Dawn Jackson
Technical Writing Samples

 

 

Site Updated: 10/16/09

 

 

The following writing examples were created during the course of my career as a professional and technical writer. On this page, you will find samples of:
Brochures Websites Technical Documentation
Advertisements Newsletters Companion Guides
White Papers    

  • Brochures -
    Promotional pieces sent to perspective students and handed out at conferences.
  • Websites -
    In addition to designing the template and creating this website, I have created and maintained several departmental and division websites, including:
    • Computing Services - site utilizes a new university-wide content management system.
    • International Software Research - attached is a PDF website archive of the website I created for this division when it was known as ISRI.
    • MSE Distance Education - attached is a PDF website archive of the website I created for this department before they changed to a content management system several years later.

  • Technical Documentation
    During the course of my career, I have created many technical documentation pieces which guide a user through installing or using software applications and systems.
    • Print documentation examples - I collaborated with several departments in Computing Services to create how-to guides for installing software and using applications and equipment. This documentation is available online for users to freely access. The members of my department and I have created all of the pieces on this page and continuously work to ensure the documentation is updated as the software changes.
    • Video documentation examples - as companion pieces to the written documentation, I scripted video documentation and collaborated with the producer to shoot and finalize the products. You could even say I starred in them, as my hands were manipulating the equipment on-screen.
    • Best Practices example - During the course of some projects, I was called upon to collaborate with the team and create a best practices guide with recommendations and suggestions for users. This particular guide was created to advise staff and faculty about the change in the Purchasing system requirements, recommend scanners and configuration settings, as well as provide general usage and stor

  • Advertisements
    Ads and short advertisement articles (advetorials) placed in technical periodicals.
  • Newsletters
    • Cursor, Winter 2008 - This is one issue of a bi-annual newsletter that my department creates to apprise the campus of changes in Computing Services. The three pieces that I contributed to this edition are identified on the first page.
    • WOCA, Spring 2004 - This is one of the quarterly newsletters that I designed and wrote for my community civic association while serving as Secretary.

  • Companion Guides
    While a Courseware Specialist for the MSE-Distance Education Program, one of my main tasks was to collaborate with faculty members to create companion guides for the students. These guides, along with the Blackboard websites that I created for each course, would be used to help identify assignments, lecture objectives, and projects. I had five simultaneously running courses under my care each semester. Here are the guides for two of them:
  • Technical White Papers
    These are two of the technical white papers that I collaborated with the content owners in order to create, while an undergraduate student: