Effective Technical Writing in the Information Age

Welcome to Style for Students Online

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Joe Schall

Effective Technical Writing in the Information Age

For students and others who read it, this style manual quickly becomes a favorite resource.  Whether planning a paper, running a grammar check, completing a report, composing an email, puzzling over a usage or grammar issue, or writing a resume or online portfolio, you are bound to find the material and examples you need in Style for Students Online.  Drawing from his breadth of experience as a tutor, teacher, editor, and creative writer, Joe Schall provides technical writing advice that spans from the conceptual to the niggling.  Thoughtful, practical, up-to-date, and rich in pith, Style for Students Online should be bookmarked as one of your oft-visited websites.

About the Author

Joe Schall was the Giles Writer-in-Residence for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State from 1988 until 2008. He received an M.A. in English from Penn State in 1988 and a B.S. in English Education from Juniata College in 1981. He has won numerous honors for his writing and teaching, including the Bobst Award for Emerging Writers from New York University and the Wilson Award for Outstanding Teaching from Penn State’s College of Earth and Mineral Sciences. His publications range from short stories to style guides (Writing Recommendation Letters Online and Writing Personal Statements Online). He has published articles about writing in a wide variety of magazines, including Graduating Engineer and Computer Careers, Writers' Forum, and Academe. By invitation, he has previously taught writing workshops on the subjects of his style guides at over 20 schools, including Pepperdine University, MIT, Roanoke College, Messiah University, San Francisco State University, and the University of Southern Mississippi. Joe Schall is currently a Health Communications Specialist for the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.

Features of this Manual

  • Internal search engine.
  • Printer-friendly chapters and pages.
  • "Self-Study" links to additional resources and recommended websites.
  • Sample documents available as PDFs or in-text.

Permission to Use Material from this Manual

This manual is available for free use by students, faculty, and other interested parties, and the intention is to make this material as widely available as possible. For those interested in obtaining permission to use any material herein, the rules are spelled out by the creative commons license, available by clicking here.

Comments on this Manual

Comments on this manual are welcomed and can be directed to the author at schall@ems.psu.edu.