The Technical Publications Competition

Category

Description

Reports

Generally, reports summarize the results of a treatment or procedure or describe an organization's status. Common examples of reports are annual reports and technical reports, sometimes called scientific or research reports. Reports can be stand-alone, that is, tied to the results of a specific procedure or effort and issued as the final activity of that effort, or they can be part of an ongoing series, such as an annual or biennial report. Any publication published more four or more times a year should be categorized and judged as a Periodical.

Using these examples, an annual report is a publication that summarizes the activities and/or financial position of a corporation, government agency, or nonprofit community organization. This includes reports that comply with the regulations of government agencies, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, as well as reports of unregulated, nonprofit organizations. A technical report is a report on a scientific or technical effort, usually aimed at the professional community or a contracting agency.

Books

A book is a lengthy document covering one technical subject intended for sale to the public or an end-user outside the organization in which the publication was created.

Reference Materials

Reference Materials are publications that instruct and/or guide and that will be used (once or frequently) by individuals within an organization. Reference materials can also be compilations of an organization's policies. Examples include, training materials, documentation sets, user and administrator manuals, quick reference guides, and organizational manuals.

Training Materials include student guides, tutorials, workbooks, and instructor guides, or sets of these pieces.

Documentation Sets are intended to be used as a unit, and are typically packaged together. Examples include, but are not limited to, software documentation sets, multi-volume reference materials.

User and Administrator Manuals might include software guides. hardware/software combination guides, computer hardware guides, and non-computer equipment guides.

Quick Reference Guides provide ready reference to features and functions about a product or service. These documents present essential information concisely and quickly, so it can be found easily. They often contain graphic devices and other job aids to help fulfill their purpose.

Organizational Manuals present information essential for a business or organization to run successfully. Their audiences are usually specific groups of employees, but might also include volunteers, outside auditors, etc. Organizational manuals include, but are not limited to Employee Manuals, Policy and Procedure Manuals, and Style Guides.

Periodicals

Periodicals are publications that are published four or more times per calendar year as part of a continuing set of publications. They may have very specific audiences, such as employees or organization members only, or more general audiences, such as the public or end-users outside the organization where the publication was created. Examples of periodicals are magazines, newsletters, and scholarly/professional journals.

Magazines are covered and bound serial publications. They include features and regular columns in an established format that people recognize. Advertising may or may not be included. Magazines are controlled by an identifiable publisher or owner and are served by editorial staff. They can contain news and information about an organization, technology, industry, or scientific field. They can serve internal, external, special interest, or general public audiences.

Newsletters are regularly scheduled publications that include brief articles and flexible formats. They generally have lower budgets and fewer pages than magazines, may or may not have photographs and illustrations, and are not generally bound. Newsletters generally focus on one or just a few specific topics, such as those about a company's employees or products, and they may be intended for an internal or external audience. Their primary purpose is to deliver information that interests readers and, at the same time, promotes the sponsor's interests.

Scholarly/Professional Journals appear as covered and bound serial publications. They have features and regular columns in an established format that people recognize. Journals are controlled by an identifiable publisher. They are served by an editorial staff and often a governing editorial board. Writing style may tend to be more formal than the other publications described above, and design creativity may be limited, in keeping with standards defined by the profession. Journals are usually targeted to a limited and specialized audience and typically contain information about research and developments in a particular discipline or profession.

Articles

A submission to this category is a single article. Types of articles include scholarly or professional articles and trade or news articles.

Scholarly or Professional Articles appear in academic or professional journals or scholarly books as an original contributions of knowledge.

Trade or News Articles appear in trade journals or general interest periodicals and usually do not contribute original knowledge.

In either case, once submitted, article authors have no control over their documents. For this reason, production, design, and typographic factors are not included for evaluation in this category. For all factors that are included, judges should evaluate the article only for those elements you believe the author could control.

Technical Marketing Support

This category comprises Informational Materials and Promotional Materials:

Informational Materials are designed to attract potential buyers by providing information about a technical or scientific subject, product, service, or organization. The materials are intended to improve an audience's perceptions and opinions of the subject or sponsor. Visual design, including production values, is very important. So, too, is editing, because errors detract from credibility.

Promotional Materials market a technical product, service, or organization. This category includes advertisements, flyers, brochures, catalogs, and other presales literature. The materials must persuade the audience to take some action, for example, buy a product, donate funds, or download a program, by using integrated text and figures. Visual design, including production values, is very important. So, too, is editing, because errors detract from credibility.