Let’s Reflect

After going through this entire course learning about documents and documentation, I finally realise that creating something to cater to the public is not that easy. There are so many thing to consider; namely theories, ethics, and detail. If someone were to disregard a small fraction of any one of those elements, the consequences may be very severe.


Source: Google Images

With the rise of technology I think that documentation through digital means may overpower print-media in different aspect. For example, producing documents in the virtual world adds versatility as we get to absorb text, video, and audio at the same time. Therefore it enhances our experience of receiving information.

The entire process of creating and publishing in this blog will not be wasted. The theories presented here would not only apply to simple blogging but the whole world of documentation.

Printed versus Online Newspaper

Soucre: Google Images

Technology is changing ever so rapidly until it seems as though today’s developments would turn obsolete within the next few weeks. With wireless connectivity having an increased presence in one’s mobile phone it might be easier for them to read the virtual newspaper rather than the traditional printed version. I the case of these printed documents, reading them is strictly linear which forces the audience to read from left to right and top to bottom (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

I would sometimes choose to just run through the printed form of newspaper to absorb just enough of information for the day. Penman (1998) calls this kind of individuals as ‘flippers’. By flipping through a document, readers would most likely to stop at something that will catch their attention (Penman, 1998).


Source: The Star Online

In contrast, virtual newspaper readers in general just scan through the document (Nielsen, 1997). Therefore content in digital newspapers are shorter, concise, objective, contain highlighted keywords and hyperlinks, and have one idea per paragraph elements (Nielsen, 1997).

Based on personal experience, hyperlinks are extremely useful to readers. Walsh (2006) shares the same idea with me because hyperlinks allow readers to research more on the particular topic the reader is interested in.

One clear example to illustrate this is Yahoo!.com. As Yahoo! Is my home page in my desktop PC, I always get the chance to find out on the latest happenings through it. The best part about this experience is that sometimes Yahoo! provides text, videos, and external articles which are all related to that one particular story.

As a conclusion, neither forms of newspaper is better than the other. I think it all boils down to how one chooses to use these media in his or her lifestyle. One may take time to slowly read traditional newspaper or breeze through the digital format if he or she is on the go.

References

Kress G., & van Leeuwen T., 2006. Reading images, Chapter 6: The Meaning of Composition, The Netherlands

Nielsen, J., 1997. How Users Read on the Web, http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Penman R., 1998, Document Strutures and Readers’ Habits, Communication News, Vol. 11

Walsh, M. 2006, Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, “The ‘textual shift’: examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts”, Vol.29, No.1, pp.24-37.

Why did I do that?

Were you paying attention to the way my blog was arranged? I think the layout of this blog is rather simple and straight to the point. However, there is theoretical reasoning to why this is put here and not there.

Firstly, everything seems to be arranged right down the middle of the web page. Though this is a default setting in Blogspot, the theoretical backing for this is that the most important item in a document must be the most salient (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

Moreover to the right side of my blog and at the end of each post, there are links to other sources. First of all, they are at those specific locations because they are flanking the main text as they are not as important (Kress and Van Leeuwen, 2006). Secondly the right side is more appropriate than the left as it Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) states, relates to the Given-New theory. I like to call this the ‘before and after’ effect just like the picture below.


Source: Sacred Heart Health System, 2008

In addition to that, links and my blog archive short-cut are useful as navigational devices in a document (Penman, 1998). This is because Penman (1998) emphasised that more complex documents require more tools to navigate around it so that the audience may find it easier to read.

The final theory I would like to mention in those post pays regard to information value. Kress and van Leeuwen (2006) and Bernhardt (1986) illustrated that the meaning of a document increases from one end to another. Starting with the title of the document, followed by my blog posts and ending with references, this clearly shows how the value of a document can change.

There are of course many other theories to consider while creating a document. I feel that too much information in this post may bore my readers. Until next time…

References

Bernhardt S.A., 1986, Seeing the Text, College Composition and Communication, Vol. 37, No. 1, February 1986

Kress G., & van Leeuwen T., 2006. Reading images, Chapter 6: The Meaning of Composition, The Netherlands

Penman R., 1998, Document Strutures and Readers’ Habits, Communication News, Vol. 11

Sacred Heart Health System, 2008, Sacred Heart Health System, Pensacola, Florida, http://www.sacred-heart.org/weightlosssurgery-photos.asp

Sensitivity

Even though we know that sometimes there are fatal road accidents with gruesome results, we do not get to see the mangled bodies in the newspapers. I think that Malaysians in general are rather conservative so accepting violent and controversial content will be quite difficult.

I think that publishing violently squashed bodies in road accidents is not ethical in the Malaysian context. Based on experience, the worst car accident I have seen in local publications would be something like the picture below.


Source: The Straists Times, 2007

In this case, the ethical issue which I think is involved is the lack of detail presented. Weber (1995) stated that sometimes writers choose not to disseminate too much information. On the other hand, providing too much detail may be too much for readers to accept and comprehend (Weber , 1995).

In some cases, the consequences of the lack of cultural sensitivity can be heavy. Makkal Osai, a Tamil daily publication, was suspended for one month because they published a picture of Jesus Christ holding a cigarette in one hand and a beer can in the other (The Star, 2007).

I think that Makkal Osai’s carelessness proved that Malaysians being sensitive to religious and cultural elements, pay attention to such detail and would take action towards such acts. This is because of our cultural upbringing and experiences (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006).

As a conclusion, people understand documents based on their experiences and values. Therefore, documents should sometimes consider only presenting information the audience would want to see. Unexpected details may be either too little or too much for the audience to take in.

References

Kress G., & van Leeuwen T., 2006, Reading images, Chapter 1: The Semiotic Landscape: Language and Visual Communication, The Netherlands

The Star, 2007, Makkal Osai Suspended, The Star, Malaysia, http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2007/8/25/nation/18696017&sec=nation

The Straits Times, 2007, The Straits Times, Singapore, http://www.straitstimes.com/Home_20070620.html

Weber J. H., 1995, Ethics in Scientific and Technical Communication, Australia, http://www.jeanweber.com/newsite/?page_id=22

World-Wide Connectivity

The internet is still growing at a rapid pace though being around for only about 10 years. I am really beginning to appreciate it as I get to access so many features, stories, videos, and audio clips all at the same time. It is not just me. I think that the whole world is experiencing the same joy the internet is providing us today.

I am an avid follower of a few television series such as Heroes, Chuck, and Lost. Who could ask for more entertainment with so much already available? These days, the audience has more to look forward to than their conventional television series. For example, creators of the hit series ‘24’ have come up with ’24 Mobile’ for audiences to watch on their mobile phones (Evans, 2005).

Source: YouTube, 2008

Now as the series is presented over various forms of media, it considers the theory of multimodality (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2006). This is because it is present in both the television and on mobile phones.

I will use the Lord of the Rings (LOTR) trilogy to clarify my point. Originally LOTR was presented through print media. It was presenting using many modes as through print the writing had typical text, punctuations, expression through capital letters and even italics. Also LOTR was transformed into movies therefore using audio and visual elements alongside text as translation for the fictional languages in the story.

Source: Downloadthat.com, 2008

Based on this we can clearly see the popularity of the virtual world. The fusion of text, audio and visual elements create a multimodal document. I think that with these elements a document would become more interesting and would also convey a message more effectively.

References

DownloadThat, 2008, DownloadThat.com, http://www.downloadthat.com/

Evans S., 2005, Short Mobile Movies in Your Pocket, BBC News, BBC, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/4206947.stm

Kress G., & van Leeuwen T., 2006, Reading images, Chapter 1: The Semiotic Landscape: Language and Visual Communication, The Netherlands

YouTube, 2008, YouTube, http://www.youtube.com/

Wiki Wiki Wiki

I believe that people these days, with the rise of broadband internet, demand quick access to information as we are always on the go. But what matters is that the information gathered would have to be credible enough to be used again. Many people have commented that Wikipedia is a very controversial source of information as it is becoming ‘a forum for information vandals and propagandists’ (Daniels & Johnson, 2007).


Source: Wikipedia, 2008

Based on this, I think that Wikipedia will lose its purpose in the digital world. This is because Lannon (1988) stressed that when creating a document, a writer must provide accurate and credible information. This point is very important because based on experience I would not choose to visit that particular website again if I came across misleading information.

Moreover, Wikipedia is becoming more popular among students because it seems to have complete and concise information. This is because students have been caught where their essays contained incorrect information and yet they were similar to one another because they were sourced from Wikipedia (Daniels & Johnson, 2007).

Being students, they would have to provide accurate information. In this case, they fail to do so due to an unreliable main source. Gerson and Gerson (2000) stated that one’s writing will prove to be effective only if it is presented accurately.

As a conclusion and based on my experience, documents are credible if they are not easily manipulated by any individual. Some of them would have to be peer-reviewed such as articles in Harvard Business Reviews. We must be careful not to believe anything we come across on the internet.

References

Daniels L., Johnson A., 2007, The Word on Wikipedia: Trust but Verify, MNSBC, MSNBC.com, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17740041/

Gerson S., Gerson S., 2000, Technical Writing Process and Product, 3rd edn, Prentice Hall, New Jersey

Lannon J. M., 1988, Technical Writing, 4th edn, University Press, Massachusetts, Southern Massachusetts

Wikipedia, 2008, Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

Print against Digital

Other than the obvious differences between these two forms of media, there are more significant ones that really separate one from the other.

According to Neilson (1997), internet readers scan through the document they wish to read a great deal quicker as compared to reading printed text. With this in mind, the digital document must have “concise” and “scanable” (Nielson, 1997) content so that individuals can breeze through the document easily and quickly.

Moreover Nielson (1997) also states that credibility matters a great deal to readers. To gain such recognition a web site should contain highlighted text to emphasise certain issues in text with very good writing, contain high quality graphics, and outbound hyperlinks which relate to the document.

Reference(s)

Nielsen, J., 1997. How Users Read on the Web. http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html