Distance Learners Library Resources

Just because you're not a born writer doesn't mean you should settle for less than perfect business documents. After all, every piece you write reflects directly on the quality of the product or service your business offers. Now, this helpful guide takes the guesswork out of more than 50 commonly used business documents, including: Reports * Proposals * Business plans * Presentations * Press releases * Memos * Email * Newsletters * Collection Letters * Sales materials * And more Arranged alphabetically and cross-referenced for easier use, the book presents clear examples of how to (and how not to) create winning materials every time. The authors' step-by-step instructions begin with an overview of the writing process, from preparation and research right through to final review and publication. Sample documents show you how your pieces should look and read, and close to 300 individual entries cover key points of grammar, style and spelling, and present strategies for writing more clearly, avoiding bias, eliminating clichés, and much more.

The Columbia Guide to Online Style is the standard resource for citing electronic and electronically accessed sources. It is also a critical style guide for creating documents electronically for submission for print or electronic publication. Updated and expanded, this guide now explains how to cite technologies such as Web logs and pod casts; provides more guidance on translating the elements of Columbia Online Style (COS) citations for use with existing print-based formats (such as MLA, APA, and Chicago); and features additional guidelines for producing online and print documents based on new standards of markup language and publication technologies. This edition also includes new bibliographic styles for humanities and scientific projects; examples of footnotes and endnotes for Chicago-style papers; greater detail regarding in-text and parenthetic reference and footnote styles; an added chapter on how to locate and evaluate sources for research in the electronic age; and new examples for citing full-text or full-image articles from online library databases, along with information on how to credit the source of graphics and multimedia files. Staying ahead of rapidly evolving technologies, The Columbia Guide to Online Style continues to be a vital tool for online researchers.

Style guides come in many shapes and sizes, usually focused toward scientific or academic use only. However, business writing is a space occupied by many individuals that has not been given the attention it deserves. The Style Guide for Business Writing, Second Edition, is designed specifically to assist business writers in both the public and private sector, including those publishing with English as a second language; authors of academic papers; business book authors; financial journalists; and writers of reports, proposals or even just e-mail and memoranda. This book provides a comprehensive guide to clear and precise writing that will help develop basic communication skills for the beginner, and refresh the basics for the experienced business writer. Major topics are arranged alphabetically and the cross references and index enable quick and easy access to information. Michael C. Thomsett is a market expert, author, speaker, and coach. His many books include Stock Market Math, Candlestick Charting, The Mathematics of Options, and A Technical Approach to Trend Analysis.

"Most students struggle with learning how to find references, use them effectively, and cite them appropriately in a required format. One of the most common formats is that of APA. The authors all have vast experience teaching writing courses to various levels of students from undergraduates to graduates in other countries. However, there was lacking a book that could explain the basics of APA in simple, easy-to-understand language for non-native speakers of English, who are often unfamiliar with using references and formatting an essay in a particular method. In order to offer English Learner student writers a source of information that is appropriate for their level, and is cost-effective, this updated APA 7th edition guidebook provides students with important information in clear, concise, user-friendly language, as well as to offer practical examples that will help them grasp the concept of secondary research writing. Much of the published materials on the market targets native speakers of English. The problem with this is that they present the nitpicky details of APA in ways that do not make sense to native speakers of English, let alone to those for whom English is not their first language, because the information is presented in very technical terms that are not easy to understand. This handbook presents the same information in simplified terms with images and step-by-step instructions in ways that make sense to both native and non-native English speaking student writers. Additionally, student writers often struggle with understanding the concept of plagiarism, as well as how to find sources, evaluate the appropriateness of sources, and use sources in effective ways (e.g., how to integrate quotes, when to paraphrase, among others). This book provides this important information that is concise and easy to understand."--