Effective Technical

Documents Using MS Word

Dr. Agustín Rullán
ININ 4079
 Standard Elements of Technical
Documents
• Front Matter • Body • End Matter
– Title page – Introduction – References
– Executive summary – Sections – Appendices.
– Table of contents documenting the Include here
– List of figures core technical data sets and
work. Provide long
– List of tables background explanations or
– List of terms information. Put analyses.
– Acknowledgements emphasis on
summaries and
results, not on
data or long
explanations.
– Conclusions
– Recommendations
 Front Page
• Title of the project
– Must be descriptive of its
contents
• Project/Report phase
• Authors
– Names, UPR emails
• Organization
– University, Department,
Course Number/Title
• Date submitted
• Main Intended Recipients
– Company Sponsor
– Professor
 Executive Summary
• Very short and concise summary of the
content of the report.
• Preferably one compact paragraph in one
page maximum.
• Contains description of problem,
methodology/analysis, findings/conclusion,
main recommendations
 Pagination
• Front Matter
– Number pages with italic lowercase roman
numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, and so on).
– Title page counts as a page i but the number
is not shown.
• Body and End Matter
– Number the pages with Arabic numerals (1, 2,
3, and so on)
– The Introduction should be page 1.
 Sections in Word
• To achieve distinct pagination schemes, each
part must have own section in document.
• To create a new document section
– Select Page Layout tab
– Select Breaks
– In Section Breaks select Next Page
• This will split the document into two separate
sections that can have different formatting.
• The new section will begin on the next page.
To insert a new section…
 To display the section number…

Right click
Two distinct
sections. Each can
have different
formatting, header,
footer and
pagination
scheme.
 Pagination in MS Word
• You will need at least three sections in
your document in order to have the proper
pagination.
– Title Page – in order to count as part of front
matter but not show the page number.
– Rest of Front Matter – in order to have roman
numerals.
– Body and End Matter – in order to have
Arabic numerals.
 Section 3

Section 2

Section 1
 Pagination for Section 1
in MS Word
• The default in Word is to have no
page number. So, for section 1
nothing will be necessary.
 Pagination for Section 2
in MS Word
• Go to section 2 in the document.
• Select Insert tab (remain here while in this operation)
• If the page number will be placed at the top of the page, select Header; if it
will be placed at the bottom of the page, select Footer.
• Given your case, select Edit Header or Edit Footer
• Select Link to previous to “disconnect” the Header or Footer of this section
from the previous one.
• In the Header & Footer group, select Page Number.
• Select Format Page Number.
• Choose Number Format: i, ii, iii, … from drop-down list.
• Choose Start at: ii and click OK.
• In the Header & Footer group select Page Number.
• Choose your preferred format.
• Select Close Header and Footer.
To edit Footer … (assuming page numbers in footer)
To disconnect footer from that of previous section…
To format page numbers…
To set numbering system to roman lower case numerals
starting on page ii …
To place page number in center of footer…
 Page ii in
No page center of
number in footer of
Section 1 Section 2
 Pagination for Section 3
in MS Word
• Go to section 3 in the document.
• Select Insert tab (remain here while in this operation)
• If the page number will be placed at the top of the page, select Header; if it
will be placed at the bottom of the page, select Footer.
• Given your case, select Edit Header or Edit Footer
• Select Link to previous to “disconnect” the Header or Footer of this section
from the previous one.
• In the Header & Footer group, select Page Number.
• Select Format Page Number.
• Choose Number Format: 1,2,3, … from drop-down list.
• Choose Start at: 1 and click OK.
• In the Header & Footer group select Page Number.
• Choose your preferred format.
• Select Close Header and Footer.
 Table of Contents
• To create a table of contents automatically, the section
titles should be designated as Heading objects.
– When writing the section titles go to the Home tab.
– In the Styles group select any type of Heading depending the
level of the section.
• After writing your content do the following to create a table
of contents:
– Go to the section and page of your document where you want to
place your table of contents (probably section 2).
– Select the References tab .
– In the Table of Contents group select Table of Contents.
– Select your preferred style.
To establish your Section Headings…
To create a Table of Contents…
Resulting Table of Contents
 Figures, Tables and Equations
• Number figures and tables sequentially.
• In long documents, however, figure and table
numbers are often prefixed with a chapter
number.
• Captions should be placed below the figures
and above the tables.
• Number all equations discussed in the text
sequentially (not intermediate steps in
derivations).
 Figures in Word
• Word can number the figures automatically.
– Select the figure that you want to number.
– Select the References tab.
– In the Captions group, select Insert Caption.
– Choose the appropriate label (e.g. Figure). If the label you want
does not exist, create it with the New Label button.
– Write the desired wording for your caption.
– Choose Position: Below selected item.
To write automatic figure caption…
To write wording for caption…
 Tables in Word
• Word can number the tables automatically.
– Select the table that you want to number.
– Select the References tab.
– In the Captions group, select Insert Caption.
– Choose the appropriate label (e.g. Table). If the label you want
does not exist, create it with the New Label button.
– Write the desired wording for your caption.
– Choose Position: Above selected item.
 Lists of Figures and Tables
• Word can create a list of figures or a list of tables
automatically if the captions were numbered
automatically.
– Go to the document section where you want to insert the list of
figures or tables.
– Select the References tab.
– In the Captions group select Insert Table of Figures.
– Choose the Caption label depending on the list that you want to
create (e.g. Table, Figure, Figura).
– Check Include label and number.
– Click OK.
To create List of Figures or Tables…
 Cross-references
• Word can insert references to figures and tables
automatically from the captions database.
– In the text when a reference is to be made to a figure or table
select the References tab.
– In the Captions group select Cross-reference.
– Choose the appropriate Reference Type (Figure, Table, Figura,
etc.)
– Choose Insert reference to: Only label and number.
– Choose For which caption: (select the item you want to make
reference to from the list).
– Click on the Insert button.
To create cross-reference to figure or table…
 Citing Sources and Listing
References (avoiding plagiarism)
• If you use the language of your source,
you must quote it exactly, enclose it in
quotation marks, and cite the source.
• If you use ideas or information from your
source that are not common knowledge,
you must cite the source.
• References must be referred to in the
body of the report.
To select citation style…
To add a Source…
To enter all the Source’s data…
Citation is
generated
automatically.
To reuse a citation…
To manage sources…
To create a list of references…