Warnings and Cautions, research project

Subject: Warnings and Cautions, research project
From: ROSE NORMAN <UAHRXN01 -at- UAHVAX1 -dot- BITNET>
Date: Thu, 30 Sep 1993 03:26:00 CST

Warnings and cautions in farm equipment product literature are
the subject of a research project one of my graduate students is
doing this term for a client who writes manuals for a business in
Alabama. She is seeking information and research on product
safety warnings for machinery, specifically:

* guidelines for preparing and evaluating safety warnings
- in manuals
- on products

* ANSI and other standards (she has one ANSI standard)

* published or unpublished papers on the subject or related subjects

For a practical article, I have referred her to an *IEEE
Transactions in Professional Communications* article on warnings
and cautions. For a more theoretical (speech act theory)
approach, I've suggested David Dobrin's "Do Not Grind Armadillo
in This Mill," which concerns product liability language posing as
instructions. I also have several conference papers from people
working with procedures for the nuclear power industry. These
last make the following distinction in terminology:

* Warning - concerns matters that may lead to bodily harm

* Caution - concerns matters that may harm the product or data

* Note - concerns non-warning/caution material; usage similar to
"footnote"

Perhaps this topic has come up on TECHWR-L in the past and is
archived? If not, I'd like to start such a discussion. I'll be
glad to post full bibliographic information on whatever resources
my student compiles from this list and the library.

Rose

*****************************************************************
Rose Norman
Associate Professor of English and
Director of Business and Technical Writing
English Department
University of Alabama in Huntsville
Huntsville, AL 35899

Phone: 205/895-6320 Fax: 205/895-6949
Internet: UAHRXN01 -at- ASNUAH -dot- ASN -dot- NET Bitnet: RNORMAN -at- UAHVAX1
*****************************************************************
"Conventionality is not morality." Charlotte Bronte
*****************************************************************


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