Organizing Information for Your Readers

1. Organizing Information for Your Readers Chapter 6

2. Structuring Information • You have all the information in the world to design a manual. • However, you find it difficult to understand exactly how the information should be structured so that readers comprehend it in the best possible way. • Structuring information is much more than just outlining. • Try reading a document where the sentences and paragraphs are not organized logically.

3. Principle 1 • DECIDE HOW TO ORGANIZE YOUR DOCUMENT. • You may have more than one way to organize the same document. • Select the one that might work best for the readers. For example, organizing information for novice learner vs. organizing the same information for an expert audience. • The most important issue is, if as a writer, you could group the most related (similar) information together. • So, to determine how to group similar information in your documents, • A. Consider your readers • B. Consider the workplace contexts • Use the standard patterns of organization

4. Consider your Readers • Can I put important information at the beginning of the document? – Put the summary upfront. • Can I order the information from the simplest to the most complex? – Begin with what they already know. • Will readers scan the document or read it selectively? – Help them reach specific information without reading through the entire document. • Begin with well accepted information and then move on to the more controversial ones…….make the groundwork first.

5. Consider Workplace Context • How will the manager want you to organize the information? • Does your organization have a pre-determined template to write similar documents?

6. Principle 2 Consider Using the Standard Patterns of Organization This includes • Spatial Order • Chronological Order • General to Specific Order • Classification and Division • Partition • Comparison / Contrast • Problem and Solution • Cause and Effect • Order of Importance

7. Tips for Using Spatial Order • Describe the object, mechanism, or location as if the reader were looking at it. • Include words that help them follow a roadmap. • Use visual aids, when possible, to supplement the text.

8. Tips for Using Chronological Order • Use words and phrases that give readers a mental roadmap of the chronological sequence. • Use visual aids when appropriate to illustrate the chronology. • See Fig 6.5 – What are the chronological strategies?

9. Tips for Using General-to-Specific Order • State the general information clearly and directly at the beginning of the document, section or paragraphs. • Use headings to separate the general information from the specific information. • Strategies for Fig 6.6

10. Tips for Using Classification & Division • Make sure each item fit in only one category. • Make sure each item will fit into a category. • For example, you rent an apartment based on price, location, sq. ft. area of the apt. • Classify and divide the items in ways suited to your readers and your purpose. • Use visual aids when appropriate to illustrate categories and sub-categories.

11. Tips for Using Partition • Choose a principle for partitioning that will meet readers’ needs and your purpose. Example: When writing a manual, partition the information in terms of its various related and unrelated functions. • Organize the parts in a way that your readers will find helpful. • Use visual aids to illustrate the parts.

12. Tips for Using Comparison / Contrast • Choose criteria for comparing and contrasting. Example: For comparing various computer models, what are the criteria on the basis of which you will compare? – Brand Name, Guarantee period, customer service etc or speed, screen resolution, hard drive space etc. • So, organize information in a logical way that help readers to see the difference b/w various categories of comparisons. • Use visual aids when appropriate.

13. Tips for Problem and Solution • Identify the problem early in the document before you begin discussing the solution. For example, explain the problem when you are purchasing a computer only from the perspective of the brand name and not addressing issues like processing speed, space, customers’ ability to customize etc. • Show how your solution will solve the problem. • Group the stages of your solution into meaningful categories (classification & division).

14. Tips for Using Cause & Effect Patterns • Identify either the cause or the effect near the beginning of the document. Example: Start by explaining why you think you have a good grade in this class or let the readers know that you have a good grade and then explain the possible reasons. Example 2: The computer had virus. Possible reasons? How are you explaining the reasons? Is there a clear reasoning process? • Show how the cause directly related to the effect or how the effect directly relates to the cause. • Group cause and effect into logical sequence. • Use visual aids when appropriate.

15. Tips for Using the Order of Importance Pattern • State the main topic at the beginning. • Tell the readers how you are organizing the information. • Tell the reader why one point is more important than the other. • Use visual aids when appropriate. Example: Explain why it makes sense to buy a computer by looking at the brand value rather than what the computer offers at the same price.

16. Prepare an Outline • An outline helps to see the organization of your document, so that illogical sections are identified. • Outline helps to follow a plan as you write. • An Informal Outline may be a list of plans to do in a document, a preliminary draft of a more formal outline. • A Formal Outline shows a more detailed structure for the information, and it uses numbers and letters. • Analyze Fig. 6.19

17. Tell Readers What You are Writing About • Use OVERVIEW (Introductory Statements) to help readers understand what the document is all about and then let them decide whether they want to continue reading. • Overviews that point out the types of information in a text. • Overviews that identify the specific sections of the text. • Overviews that tell readers how to use the text. • Use Topic Sentences to Tell Readers Your Topic.

18. Use Headings to Show Organization • Write informative headings. • Write grammatically parallel headings. Fig. 6.25) • Use “how to” headings for instructions. • Use key words carefully to tell readers the topic of a sentence.

19. CASE STUDY • COMPLETE THE CASE STUDY ON PAGE 173.