Abstract

Technical Communication Todayremains the only text to fully centralize the computer in the technical workplace, presenting how writers use computers throughout their communication process.  

Writers use their computers to help them think, research, compose, design, and edit.  Not only is Technical Communication Today  firmly rooted in core rhetorical principles, but the text also presents computers as thinking tools that powerfully influence how we develop, produce, design, and deliver technical documents and presentations. 

Clear instruction not only describes technical documents, but also guides the reader through the activity of producing them. Technical Communication Today  helps communicators draft and design documents, prepare material for print and Web publication, and make oral presentations; by bringing computers to the foreground as thinking tools, it accurately reflects the modern day computer-centered technical workplace.

Technical Communication Today  speaks to today's students and how they expect to learn information.  Instructional narrative is “chunked,” so that readable portions of text are combined with graphics. Not only does this presentation facilitate learning, but it also models the way today’s technical documents should be designed.  Additionally, the chunked presentation integrates an awareness of how documents are read–often “raided” by readers seeking the information they need.  By mirroring these processes in its content and structure, Technical Communication Today offers a higher level of accessibility for readers.