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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Chapter 4 Ethics and the Workplace Writer
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethics Are ‣ The principles of right and wrong one lives by in a community ‣ Local and contingent ‣ Dependent on available tools and context
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Study of Ethics ‣ Metaethics: where ethics come from ‣ Normative ethics: how we arrive at ethical standards ‣ Applied ethics: examine the two above and how they relate to particular issues
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Recognize ethics as more than simple choices requires the ability to analyze contexts and make informed ethical/rhetorical decisions
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Legal vs. Ethical ‣ What is ethical may not be legal ‣ What is legal is certainly not always ethical ‣ A good rule to live by is “just because I can, doesn’t mean I should”
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethics and the Workplace Writer ‣ Ethics is now a central concern of workplace writing ‣ Many recent disasters — like the charred O- rings in the Challenger — are linked to poor documentation ‣ Attention to ethics should reduce the number of human disasters
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethical Guidelines Ideas about ethics that help you think carefully about issues you may face when writing bigfoto.com
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Guideline 1: The Law ‣ Sometimes acting ethically may require that you do more than the law requires ‣ Writers must ethically represent the legal conditions within documents ‣ Writers must be exact in the legal facets of their documents ‣ Writers cannot assume that something legal is also ethical ‣ Writers must understand that laws also differ from place to place ‣ Writers are held accountable for their writing by the same laws that protect them
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Liability Laws ‣ Liability refers to the condition of being found responsible or answerable by law or equity ‣ Protect users from defective products, accidents and inappropriate actions bigfoto.com
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Environmental Laws ‣ Environmental laws often address issues such as: ‣ Energy Use ‣ Waste Disposal ‣ Land Use ‣ Natural Resource Use ‣ Water Rights bigfoto.com
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Copyright Laws ‣ Give “owners” of textual and visual works the right to display, publish, reproduce, license, and distribute them ‣ Protect audio recording, films, software, graphic arts, and even architectural designs bigfoto.com
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Patent Laws ‣ Protect the rights of inventors and creators ‣ Ensure them the sole right to produce, use, or sell their products ‣ Applies to new technologies, products, services, and processes
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Trademark & Servicemark Laws ‣ Trademarks (™) are names, symbols, devices, or words that accompany and distinguish goods ‣ Servicemarks (®) are essentially the same as trademarks, but identify a service Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Contract Laws ‣ Make written agreements between parties that are legally binding ‣ Provide solutions to disputes when those agreements have been breached ‣ Must be understood in order to write legally binding contracts
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Guideline 2: Honesty ‣ Disseminating false information is illegal and unethical ‣ Obscuring the truth or vaguely representing information is illegal and unethical ‣ Writers must present information in a clear, concise, and coherent manner
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Guideline 3: Confidentiality ‣ Inappropriate transmission of sensitive information could cost a company contracts, money, jobs or reputation ‣ Be clear about what information can be (or should be) made public ‣ Protects the privacy of professional relationships
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Codes of Ethics Address issues such as harassment, grievances, employee relations, and basic business practices bigfoto.com
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethics and Technology ‣ Applies to developing networked technologies ‣ Influenced by laws, social norms, the market, and network architecture ‣ Involves issues of privacy, ownership, and accuracy
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Visuals Anyone can fake an image with digital technology Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Visuals Should Not Be Used ‣ To discredit others ‣ To alter images for one’s benefit ‣ To emphasize or de-emphasize particular aspects of the image ‣ To create an information reality that did not exist
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Guidelines for Writing Ethically ‣ Avoid deceptive or evasive language ‣ Clarify the issue or subject ‣ Avoid abstract language and jargon ‣ Suppress or emphasize information in ethical ways ‣ Use accurate and appropriate visuals ‣ Avoid plagiarism ‣ Insure the accuracy of information
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethical Writer’s Checklist ‣ Is the information presented in my document honest? ‣ Is the information presented in my document legal? ‣ Does the information I present in my document impact local or global environments? ‣ How does the use of technology affect my document?
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethical Writer’s Checklist ‣ Does my use of visuals accurately represent the truth? ‣ Does my language obscure the truth in any way? ‣ Have I used vague, ambiguous, misleading, abstract language in my document, and if so does its use alter the meaning of the document? ‣ Can my document be interpreted in inaccurate ways?
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Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved. Ethical Writer’s Checklist ‣ Is my document jargon filled? ‣ Have I confirmed all information I’ve presented? ‣ Have I cited all information I have gathered and used in the document? ‣ If there are inaccuracies in the information, have I reported them before the document has been published/made public?
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