Week 4: Notes

1. Week 4: Notes Summaries

2. Week 4 – Summaries Introduction • Objective: To write clear and concise summaries that convey the message of the original sources.

3. Week 4 – Summaries This week your assignment is to: • Analyze a corporate culture through its web presence • Write a 500 to 1000 word informative summary of a recent article or website in your field of study or employment. • You will have an evaluative summary to write for Project 1. You can use the same discipline… So let’s start by reviewing:

4. Week 4 – Summaries • The Process: Methods • Gather and analyze texts that talk about disciplinary practices or polices. Some examples might include mission statements, annual reports, course catalogs, and web documents including main site, and social media. Background • What kinds of background information about your context might give you clues about the corporate culture? Are there mission statements, editorial policies, or other formal statements of purpose that have to do with the practices? Overall Use • How does the business you are working in use its website? Is it connected to monetary value, sales? promotion or recruitment? certification or licensing? legal or formal record keeping? Is it mostly used for external communications (with clients, etc.) or internally, such as with an Intranet? Who is Addressed? • Who are the assumed audiences in your context? • What are their values and characteristics? • What are the audience's needs assumed to be? • What do they know? What don't they know? What is Written? • What issues, problems, & topics seem most prevalent? What kinds of subjects/areas appear most often? What does this tell you about the discipline/corporate culture as a whole?

5. Week 4 - Summaries • What you need to know for this week: • There are three types of summaries: descriptive, informative, and evaluative. • Criteria of a good summary: audience awareness, clear and concise organization, language specific, visual support. The following slides give more detail on each of these concepts.

6. Week 4 – Summaries • Descriptive summaries give an overview of what the source is about but does not give specifics of the content. For example, a hospital administrator might read descriptive summaries dealing with training sessions for staff accreditation classes. “The American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), a subsidiary of the American Nurses Association (ANA), provides individuals and organizations throughout the nursing profession with the resources they need to achieve practice excellence. ANCC's internationally renowned credentialing programs certify nurses in specialty practice areas; recognize healthcare organizations for promoting safe, positive work environments through the Magnet Recognition Program® and the Pathway to Excellence® Program; and accredit providers of continuing nursing education. In addition, ANCC’s Institute for Credentialing Innovation® provides leading-edge information and education services and products to support its core credentialing programs. Learn More About ANCChttp://www.nursecredentialing.org/” This summary describes that basic information about the program. It does not give specific information on the actual programs described. It also uses descriptive language. Note words like “excellence”, “internationally renowned” and “leading-edge”.

7. Week 4 – Summaries • Informative summaries go further and present the source content in abbreviated form. A well-written informative summary includes conclusions, recommendations, and next steps if any. It is a self-contained document that allows the reader to skip the original source if they want to. For example, if you are a dietician or a health care professional and you are working on a project dealing with obesity in the United States the following summary from the 112 page USDA Nutritional Guidelines Report would help you without having to read the entire report: USDA Nutritional Guidelines Executive Summary

8. Week 4 – Summaries Evaluative Summaries are even more fully developed and include the writer’s assessment of the information obtained in the source. Evaluative summaries differ from other abstracts and summaries in only one way: your opinion of the material is included in the evaluative summary. You should blend your assessment throughout the entire summary and not just lump all of your opinions at the end. This lets the reader know what you thought of each point addressed in the article. For example, an evaluative summary on a technical report could look like this: “This rather poorly written and finally unreliable report discusses a series of flawed experiments conducted on industrial-strength coil springs at the TopTech Laboratories in Northton, Minnesota, in January 2008. Three kinds of springs – all manufactured by the Mathers Spring Co. of Marietta, Ohio – were tested: serial numbers 423, 424, and 425. The springs were evaluated for flexibility, durability, and heat resistance to determine their relative suitability for several specific manufacturing applications at Northton Industries. In 15 tests using the notoriously unreliable Flexor Meter, ….” Excerpt from Workplace Communications, Fourth Edition.

9. Week 4 – Summaries Evaluative Summary, continued *These are some questions that you should answer for readers of your evaluative summary: • Content Evaluation: • How carefully is the subject researched? Is the material accurate and up-to-date? • Is the writer or speaker objective? • Does the work achieve the goal? Did the writer cover the topic adequately? Are there irrelevant • materials in the work? • Is the material relevant to the audience for whom you are writing your evaluative summary?  • Style Evaluation: • Is the material readable? Is it easy to follow? • What kind of vocabulary does the writer use? Are there technical terms or jargon? *From Successful Writing at Work (2nd ed.) By Philip C. Kolin, 1986.

10. Week 4 – Summaries Finally: Important Criteria for writing good summaries: • Know Your Audience - this is critical in writing a powerful summary, or any other business document. • Keep it to as few pages as possible. As we saw in the examples, some summaries are only 500 to 1000 words. Some, the informative summary from the USDA, is 4 pages but this is about the max for a summary report. If it is any longer the reader will start to scan through instead or reading. • Use reader-centric language. Remember notes from Week 1? Write at an audience appropriate level. • Be clear and concise. Remember the normal business reader is short on time and wants you to “cut to the chase”. After all, that’s the point of the summary. • Use graphs, tables, and charts. Everyone likes pictures. Don't fill your few pages with text only. If possible use visuals to draw attention to important points.