2: White Paper Project

The form of Project 2 is the white paper, a common report genre in the professional world. White papers are used in business, industrial, and governmental contexts to sum up the gist of what’s known about a subject and sometimes to market a specific product. During this project you will learn about

  • the white paper genre through collaborative creation of a white paper
  • new forms of electronic communication and their uses in the workplace and other professional
    situations
  • collaboration, project management, and strategies for writing and revising

    • At the beginning of this project, you will be placed by your instructor into a group with fellow students. Each of the major components of this project will be completed in collaboration with group members. Individuals must also keep a project log at their course blog following these guidelines. Everyone will also be asked to email a peer collaborative evaluation form (Word format) independently to the instructor when Project 2 is due. To find out more about the purpose and form of white papers, see Writing Effective White Papers.

    Discussion

  • Learning about the genre of white papers

    • You'll spend some time in the early part of the project reading sample white papers and about electronic communication and new Web technologies so that you can get comfortable with the genre and the general topic. You will see that although you may not be that familiar with new forms of communication technologies yet, you'll learn about it quickly. In fact, you already know much more about it than you realize since this English 420S website uses Drupal, which is itself a popular "content management system" and blogging network that is used in a wide variety of professional situations.

  • Rhetorical Situation:

    • The primary audience for your writing will consist of people who, like yourself, wonder about how the workplace has changed as a result of new communication technologies and, in particular, what lies ahead. A subsidiary audience is the people responsible for making important decisions for organizations who want to capitalize on these new technologies to promote better communication, collaboration, brand recognition, sales, or other systems on which organizations may rely heavily. The purpose of your white paper should be to provide essential and accurate background reading on an important and interesting topic. Here are some suggestions for possible topics (there are many possibilities, so think of these only as examples of what mgiht be possible). You could also browse, to get some leads, a listing of new applications such as Google makes available (http://www.google.com/intl/en/options/) or is now testing (http://labs.google.com/).

      Web 2.0 and What It Means for Business (or Nonprofits); could focus on a specific Web 2.0 technology (like del.icio.us, for example)
      Business or Organizational Uses of Weblogs; might focus on issues of privacy, weblogs as building networks with customers and other organizations, as generating hype, and even advertising.
      The Changing Nature of Email in the Workplace; might focus on new email apps; use of PDA email, text messaging, or other means of exchanging messages asynchronously (over time)
      Collaboration in Virtual Environments; might focus on a particular software technology that facilitates collaboration
      Internet-Based Software; might focus on how organizations use or might use Internet-based applications like Google Page Creator or Writerly.
      Open Source Applications for Business; might focus on a particular open source application (like Drupal, for example)
      New Applications for Mobile (or Wireless) Computing in the Workplace

    Project Goals
    This project emphasizes several important goals that all professional writers should bear in mind and that are consistent with those of the Professional Writing Program at Purdue.

  • Writing in Context

    • Analyze professional cultures, social contexts, and audiences to determine how they shape the various purposes and forms of writing, such as persuasion, organizational communication, and public discourse.

  • Writing Process

    • Develop and understand various strategies for planning, researching, drafting, revising, and editing documents that respond effectively and ethically to professional situations and audiences.

  • Collaboration

    • Learn and apply strategies for successful collaboration, such as working and communicating on-line with colleagues, setting and achieving project goals, and responding constructively to peers' work.

  • Research

    • Understand and use various research methods to produce professional documents, including analyzing professional contexts, assessing and using information resources, and determining how various media and technologies affect and are affected by users and readers.

  • Technology

    • Develop strategies for using and adapting various communication technologies to manage projects and produce informative and usable professional documents.

  • Document Design

    • Learn to argue with visual data, understanding and implementing various principles of format, layout, and design of professional documents that meet multiple user and reader needs.

    Deliverables

  • Project proposal

    • Each group will do preliminary research, come up with an original topic, and create a story post that others can respond to and that will serve as your clearinghouse for the project. See calendar for more details.

  • Project logs

    • Each group member will keep a weekly project log on their individual weblog.

  • Research posts

    • Each individual group member will, in coordination with the rest of the group, research in depth the group's topic and post their notes to their individual weblogs on the course website.

  • Annotated bibliography

    • At the end of the research phase, the group will assemble an annotated bibliography with at least eight sources from each group member and post it to their project blog.

  • White paper drafts

    • The group is responsible for the timely creation of multiple drafts of the white paper. Each draft of your white paper will be posted to your project blog. The first draft of your white paper will be 3,000-4,500 words + bibliography. Following the first draft, you will receive further instructions for a revision assignment for creating draft 2. As you revise your white paper, you will work from global concerns (e.g., content development and organization) toward local concerns (proofreading and editing), with peer review focused on the major concerns at each stage of the revision.

    The final draft of your white paper should:

      Demonstrate a good knowledge of the white paper genre.
      Be rhetorically sensitive to the needs of your primary and subsidiary audiences.
      Be well supported by research and nicely balanced in its treatment of the subject.
      Be properly cited in the text and include a references section.
      Contain a consistent voice and style throughout so that it's clear there has been group consensus and consistency.
      Be free of proofreading and editing problems.
  • Peer Collaboration Evaluation Form

    • At the end of the project, each group member will provide a detailed evaluation of all of the group's members and submit the form to the instructor.
    A more thorough, day-by-day explanation for all deliverables and other details are included in the course calendar, starting in Week 7.

  • Collaboration

    • Successful collaboration will be a critical component of this project. To summarize, you should

      Work collaboratively with the rest of the group in researching and drafting a white paper, including participating in any online group meetings and providing deliverables in a timely manner in the
      requested format.
      Follow good professional communication practices, especially in project logs and any messages that represent your group work.
      Copy all group members on any email communication regarding the project (including when you contact the instructor, unless of a sensitive nature).
      When assigned, provide detailed feedback to other groups on their projects/drafts.
      As a group, respond to any and all feedback offered to the group's project.
      Conduct oneself in a professional manner in all group communication and when giving
      feedback to other groups.

    Grading
    Your individual grade for this project will be based the work produced by your team and the quality of your contribution to the project, as determined by your project evaluation forms and project logs. Project 2 is worth 25% of your overall course grade.

    Revision & Peer Review Guidelines

    PROJECT 2 - REVISION & PEER REVIEW

    Your Goals for Revision of the Original White Paper

    Now that you have completed the first full draft of your group's white paper (3,000-4,500 + bib), the revision
    assignment is to reduce the draft to 2,000-2,500 + bibliography (no more, no
    less) for the next and final draft, due by Wednesday, March 26th, by midnight. Writing is about
    making choices, and in reducing the draft to its concise form, your group will have to make
    choices about what text to keep or expand, what to remove, and what to summarize. In
    making good choices, the group should end up with a tighter, better focused draft than would
    have been possible otherwise.
    As you revise, the group should revisit the draft as a whole, consider any possible restructuring and what sections
    of the paper might be greatly reduced (summarized) or eliminated altogether. Obviously, most
    groups will have to reallocate who works on what areas of the paper since some areas are likely
    to be greatly reduced.

    Peer Feedback on Draft 1 of the Original White Paper

    In giving feedback, keep in mind the task that each group has for revising this document and where they are in the drafting process. Obviously, you should avoid making mostly proofreading and editing comments. Try to address the following:

  • Analyze the structure of the paper. Could any section(s) or paragraph(s) be reorganized?
    Considering the outline of the various sections given by the headings, is the overall structure
    the best way to organize the paper?
  • Check to see if the white paper has an argument within it about the topic under investigation, and comment on whether this argument is clear enough to you as a reader.
  • Point out which sections in the paper you feel are most important and least important. Since
    the paper will be heavily reduced in length, describe sections/paragraphs that might be
    summarized or eliminated all together.
  • Note wherever the writing is unclear to you or where you feel something needs to be explained more. Were there any concepts or terms that you did not understand? Are there any particular areas in the paper which deserve to be expanded because you feel they are important topics?
  • Note in the paper anywhere where you feel the authors are stating their own opinions rather than reporting on what their research says.
  • Note any problems you might observe with how the paper fits the white paper genre.
  • Important: Since documentation of sources is a critically important aspect of professional research, if you notice any citation problems in MLA format, point them out to the authors.