Synopses & Reviews
This book examines a writing activity that has recently fallen into disrepute. Outlining has a bad reputation among students, even though many teachers and textbooks still recommend the process. In part, the author argues, the medium is to blame. Paper and ink make the revision difficult. But if one uses an electronic outliner, the activity can be very helpful in developing a thoughtful and effective document, particularly one that spans many pages and deals with a complicated subject.
Outlining Goes Electronic takes an historical approach, examining the way people developed the idea of outlining, from the classical period to the present. We see that the medium in which people worked strongly shaped their assumptions, ideas, and use of outlines. In developing a theoretical model of outlining as an activity, the author argues that a relatively new electronic tool—software that accelerates and performs the process of outlining—can give us a new perspective from which to engage previous classroom models of writing, recent writing theory, and current practice in the technical writing field.
Synopsis
Technical writers often use visual displays of heirarchical information to create structures that users can easily understand and navigate.electronic outlining turns out to be an efficient way to focus a meeting on developing an agreed-upon structure for a document. What electronic outlining demonstrates is that in writing we are always involved in a larger conversation.
Synopsis
Considers the current state of outlining and the nature of a new tool,the electronic outliner.
About the Author
JONATHAN PRICE consults with major high-tech firms on improving their manuals, help systems, and web pages.
Table of Contents
Preface
The Situation Today
A Little Context
How Electronic Outlining Helps Writers Turn Structuring into a Continuous Process
Extending the Collaborative Conversation
A Look Back
The Paper Model
Why Outline?
Summing Up
Toward a New Model of Outlining