complete coverage for any course in technical communication,business communication, or professional writing Today’s workplace requires writing emails, memos, letters, and informalreports, as well as more complex communications such as formal reports,proposals, web pages, and presentations.  Technical Communication,  15thEdition  guides students to write persuasively, effectively, and withperspective on technological innovations and global communications.    Lannon and Gurak incorporate the interpersonal, logical, ethical,and cultural demands of different forms of workplace communications, andencourage the development of skills students will need to navigate theseconsiderations. Building on research and writing skills, the authors preparestudents for technical writing in any field. The  15th Edition  incorporatesthe latest innovations in workplace communication and today’s technologicallysophisticated, diverse, and global workforce, while retaining and expandingupon the features that have made it a best-seller in technical communication.

Genres: Writing, Reference, Nonfiction, School, Technology

736 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Nostalgia Reader]

Pretty unimpressive. If you know the basics about a certain type of document, you probably won't learn anything new about that type of document. Also, if you know basic formatting rules for white space and fonts and the like, you won't learn anything new. Lots of info is redundant and the tone is quite condescending if you already have some experience. If you are a complete newbie to writing neutral, factual documents, this will be helpful; but if you've done it before successfully, it's not at all useful. I was hoping there would have been enough new information in here to warrant me keep it as a reference, but it's going back to the bookstore once the semester's over.

[Clare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Several years ago when I was working at Pearson I was generously allowed to walk off with a large number of textbooks, presumably in exchange for them not paying us very much. One of the textbooks I acquired was the fourth Canadian edition (why, I do not know) of Technical Communication, which, unsurprisingly, is a book about technical writing. This then sat around on my shelves for ten years while I vaguely intended to read it. Last year I somewhat more specifically intended to read it, but didn’t, which I rediscovered when I was putting together my 2022 goals after having immediately forgotten about all my 2021 goals the second the merger was announced. Therefore, I finally started reading it in bits and pieces, to see if anything in it might be useful to me.

Frankly, some of it is and some of it isn’t. I always find it somewhat useful to review stuff I already know, if only to remind myself to think consciously about things I might be doing on autopilot, but I think I had been hoping that there would be more information that was really specific to technical writing/editing, whereas a lot of it was more about regular writing and research skills and general office communication norms that would likely be applicable in pretty much any field. But there was some useful content on graphics and data visualization, and some chapters specifically dedicated to different types of memos and reports–including one for site reports, which might come in useful since I’ve been having some difficulty tracking down any written training materials whatsoever to help develop instruction on site report writing. So overall I think it’s a useful reference to have on hand and I’m glad I finally read it, but it wasn’t a particularly mind-blowing or enjoyable read, even by textbook standards.

Originally posted at The lost goals.

[Nathan Glenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had some interesting information, but it was also overly prescriptive in many ways, and extremely redundant. It needs to have the redundant info (such as the types of audiences) combined in one place, and then half of the rest of the fat cut out. Technical communication is apparently supposed to be about making someone take action. The book talks about making things concise and motivating. It really needs to practice what it preaches. Also, some of it seemed extremely outdated (maybe it is just my inexperience); who writes memorandums anymore? It is apparently a short informational document which includes a subject, to, from and date at the top. I call that an "email".

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Textbook for my technical writing class. I learned a few new things from it

[Angela Cristy]

I think this is a good book especially to young engineers

[Liaken · Rating 2 out of 5]

No matter how many times they update this book, it is still out of date. My department has been using it for a very long time, and it never changes very much. I've finally been able to switch to another book which is current and fully considers technology and culture. This is the book I switched to: Technical Communication Today. It is excellent and highly recommended.

[Reba · Rating 4 out of 5]

This text taught me how to write an awesome resume. It covers research (p 124), evaluating and interpreting information (p 152), White space and eleminating visual noise (p 287), giving the audience everything it needs to know (p 80), organization (p 191), designing visual information (p 245), how to conduct a usability test, ample sample templates and so much more. I will be using this as my document writing reference it is designed so well. Buy it, read it, use it.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I use this textbook when teaching my Technical and Business Writing course. I currently use the 11th edition

[Francisco Galán · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great book. I used it to teach a writing course to engineers, and it provided a solid foundation.