| Syllabus |
By virtually anyone's measure, about a third of professional communication is non-textual in nature. Non-textual elements, in this context, refers to
Given significant changes in "production" technologies, these elements
may be presented as either
Yet, we rarely try to understand what happens when a reader considers
the presence of a non-textual element. We still, for instance, hear (or
ask ourselves) should this non-textual information be included in the text
or in an appendix or at all? Knowing something about, at the least, the
function and "rules" for using non-textual material can help us answer
such questions.
Like our earlier consideration of the Levels of Edit (Lecture 4), we need not concern ourselves with all of the possible variations on assessing non-textual elements in the context of this course. However, for our purposes, the most useful categories include the Functions and Tasks, and the System Rules. Let's consider each of these in detail.
Assessing Functions and Tasks asks us to evaluate the purpose(s) for including the non-textual element. Typically, these elements have three purposes:
1. Compression
They allow a significant amount of information to be recorded in a relatively small area. For example, a textual comparison of the performance of several devices might require a densely packed paragraph. It would also likely require the reader to catalog and combine that text in some useful fashion. Depending on the complexity of the comparison, that could be a daunting task. Consider, for example, this change from text to decision table. (Interestingly, this example emphasizes a common difficulty I find in student papers. If you find that you have created a text that has either (a) a significant number of comparisons in it, or (b) a fair number of conditional--if-then--statements, then you should consider a non-textual alternative.)
2. Access
They provide excellent access and retrieval techniques. In searching for the correct travel method in the previous example, a reader would find the appropriate "if" condition in the "stub" column and match that with its logical "then" condition in the correct "head" column. (See Rubens, p. 362). Readers DO exhibit relatively predictable "reading" habits for dealing with many non-textual elements.
3. Memorability
While one can certainly argue that text is equally memorable, non-textual
elements often add a visual dimension, and perhaps some visual cues, that
help readers remember their content. It may be argued, simply, that text/non-textual
reinforcement provide two input channels and that redundancy, real or imagined,
helps readers remember better than text alone. There are, to be sure, instances
in which non-textual elements present information more effectively and
efficiently. Imagine, if you will, trying to explain the quadratic equation
textually rather than symbolically. A similar argument can be made of many
non-textual representations.
The creation of non-textual elements is controlled by a set of System Rules that include:
1. Function
Much of what I described in the section above applies here. That is, the reasons for using non-textual elements must be considered. For example, it may be that your company routine relies on non-textual elements because its primary purpose is the production or servicing of physical devices. It would be difficult to imagine using only words in such an extreme case. Or, it may be that your company engages in an activity that requires the use of non-textual information in whole or part. For instance, patents require illustrations, legal description of right-of-ways require surveys and maps, and pharmaceutical research requires scientific symbology. I'm certain you can add your own examples to that list. Finally, your company may use non-textual elements only occasionally. Financial reports, proposals, and the like often include spreadsheets.
2. Schema
This term simply means that you have devised a systematic approach to non-textual material that identifies it as uniquely yours. For instance, many materials that you can link to from pages in this website have a pale yellow background, generally use teal as an accent color, and may use "dropout" white as a header "color." In addition, you often encounter some italicized, indented text, set in "rust." All of those are techniques I have used to identify materials I have developed specifically for this course. But schema goes beyond that level to include how we think about the development of non-textual information. At this point I invited you to consider the idea of Schema or Idiom in more detail.
When I examine the steps and activities that underlie the process of developing an idiom, I find that, like my perceptions about text evaluation from the global level, we tend to rely on the easiest aspects of creation, and decision-making, as possible, Thus, I'd maintain that we tend to consider our goals and the kind of information product we need to produce. We also think about production values, craft (though we are likely to rely on others for this aspect), and structure (though not very well). For me this means that we tend to ignore what the table refers to as idiom or style. That omission, it seems to me, accounts for a major gap in our understanding of how to develop useful non-textual (as well as textual) information.
So, I would argue, we need (the "WE" referring to corporate as well as individual authoring agents) to create a sense of idiom or style. While you may think this observation lacks credibility, I only have to point out one major example: Digital, DEC, Digital Equipment Corporation. Well, which is it? This company has long suffered from corporate schizophrenia! But, the examples need not be so overt. Some companies, and I am certain you have experienced this phenomenon, produce both products and supporting information that seem to lack any identifiable consistency. I expect each of you to demonstrate that you CAN develop such a sense of consistency during the remainder of the term.
3. Legibility
While legibility can seem, at first blush, to be a minor aspect of non-textual information, it is certainly the easiest to ignore. For example, I said earlier that some of the linked pages in this website use dropout white for some table titles. I use that technique for legibility on the screen; but, if you print these files, these same titles become invisible on white paper.
Legibility, however, is more than simply ensuring that a reader can physically perceive important information in any visual field. I would suggest, for example, that most of our current conventions for selecting rules, lines, boxes, and shading techniques (all non-textual elements) are considered so routine that we do not consider their relative importance in relation to the information or data they convey. I take the position, as I said earlier, that less is more. Thus, I recommend low-lighting, or otherwise de-emphasizing, the mechanics of non-textual information in favor of the content.
Yes, I understand that I seem to be violating my own principles when I encourage you to consider only some of the elements in the evaluative materials I have provided. However, these materials support a variety of courses and I have tried to focus on those issues that are most relevant for your needs in this course. I encourage anyone who has the time, energy, and interest to pursue those issues we have deliberately ignored.
Non-Textual Elements Evaluation Categories
An Example of Selecting Appropriate Mechanical Elements:
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