English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

Ahhh dead week. More like AAAAAAAA DEAD WEEK!!

This week was spent working on my part of our white paper rough draft. I took the facts I found while doing research last week and put them in to writing. Not only did I need to make sure that I stayed unbiased in my writing, I also really focused on making sure that I properly cited my sources. I hadn't ever cited my sources using footnotes so that was something new. However after looking it up in an MLA book I have, I found that it was quite simple. While I see how it might be better for a technical paper such as this, I much prefer a works cited page at the end.

This week has been a very productive one for Group 3. Using the comments from our thumbnails and emails between the group members, we selected Nigel's layout as the one that we would use for our white paper. The main reason we selected this layout was that we all liked the two-column layout that he used. We felt that this was the best way to balance white space with text. He also used a summary section at the end that will help those who want a quick overview of each section.

The majority of my time this week was spent on researching information for the white paper. Using credible sources I research not only how geothermal technology worked in general but also focused my research on vertical loop geothermal systems. While I did find a good diagram that depicted a vertical loop geothermal system, I would like to also try and find some more facts and figures in regards to time/money that a vertical loop system requires. I believe that this is important as it will provide our audience with all the information to they need to make an educated decision.

Purpose: To better understand the cost and benefits of the vertical loop geothermal systems
Unanswered Questions: None
Source(s): http://www.in.gov/oed/files/GHPProgramreport.pdf
http://www.dsireusa.org/
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/my...
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/my...

Purpose: To better understand vertical loop geothermal systems
Unanswered Questions: What certifications does one need to install a geothermal system?
Source(s): http://www.igshpa.okstate.edu/directory/directory.asp
http://www.energysavers.gov/your_home/space_heating_cooling/index.cfm/my...

Purpose: To better understand the concepts of geothermal technology
Unanswered Questions: None
Source(s): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ajqiPe_9Ko
http://www.geoexchange.org/geothermal/geoexchange-explained/what-is-geoe...

When I saved the file as a PDF the colors didn't quite turn out the way I wanted. Originally in MS Publisher, they were more blue than gray but I almost like this color more. I also tried resizing the picture but obviously it still looks too pixelated so I still need to work on that. I tried doing a summary box in my instruction set but due to the size it didn't work out very well. Hopefully since this will be going on an 8.5"x11" sheet of paper there will be more room. I think that it is an important feature as it allows the reader to quickly get an overall picture of the system.

Chapter 5 in TCT is something that many important people in the news recently should take a few minutes to look over. With all the greed and the “bad decisions” that government leaders, bankers, and investors have made in the recent sub-prime meltdown, it would be easy to assume that there aren’t any morals or ethics left in the world. According to TCT ethics are, “a system of moral, social, and cultural values that govern an individual or community”. TCT takes this definition and breaks it up into 3 subsets: social, personal and conservation.