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Home > Guidelines > Trim that Text! > 1f. Move vital but tangential or supplemental material. > Challenges |
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ChallengesIdentify text that could be moved into links. If you are working on paper, circle that text. If using software, move the text farther down in the document, and identify it as a target (bookmark), then link to it. (1) There are certain programs you ought to run regularly, but you may tend to postpone using them because they take up valuable time. Programs you should run at regular intervals include those that defragment your disk, compress your files, run backup, or clear up errors on your disk. Use the System Agent, if installed, to run a program automatically on a schedule that doesn’t interfere with your work. If you installed Microsoft Plus, you already have a copy of System Agent installed and activated; its icon, which looks like a calendar with a document and clock on top, appears on the Taskbar. If you must install the System Agent, use Microsoft Office Install Disk #3. You tell the System Agent what program you want it to run, and when—every hour, or day, or week, after a certain amount of idletime. (2) Our technical capabilities are clustered into eight major areas called core technical competencies. The Complex Experimentation competency, for instance, focuses on novel sources such as accelerators, high-power lasers, high explosives, and pulsed-power systems; measurements employing multidisciplinary suites of diagnostics or one-of-a-kind measurement systems for a wide range of physical conditions; and applications and research and development (R&D) facilities for handling radioactive, explosive, and hazardous materials or processes. Other competencies include Theory, Modeling, and High-Performance Computing; Analysis and Assessment; Nuclear Weapons Science; Earth and Environmental Systems; Nuclear Materials; Bioscience; and Plasmas and Beams. Historically, the Laboratory’s core competencies grew out of its original mission, which was, of course, developing and maintaining the nation’s nuclear deterrent, as described in History on the Plateau. These competencies are now not only key to meeting the challenges of the Laboratory’s central mission of reducing the global nuclear danger but also contribute to and are sustained by carefully selected civilian programs, as described in the Civilian Outreach Handbook, and industrial collaborations, described in Profits for All. A core competency involves a team of technical staff members, who plan, build, and develop Laboratory capabilities and provide input to scientific thrusts and areas in which the Laboratory may invest. A core competency requires the integration of diverse capabilities, an array of disciplines, specialized facilities, and operations expertise. The ability to solve such problems is a distinguishing characteristic not easily duplicated by other organizations. |
Other ways to trim that text 1a. Cut any paper-based text by 50%. 1c. Make some sentences short. 1d. Make most paragraphs short. 1g. Convert repeating categories of information into tables. 1h. Beware of cutting so far that you make the text ambiguous.
Resources on brevity Heuristic Online Text (HOT) Evaluation for Brevity
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