When Should You Use Definitions?

1
When Should You Use Definitions?

• When technical information originally written for
  expert readers is revised for nonexpert readers.
• When readers from many disciplines or varied
  backgrounds must understand the document.
• When using new or rare terms.
• When a term has multiple meanings.

2
Consider Your Subject, Purpose, and Audience When
Writing Definitions

• Subject
• What kinds of information are needed to write an
  accurate definition of this term?
• What information does your reader need to know to
  understand the term?
• What information is not within the scope of your
  subject?
• Purpose
• Why you are defining this term?
• Are you offering a new definition of this term?
• Are you trying to distinguish your definition of
  the term from other definitions?
• Are you striving for a certain level of accuracy?
• Audience
• Level of expertise?
• Why are they reading this document?

3
Parenthetical/Synonymous

• The leaching field (sievelike drainage area)
  requires crushed stone.
• The trees on the site are mostly deciduous
  (shedding foliage at seasons end).

4
Term Category Distinguishing Features
An ace is a tennis serve that is successful because the opponent cannot reach the ball to return it.
5
Term Category Distinguishing Features
A firearm is a weapon from which a bullet or shell is discharged by gunpowder.
A rifle is a firearm with spiral grooves in the inner surface of the gun barrel to give the bullet a rotary motion and increase its accuracy.
A Winchester is a rifle first made about 1866, with a tubular magazine under the barrel that allows the user to fire a number of bullets without reloading.
6
Rule Do not use the same key word in the
distinguishing features part that you used in one
or both of the other two units
7

• Poor A pump is a machine or device that pumps
  gas or liquid to a new level or position.
• Better A pump is a machine or device that raises
  or moves gas or liquid to a new level or position.

8

• An odometer is a measuring instrument that
  measures the distance traveled by a vehicle.

9

• An odometer is a measuring instrument that
  measures the distance traveled by a vehicle.
• An odometer is a measuring instrument that
  records the distance traveled by a vehicle.

10
Rule Do not use distinguishing features that are
too general to adequately specify the meaning of
the term
11

• Poor Rugby is a sport that involves rough
  contact among players as they try to send a ball
  over the opponents goal lines.
• Better Rugby is a team sport that involves 13 to
  15 players on each side who try to send a ball
  across the opponents goal line during two
  40-minute halves.

12

• A staple is a short piece of wire that is bent so
  as to hold papers together.

13

• A staple is a short piece of wire that is bent so
  as to hold papers together.
• A staple is a short piece of wire that is bent so
  both ends pierce several papers and fold inward,
  binding the papers together.

14
Rule Do not use distinguishing features that are
too restrictive
15

• Poor A tent is a portable shelter made of beige
  canvas in the shape of a pyramid, supported by
  poles.
• Better A tent is a portable shelter made of
  animal skins or a sturdy fabric and supported by
  poles.

16

• An mp3 player is a digital music player that
  stores and plays mp3 files, video files, text
  files, and is made by Apple.

17

• An mp3 player is a digital music player than
  stores and plays mp3 files, video files, text
  files, and is made by Apple.
• An mp3 player is a digital music player that
  stores and plays mp3 files and may also be
  capable of storing and playing back other file
  types.

18
Rule Do not use is when, is where, or is what in
place of the group part (genus) of a formal
definition
19

• Poor A tongue depressor is what medial personnel
  use to hold down a patients tongue during a
  throat examination.
• Better A tongue depressor is a flat, thin,
  wooden stick used by medical personnel to hold
  down a patients tongue during a throat
  examination.

20

• Genetic engineering is when scientists change the
  hereditary code on an organisms DNA.

21

• Genetic engineering is when scientists change the
  hereditary code on an organisms DNA.
• Genetic engineering is the set of biochemical
  techniques used by scientists to move fragments
  from the genes of one organism to the chromosomes
  of another to change the hereditary code on the
  DNA of the second organism.

22
Rule Do not use an explanation that obscures
your meaning
23

• Poor A tumor is a neoplasm
• Better A tumor is a growth of cells that occurs
  independently of surrounding tissue and serves no
  useful function.

24

• A solenoid is an inductance coil that serves as a
  tractive electromagnet. (note okay for an
  engineering manual)

25

• A solenoid is an inductance coil that serves as a
  tractive electromagnet. (note okay for an
  engineering manual)
• A solenoid is a coil that converts electrical
  energy to magnetic energy capable of performing
  mechanical functions.

26
Negation

• Raw data is not information data becomes
  information only after it has been evaluated,
  interpreted, and applied.

27
Stipulation

• In this paper, I use the word affordances to
  mean the actions available from the user
  interface.

28
Analogy

• Doing distance running is like giving your body a
  bigger gas tank, and doing speedwork enables your
  body to work more efficiently, as if you were
  getting more miles to the gallon.

29
Illustration
30
Etymology

• Biological control of insects, for example, is
  derived from the Greek bio, meaning life or
  living organism and the Latin contra, meaning
  against or opposite.

31
History

• The idea of lasers dates back as far as 212 B.C.,
  when Archimedes used a magnifying glass to set
  fire to Roman ships during the siege of Syracuse.

32
Examples

• Lasers are increasingly used to treat health
  problems for examples, cataracts and detached
  retinas are now treated with laser surgery.

33
Operating Principle

• A clinical thermometer works on the principle of
  heat expansion as the temperature of the bulb
  increases, the mercury inside expands, forcing a
  mercury thread up into the hollow stem.

34
Analysis of Parts

• Psychoanalysis is an analytic and therapeutic
  technique consisting of four parts (1) free
  association, (2) dream interpretation, (3)
  analysis of repression and resistance, and (4)
  analysis of transference.

35
Comparison and contrast

• A pair of optical fibers has the capacity to
  carry more than 10,000 times as many signals as
  conventional copper cable. A ½- inch optical
  cable can carry as much information as a copper
  cable as thick as a persons arm.

36
All Together Now

• Think of a technical term that could require
  definition and use the whiteboard space to type
  your term.
• Well create a formal definition of the term
  together.
• Well also create an extended definition
  (historical, etymological, by part,
  compare/contrast, negation, by operating
  principle, by example, by analogy, by
  illustration, by stipulation).

37
Technical Descriptions

• Technical descriptions are usually a description
  of one of the following
• An object (aka a product)
• A process
• Technical descriptions describe either what
  something is (exactly), or how something works.

38
Observational Strategies

• Do background research
• Use your senses
• Take measurements
• Describe motion and change
• Describe the context
• Collect visuals
• Ask subject matter experts

39
Organizational Strategies

• Spatial
• What does it look like?
• What parts and material is it made of?
• Use to describe what something looks like
• Functional
• How does it work?
• Use to describe a mechanism in action
• Chronological
• How is it put together?
• How does it happen?
• Use to describe an item best visualized in terms
  of its order of assembly

40
Which organizational strategy would seem to work
best?

• A 15-passenger vans cruise control system
• A digital camera
• A bag of Cheetos
• A piece of furniture from Ikea

41
Use concrete details and precise and informative
language

• Subjective adorably cute
• Objective resembles a cartoon cow wearing a pink
  ruffled skirt
• Indefinite a sleek-looking Web server
• Definite the Hush Mini PC

42
How to organize an object description

• Introduction
• Include a formal definition of the object
• Define the scope and purpose of the document
• Description and Function of Parts
• Organized spatially, functionally, or
  chronologically
• Proceeds by part one, part two, part three . . .
• Summary and Operating Description
• Bring the parts back together in a brief
  recapping summary and explain how the objects
  design reinforces its use

43
How to organize a process description

• Introduction
• Include a formal definition of the process
• Define the scope and purpose of the document
• Brief Description/Overview
• Provide a concise overview of the process
• Provide background information
• Conclude by breaking the process up into its
  parts
• Step-by-step description
• Define the step
• State its purpose
• Define and describe substeps
• Proceed from step one to step two to step three .
  . .
• Summary
• Include a complete cycle of the process and
  remind the reader of the processs end result

44

• Remember the difference between a process
  description and instructions
• A process description informs the reader, but
  doesnt provide the reader with enough or the
  kind of information that would enable to reader
  to actually do the process. Someone reads a
  process description to learn.
• Instructions tell the reader how to do something.
  Someone reads a process description to do.

45
Examples of Introductions

• Throughout the ages, mankind has found many uses
  for salt.  Ancient tribes used it preserve meat
  around the world it adds flavor to food the
  Bible uses it as a symbol of zest for life.  Salt
  became such an important part of people's diet
  that a way was needed to allow early nomads to
  carry salt with them on their perilous travels
  such a device ideally also helped ancient
  gormandizers to distribute portions of the
  precious flavor enhancer onto their foods.  Thus
  was born the salt shaker.

This document provides the manufacturing
specifications for the entire line of Happy
Homemaker "Praying Cow" salt shakers (Divine
Bovine Industries model 00045).  A hand-painted
ceramic collector's item, the "Praying Cow" salt
shaker represents a plump, cartoon-like cow, her
head bowed as if in prayer.  A blue flower-print
skirt is painted onto the body of the animal. 
The salt is dispensed through the cow's matching
bonnet, via a circular array of six small holes. 
The bonnet twists off to allow the consumer to
fill the dispenser cavity. 
46
Examples of Introductions

• One of the greatest environmental threats to our
  nation's agriculture is the growing acid rain
  problem. 

Acid rain is one of the greatest environmental
threats to our nation's agriculture.
Acid rain is an environmentally harmful
precipitation that forms after the combustion of
fossil fuels releases nitrogen and sulfur oxides
into the atmosphere. This document describes the
process in general terms, in order to demonstrate
the necessity for increased government regulation
in sensitive areas. This paper cites recent
studies by Smith and Jones (1997, 1998) to assist
EPA officials with their efforts to determine
which parts of the country should be designated
"at risk" or "potentially at risk" over the next
five years.
47
Object Description, Process Description or
Instructions?

• How a thunderstorm forms
• An HP Deskjet 3845
• How an HP Deskjet 3845 works
• How a bill becomes a law
• How to write legislation
• MSUs campus
• How to change a flat tire
• Creating bassoon reed blanks

48
All Together Now

• Think of an object or a process that could
  require a description and use the whiteboard
  space to type the name of your object or process.
• Well work together to figure out how to organize
  a document that would describe that process or
  object.

49
Examples

• Rayovac Workhorse Flashlight
• http//www.io.com/hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/descx1.
  html
• Interplak Home Plaque Removal Instrument
• http//www.io.com/hcexres/tcm1603/acchtml/descx2.
  html
• OSHA Technical Manual on Oil Refining Processes
• http//www.osha.gov/dts/osta/otm/otm_iv/otm_iv_2.h
  tml
• Technical Description of PowerChute Network
  Shutdowns Communication Process
• http//www.apcmedia.com/salestools/TDOY-5UQVBV_R1_
  EN.pdf