English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

After reviewing the instructor’s feedback regarding our white paper proposal, my team and I are confident that we have chosen a sound topic and now have a more precise heading to guide our research. Initially, we had planned to target organizations of all sizes with our white paper, regarding both problem and solution. However, as Nathaniel has suggested, we have tightened the focus of our paper to target a single group, small organizations that suffer from a lack of collaboration, which in turn affects performance in each business sector, as well as in the organization as a whole. In refining this focus, as section C of chapter 14 in The Thomson Handbook covers, we can “learn enough about our subject to effectively pose and respond to the problem.” Attempting to address both small and large scale organizations in a single white paper would not only prove difficult, but would also hinder the effectiveness of the document. As Nathaniel also suggested, “small companies make decisions differently from huge companies, and you cannot expect to satisfy both at the same time.”

Another major issue that we must address, as mentioned in the instructor’s feedback, is viable alternative solutions, specifically the number of. Our proposal primarily outlined a single solution to improve and increase collaboration in an organization. Although we only addressed Microsoft SharePoint in the proposal, we plan to present a number of alternative solutions in our white paper, i.e. ThinkFree and Zoho.com, as well as advantages and disadvantages of each.

To account for each of the aforementioned concerns, my team and I will divide up the individual topics and thoroughly research each independently. After doing so, we will review one another’s research before compiling each portion of the paper. For instance, one member will be responsible for researching the specific issues that small companies face due to a lack of collaboration; another will research specific advantages and disadvantages of the viable solutions, and so on for each topic to be covered. Once all of the information is gathered and prepared, we will meet to review and edit each piece as a group, before it is included in the final draft.

The majority of our research will likely come from the Internet, with much help from search engines like Google. However, I am confident that we will spend plenty of time in the libraries, trying to dig up information that can only be found on the shelves. As covered in chapter 16 of The Thomson Handbook, “the library plays a critical role in the digital age, serving as a repository/archive of printed text and also as a filter for the best resources available.” Libraries also possess many rare and/or subscription-only texts/media, as well as the “information finding experts,” or librarians. So, I anticipate that many of our future meetings will begin or end somewhere within Hicks.