English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

For this project we propose to cover the use of wind turbines as a renewable source of energy. The paper will go into detail about implementing these wind turbines domestically. This topic will cover a variety of subtopics related to wind turbines. One of the most important subtopics covered will be describing how wind turbines are able to convert wind into usable electricity. The paper will also provide a comparison amongst other popular renewable sources of energy such as solar power.

This week the group all got introduced via email. We decided that we are going to be using Google Docs in order to share our documents. We also divided up the work load of group activity reports. Since there are four weeks we each took one. I took week fifteen. We also discussed and came up with the topic of wireless security for our white paper subject. As part of my work for the proposal I looked up six different possible sources for our research. All of my sources were on the internet.

My first assignment on this project was the potential sources aspect of the proposal. I wasn’t quite sure what needed to be done for this so I basically just looked up some sources that looked good in terms of research. I know there are many different sources on this subject which is wind turbines for domestic applications. It is one of those subjects that is gaining popularity so there are many different places where you can research and or buy these products. I started looking around using google and found a plethora of sites that involved these turbines.

White papers are quite useful. They are well written and well reviewed papers that go into depth about a topic. For this reason, they can also be a lot of work.

Companies can use white papers to sell their products. The white papers allow them to educate others and spread the word about their products. There are a lot of cases when people would feel much better about buying a product if they had more in depth knowledge about it.

OK, I follow the idea of “White Papers” are created to inform and offer unique value to an organization, which is a term I had not crossed until this assignment. However, the idea they provide , as Elissa Miller states in the steak behind the sizzle, “…unbiased information and analysis” is a perplexing issue to me.

This week’s reading on white papers had a very practical and informative affect on me. Through the past years I’ve dealt with white papers and found them to be very useful. However, I am simply but one type of audience. The biggest thing, once again, for a successful white paper is to clearly know your audience before the end product and address all of their needs through this end product.

I think white papers are my second favorite kind of technical document, mostly because of the lack of what we so dubiously call 'fluff'. As such, the audience profile should be quite a bit different from the previous projects. The primary readers, at least, for the employment and instructions projects were more or less laity, but now (finally) we move on to technical primary readers. As noted by the Steak Behind the Sizzle white paper on white papers, they seem to be generally bimodal and function as both as a technical information source and they have a significant marketing angle.

After reading what we are supposed to be talking about I had no idea what it was that white papers were. After reading through some of the examples I was able to get some what of an idea of what white papers are. What I was able find out was that white papers are used as a medium to explain a certain topic or idea. White papers usually include a lot of different aspects. White papers include facts, statements, and persuasive information or statements that will help sell an idea.

Personally, I have never heard of a White Paper before and I can imagine I am not the only one. After reading through the readings, I am still left with one question, why is it called a White Paper? Did I miss something in the readings? Anyhow, after completing the readings, I realized not only have I read a lot of White Papers, it is actually the ideal document I look for when I need information on a topic. I look for these because not only do they contain lots of information, but they typically contain both pros AND cons to a subject.

This week’s readings focus on the subject of our final class project: white papers. A white paper is a document to assist decision-makers in their decision-making product. The concept of a white paper can be universally applicable, be it to assist a CEO on implementing a new business strategy, inform a government official about a pressing issue, or outline how a new product or technology creates solutions. White papers serve as unbiased collections of information and data that outline solutions in an objective way.