Acknowledgments

About This Textbook

This open textbook has been created as part of the LOUIS OER for Dual Enrollment Project and is shared under a Creative Commons-Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The five faculty who created this adaptation of Professional Communications: A Common Approach to Work-place Writing (Adrienne Abel, Sydney Epps, Veronika Humphries, Sumita Roy, and Joseph Williams) worked together to create the overall learning outcomes and structure of the book, and each person wrote or adapted three of the fifteen chapters. Jeanne Pavy served as the project manager.

We would like to acknowledge the original text that this book is based on:
Professional Communications: A Common Approach to Work-place Writing by Melissa Ashman, Jordan Smith, Brian Dunphy, and Andrew Stracuzzi.

Throughout the adaptation, Canadian references were changed to American references, and American English was substituted for British spelling and phrasing. Broken external and internal links were deleted or replaced. Below are specific chapter-level edits and additions made by the authors of Strategies for Effective Business Communication:

Chapter 1 – Sydney Epps

• Minor wording edits
• Added: 5 images and 8 h5p activities

Chapter 2 – Veronika Humphries

• Part of chapter introductory paragraph rewritten
• First paragraph in sections 2.2.1 and 2.2.4
• The title and section 2.2.5 written
• New title of section 2.3 created. Entire table 2.3 featured in section 2.3 rewritten and changed it into paragraph form.
• Added: 5 h5p activities

Chapter 3 – Sumita Roy

• Original content: section 3.2 (Eliminating Bias in Research)
• Wording edits—edited or removed phrases and sections that were irrelevant or unclear
• Added: 1 h5p activity and assignments

Chapter 4 – Sumita Roy

• Original content: section 4.5.2 (Eliminating Bias in Language)
• Wording edits—edited or removed phrases and sections that were irrelevant or unclear
• Replaced table 4.4.2b with a different openly licensed table
• Added: 2 h5p activities, assignments

Chapter 5 – Sydney Epps

• Replaced inactive links with other citations from notable institutions
• Added 1 h5p activity
• Added h5p activity

Chapter 6 – Veronika Humphries

• The chapter introductory paragraph in Section 6.1. written and renamed to “Positive Messages: Information, Requests, and Replies.”
• Renamed Subsection 6.1.1. to “Providing Information.” Removed the last two paragraphs of Section 6.1.2.1. Modified section 6.1.3. Replies to requests.
• Substantially edited section 6.2.2: Replying to Complaints or Claims. Renamed and rewritten subsection 6.2.2 to “Replies to Complaints or Claims” and reworded the second paragraph. Moved subsection 8.2.2.1 to become part of section 6.2.2. The second paragraph in subsection 6.2.2.2, the introductory paragraph in section 6.3, and subsection 6.3.1 were rewritten. Renamed subsection 6.3.2 to “Indirect approach in negative messages” and replaced “bad-news” with “negative” in all subsections.
• Added: 3 visuals; 2 videos; and 4 h5p exercises

Chapter 7 – Sumita Roy

• Original content: section 7.1 (Classical Rhetoric) and 7.2 (Aristotle and the Three Appeals)
• Wording edits – edited or removed phrases and sections that were irrelevant or unclear
• Added: video, 2 h5p activities, assignments

Chapter 8 – Veronika Humphries

• Chapter introductory paragraph written
• Chapter headings and subheadings changed.
• Section 8.1 on email rewritten. Rewritten section 8.1.3 on Subject Line Length. Rewritten opening paragraph and changed title of section 8.1.4 Opening & Salutation. Bulleted list in section 8.1.10 rewritten into paragraph form. Added section in 8.1.6.1 on how to set up email signatures in Outlook. Rewritten section 8.1.8 and renamed it Final Revisions.
• Table 8.2.3 rewritten into text format. Updated legislation to reflect United States standards in section 8.2.2 “Legal Responsibilities” and added a paragraph at the end of the section. Rewritten the first paragraph of section 8.2.3 “Using Social Media Professionally” and added a new paragraph at the end. Written new section 8.2.4, “The Dark Side of Technology.” Written new section 8.3.1 “Enterprise Messaging.”
• Added: 4 h5P exercises

Chapter 9 – Adrienne Abel

• Sections 9.1–9.3 from original textbook with minor edits by Adrienne Abel and additional content adapted from various sources, as noted in References
• Chapter headings and subheadings changed
• Added: 4 videos, external links, and 1 h5P exercise (created by Abel)

Chapter 10 – Adrienne Abel

• Sections 10.1–10.3 from original textbook with minor edits by Adrienne Abel and additional content adapted from various sources, as noted in References
• 10.4: adapted from various sources, as noted in References
• Chapter headings and subheadings changed
• Added: 7 videos, external links, and 1 h5P exercise (created by Abel)

 Chapter 11 – Adrienne Abel

• Sections 11.1–11.3 from original textbook with minor edits by Adrienne Abel and additional content adapted from various sources, as noted in References
• 10.5: adapted from various sources, as noted in References, with some original content by Abel
• 11.5: Original content (including h5p) by Abel
• Added: 5 videos, external links, 1 image, and 1 h5P exercise (created by Abel)

Chapter 12 – Joseph Williams

• Mostly new content
• Minor wording edits from original text in 12.3 and 12.5
• Added: h5p activity and assignments

Chapter 13 – Joseph Williams

• All new content
• Added: h5p activity and assignments

Chapter 14 – Joseph Williams

• All new content
• Added: h5p activity and assignments

Chapter 15 – Sydney Epps

• Mostly new content
• Expanded information discrimination and harassment, including on #metoo and LGTBQ people
• Minor wording edits from original text in 12.3 and 12.5
• Added: 25p activities and images