English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

This week our group began researching our topic of Open Source vs. Microsoft, and began formulating some of the whitepaper designs. The research proceeded once we had agreed upon a solid primary audience and the motive of the whitepaper. Once we were able to break down our audience into a more specific set of user we found it would be easier to research the subject.

We each set our and began researching and properly documenting our material. We all basically decided to summarize our sources and some of the information we found. Many of use research some case studies and cost analysis of the different solutions. We found lots of great sources and material that will ultimately benefit the logos of our whitepaper. This being a scholarly piece of literature, logos are of our utmost concern. The logistics behind the factual numbers that will be presented in our paper will eventually support a logical solution for the Open Source vs. Microsoft dilemma.

In addition to our research we also agreed upon a basic layout for our whitepaper. We each analyzed each other’s thumbnail posts and came to a basic layout agreement. We decided to implement a two column layout with the use of color and several other features to adequately portray the information. We think the two column layout will allow readers to easily reference our charts and graphs that will coexist in the paper and also read the associated text while cross referencing these figures.

Overall the group is moving ahead right on schedule and we haven’t hit any serious bumps in the road yet. Our plan for the upcoming week is to focus on our draft paper and start formulating the actual product. We’ll be mainly communicating via email as to who is responsible for what portions of the paper. Once the draft has been constructed we’ll all be proof reading the document and commenting and making changes accordingly.