Written messages

Definition: 1A usually short communication transmitted by words, signals, or other

means from one person, station, or group to another;
2. A basic thesis or lesson; a moral; an implicit meaning or moral, as in a
work of art;
3. The substance of such a communication; the point or points conveyed.
Types: Letter
Email
Report
Review
Proposal
Essay
Letters may include a response to a situation. Letter will not be limited to a
narrative element, but will have other functions , for example: reassuring somebody,
correcting a misunderstanding, justifying a course of action. They may detail personal
experience to a newspaper or magazine, other may give information. Letters have
important conventions such as opening salutation, clear paragraphing and closing
phrasing.
Email-the same for letters.
Report. It may be written to a superior or a peer group. The content of a report is to
some extent factual and draws on the prompt material, but there will be scope for
candidates to make use of their own ideas and experience: describing a situation, to
which extent a particular aim has been achieved, or to suggest an alternative course of
action. There is a report format, in which the writer will make suggestions and
recommendations.
Review. It may be about a book, magazine, a film , a play, a concert, TV
programmes, goods, a product or a service. It requires an evaluation of the product
suitability for a particular purpose or audience. The target reader is specified and the
writer will make recommendations.
Proposal. It may be written for a peer group or a supervisor(a boss, a college
principal) . The writer will make polite recommendations and suggestions supported by
factual information and evaluation, in order to persuade the reader of a course of action.
It should be clearly organized under headings. The language should be persuasive.
Essay. The paper will be written for an academic tutor. It may be written as a class
follow-up activity, such as attending a seminar or watching a documentary. The purpose
is to underline relevant salient (=remarcabil, proeminent, important) issues on the stated
topic and to support an argument with subsidiary points and reasons. An essay should be
well organized , with an introduction, clear development and an appropriate conclision. It
should hold the target readers attention and communicate complex ideas. Essays need to
present an argument and give reasons for this.
Examples

1.LETTERS
Style:-formal
-semi-formal
-informal
Types:Letter of giving information
Letter of requesting information(inquiry letters)/ suggestion
Letter of complaint
Thanking letter
Letter of asking for advice/permission
Transactional letter
Letter of application
Letter of introduction
Report
Content of formal letters:
Address and date:

Dear
Dear
Dear
Dear
Dear
Dear
Dear

Dear Sir,

Salutation
ways

Mr Powell,
Ms Mackenzie,
Frederick Hanson:
Editor-in-Chief:
Valued Customer
Sir or Madam:
Madam

When you dont know the name of a person and cannot find this information out you may
write, "To Whom It May Concern".
PARAGRAPHS
Examples:

First paragraph

I hope you are enjoying a fine summer.

Thank you for your kind letter of January 5th.
I came across an ad for your company in The Star
today.
It was a pleasure meeting you at the conference this
month.
I appreciate your patience in waiting for a response.

After your short opening, state the main point of your letter in one or two
sentences:

First
paragrap
h

I'm writing to enquire about...

I'm interested in the job opening posted on your
company website.
We'd like to invite you to a members only luncheon on
April 5th.

Use a few short paragraphs to go into greater detail about your main point.
If you are including sensitive material, such as rejecting an offer or
informing an employee of a layoff period, embed this sentence in the second
paragraph rather than opening with it. Here are some common ways to
express unpleasant facts:

Second and third

paragraphs

We regret to inform you...

It is with great sadness that we...
After careful consideration we have
decided...

Your last paragraph should include requests, reminders, and notes on

enclosures. If necessary, your contact information should also be in this
paragraph. Here are some common phrases used when closing a business
letter:

I look forward to...

Please respond at your earliest convenience.
I should also remind you that the next board meeting is
on February 5th.
For further details...
If you require more information...
Thank you for taking this into consideration.
I appreciate any feedback you may have.
Enclosed you will find...

Feel free to contact me by phone or email.

Final
paragrap
h

Yours truly,
Yours sincerely,
Sincerely,
Sincerely yours
Thank you,
Best wishes
All the best,
Best of luck

Warm regards,

Closing
way

Content of informal letters

Address and date
Salutations(appropriate greeting)
Introduction with opening remarks)
Reason for writing
Paragraphs:when written by hand, the paragraphs are indented. However, with more
people using their computers to do most of their writing(and I have a bad feeling most
people will forget how to write with their hands), it is becoming a common practice to
write paragraphs without indentationslike the way this one is written. This, apparently,
is the modern way of writing paragraphs. )
First of all,..
Another..
The best.
Conclusion:
Salutation way
Closing
Complimentary close
This is where you sign off
Take care,
Michael
In informal letter writing, the complimentary close is always very friendly:
Love,
Lots of love,
Best wishes,
Missing you lots,
Yours forever,
etcetera

Remember, a comma always follows the complimentary close.

Post Script
Use P.S. to add a short message after the complimentary close. Use it especially to
write down something that you may have forgotten in the body of the letter.
REPORT

What is a report?
A report is a piece of informative writing that describes a set of actions and analyses any
results in response to a specific brief. A quick definition might be: "This is what I did and
this is what it means." You may be given an assignment which is not called a report but
shares many of the same features; if so, aspects of this guide will be helpful.
It may help to know some of the key differences between reports and essays:
Essays

Reports

Argumentative and idea-based

Informative and fact-based

Semi-structured

Formally structured

Not written with a specific reader in mind

(except the marker)

Usually written with a specific purpose and

reader in mind

Written in single narrative style throughout

Written in style appropriate to each section

Usually do not include sub-headings

Always include section headings

Usually do not include bullet points

Often use bullet points

Usually no tables or graphs

Often includes tables or graphs

Offer conclusions about question

Offer recommendations for action

Topic: scanners
Date:
Student name:
Student number:
Tutor name:
Tutorial time:
Abstract

This report investigates the current state of scanner technology and examines the
predicted future advancements of scanners. A brief history of the scanner and its
operation is initially outlined. The discussion then focuses on the advantages and
limitations of the five main types of scanners in common use today: drum, flatbed, sheetfed, slide, and hand held scanners. The performance of these scanners is examined in
relation to four main criteria: resolution, bit-depth, dynamic range and software. It is
concluded that further technological advances in these four areas as well as the
deployment of new sensor technology will continue to improve the quality of scanned
images. It is also suggested that specialised scanners will increasingly be incorporated
into other types of technology such as digital cameras.
1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to survey the current state of scanner technology and to
briefly discuss predicted advancements in the field.
By examining a range of recently published journal articles, magazine articles and
internet sites on the topic of scanners this report describes the main types of scanners in
common use today and examines their performance in relation to four criteria: resolution,
bit-depth, dynamic range and software. The report then considers the effect of further
technological advances in these four areas, as well as the deployment of new sensor
technology on the future development of scanners.
The first scanner, initially referred to as a 'reading machine', was developed in 1960 by
Jacob Rabinow, a Russian born engineer. The device could scan printed material and then
compare each character to a set of standards in a matrix using, for the first time, the "best
match principle" to determine the original message (Blatner, Fleishman and Roth 1998,
p.3). This reading machine was to form the basis for the development of current scanning,
sorting and processing machines.
An early improvement on the reading machine was the drum scanner. These scanners
used a type of scanning technology called photomultiplier tubes (PMT). Drum scanners
are still used in industry today because of the high quality images they produce. The
development of smaller, more economical scanners such as desktop scanners and
scanners for domestic use followed the drum scanner as the number of computer users
increased and computer technology advanced.
Scanners can now capture images from a wide variety of two and three dimensional
sources. These images are converted to digitised computer files that can be stored on a
hard-drive or floppy disk. With the aid of specific software, these images can then be
manipulated and enhanced by the user. It is now possible to deploy electronic acquisition
to create an entire layout (including all graphic elements) from the same computer. This
means manual stripping is no longer required (Scanners, digital cameras and photo CDs
2000). Scanners are considered an invaluable tool for adding graphics and text to
documents and have been readily adopted by both business and domestic users.
2. How scanners work

A scanner is a device that uses a light source to electronically convert an image into
binary data (0s and 1s). This binary data can then be used to store the scanned image on a
computer. A scanner recreates an image by using small electronic components referred to
as the scanner's 'eyes' (Scanner tips 2000). The type of 'eyes' used in today's scanners are
charge-coupled devices (CCD) and photomultiplier tubes (PMT). These electronic eyes
measure the amount of light reflected from individual points on the page and translate it
to digital signals that correspond to the brightness of each point (Englander 2000).
To create a file on the computer that represents a colour image, the scanner divides the
image into a grid with many individual points called pixels or picture elements (Scanner
tips 2000). A scanning head, termed a row of 'eyes', reads over the grid and assigns a
number to each pixel based on the main colour in that pixel, using green, blue and red.
For example an aqua pixel would be saved as a number to represent the proportion of
blue, green and red which represents the colour aqua (Scanners, digital cameras and
photo CDs 2000).
3. Types of scanners
There are five main types of scanners in common use today: drum scanners, flatbed
scanners, sheet-fed scanners, slide scanners, and hand held scanners.
3.1 Drum scanners
Drum scanners were widely used in the past, however they are much less commonly used
today due to advances in scanner technology. As a result of their expense, these machines
are primarily used by professionals in industry, where they are considered important due
to the high-end quality image they produce and because they use PMT technology which
is more sophisticated than charge-coupled devices (CCDs) and contact image sensor's
(CISs). Drum scanners are difficult to operate and technicians operate these scanners by
placing the item to be scanned on a glass cylinder rotating at high speeds around the
sensor (Sullivan 1996).
3.2 Flatbed scanners
The most popular scanners for general use are flatbed scanners. This type of scanner is
highly versatile because it is able to scan flat objects as well as small three dimensional
objects. Flat-bed scanners operate by placing the item to be scanned on a glass window
while scanning heads move underneath it. A transparency adapter is used to scan
transparent originals such as slides or x-rays, and an automatic document feeder is
available for scanning large numbers of documents (Scanner tips 2000).
3.3 Sheet-fed scanners
Sheet-fed scanners have grown in popularity in recent years, particularly for small office
or domestic use as they are reasonably priced, can scan full-sized documents and are
compact, requiring limited desk space (Scanner tips 2000). Most models of sheet-fed
scanners have an inbuilt document feeder to overcome the problem of manually feeding
one sheet of paper at a time. However the actual process or scanning with a sheet-fed
scanner may result in distortion as the image to be scanned moves over the scanning

heads (Scanner tips 2000). A further limitation of sheet-fed scanners is that they are
unable to scan three dimensional objects.
3.4 Slide scanners
This type of scanner is used to scan items such as slides that need careful handling during
scanning. Unlike other scanners, the scanning heads in slide scanners do not reflect light
from the image, but rather pass light through it. This enables these scanners to produce
superior results without distortions caused by reflective light. To be able to scan small
and detailed items, these scanners have a large number of eyes on the scanning head
which produces a high quality result. Slide scanners tend to be more expensive and less
versatile than flatbed and sheet-fed scanners as they are limited to only scanning slides
and film. These scanners, however, are well suited to users requiring high quality scans of
large numbers of slides (Scanner tips 2000).
3.5 Hand held scanners
Hand held scanners are compact, portable scanners which are simply dragged across a
page manually to capture an image. These scanners are easy to use and economical to
purchase; however, their use is limited to text of up to four inches in diameter that does
not require a high resolution. For this reason, hand held scanners are unsuitable for colour
images. A further disadvantage of hand held scanners is that the user must have a steady
hand when scanning or the resulting image will be distorted (Scanner tips 2000).
4. Scanner specifications
The performance of a scanner can be examined in relation to four main criteria:
resolution, bit-depth, dynamic range and software.
4.1 Resolution
Resolution is a measure of how many pixels a scanner can sample in a given image. It is
used to describe the amount of detail in an image (Figeiredo, McIllree and Thomas 1996).
Higher resolution scanners are generally more expensive and produce superior results as
they have a greater capacity to capture detail. Scanners have two types of resolutions:
optical resolution and interpolated resolution.
Optical resolution, or hardware resolution, is a measure of how many pixels a scanner can
actually read. A current model desktop scanner typically has a resolution of 300 x 300
dots per inch (dpi) (Anderson 1999). This means that this scanner has a scanning head
with 300 sensors per inch, so it can sample 300 dpi in one direction and 300 dpi in the
other direction by stopping the scanning head 300 times per inch in both directions. Some
scanners stop the scanning head more frequently as it moves down the page, giving an
optical resolution of 300 x 600 dpi; however, scanning more frequently in one direction
does not improve the result of the scan. The basic requirement for scanning detailed
images and line art from photos or other printed originals is an optical resolution of 600
dpi. When scanning slides and negatives the minimum optical resolution is 1200 dpi.
Interpolated resolution measures the number of pixels a scanner is able to predict. A
scanner can turn a 300 x 300 dpi scan into a 600 x 600 dpi scan by looking in-between

scanned pixels and guessing what that spot would have looked like if it had been scanned.
This prediction is then used to insert new pixels in between the actual ones scanned. This
technique is less precise than optical resolution; however it assists in improving the
enlargement of scanned images.
4.2 Bit depth
Bit depth refers to the amount of information that a scanner records for each pixel when
converting an image to digital form. Scanners differ in the amount of data they record for
each pixel within an image. The simplest kinds of scanners only record data related to
black and white details and have a bit depth of 1 (Anderson 1999). The minimum bit
depth required for scanning photographs and documents is 24-bits, while slides, negatives
or transparencies need a scanner with at least 30-bits.
Thus for a scanner to produce a high quality scan with colour, a higher bit depth is
required. In general, current scanners have a bit depth of 24, which means that 8 bits of
information can be collected for the three primary colours used in scanning; blue, red and
green (Anderson 1999). This high resolution allows scanners to produce images close to
photographic quality.
4.3 Dynamic range
Dynamic range refers to the measurement of the range of tones a scanner can record on a
scale of 0.0 to 4.0, with 0.0 being perfect white and 4.0 being perfect black. Colour flatbed scanners usually have a dynamic range of 2.4. A range of this measurement is unable
to provide high quality colour scans. A dynamic range of 2.8 and 3.2 is suited to
professional purposes and can be found in high-end scanners. An even higher dynamic
range of 3.0 to 3.8 can be provided by drum scanners.
4.4 Software
A scanner, like any type of hardware, requires software. Typically the two most common
pieces of software provided with scanners include optical character recognition (OCR)
and image editing software. Optical character recognition software translates the
information recorded in a scan, tiny dots, into a text file which can be edited. Image
editing software allows the tones and colours of an image to be manipulated for better
printing and display. Image editing also gives filters to apply special effects to scanned
images
5. Future developments
The quality of scanned images is constantly improving as characteristics such as
resolution, bit-depth and dynamic range are enhanced and further developed. More
sophisticated image editing and optical character recognition software development is
also resulting in superior quality scans. Future advances are expected to result in the
incorporation of specialized scanners into other types of technology such as the recently
developed digital camera. This device allows the user to take pictures of threedimensional objects much like a regular camera, except that instead of using film, the
objects are scanned by the camera in a similar process to the functioning of a flatbed
scanner.

The relatively new area of sensor technology in the form of a contact image sensor (CIS)
(see Appendix 1) is expected to improve the functionality of scanners and the quality of
images as it "replaces the cumbersome optical reduction technique with a single row of
sensors" (Grotta and Wiener 1998, p. 1). Developers have already been able to produce a
CIS scanner which is thinner, lighter, more energy efficient and cheaper to manufacture
than a traditional CCD base device. However, the quality of the scan is not as good as its
counterparts. Further development of CIS technology is needed to improve image quality
and colour, and to address the problem of a limited 300 or 600 dpi.
6. Conclusion
This report has identified five types of scanners currently available. Some are primarily
used for professional purposes such as the drum scanner; others are used more broadly in
the workplace and home such as flatbed scanners and to a lesser extent sheetfed scanners.
Scanners for specialized purposes have also been identified such as slide and handheld
scanners. The performance of these scanners is dependent upon their resolution, bitdepth, dynamic range and software. Scanners have improved significantly in recent years
in terms of weight, size, price and speed, and the replacement of CCD technology with
CIS technology is anticipated to produce further benefits to these areas as well as to scan
quality. The impact of these improvements is expected to increase the accessibility of
scanner technology to a wider range of users and its suitability for a wider range of
purposes. In relation to this, the future of scanner technology seems to point to the
convergence of different technologies. Specialized scanners are currently being
incorporated into other types of technologies such as digital cameras, printers, and
photocopiers. This can be expected to continue with other forms of technology in
conjunction with further improvements to image quality, speed, price, size and weight.
7. Reference list
Anderson, D. The PC Guide. [http:www.pctechguide.com/18scanners.htm].
Blatner, D., Fleishman, G. Roth, G. (1998) Real world scanning and halftones 2nd
edition, Peachpit Press, USA.
Englander, I (2000). The Architecture of computer hardware and systems software. John
Wiley, USA, p272.
Figeiredo, J. McIllree, J. Thomas, N. (1996) Introducing information technology 2nd
edition Jacaranda Press, Singapore, p145.
REVIEW
-use positive or negative language
-evaluate something
-think of the target reader and then choose the language register: formal or informal
Example

Paris is a wonderful place to visit. You can enjoy walking through the streets, shopping at
the Galleries or tasting the famous French food. Its often hot in summer so you dont
need too many warm clothes. Its usually sunny so you can have wonderful pictures, so
you need a camera to carry.Its really exciting to see the bateau-mouche on the Seine
especially in the evening.
If you like history you should explore the Dome des Invalides. You will see Napoleons
stuffed horse and a large range of weapons and clothes used in the nineteenth century.
You can also enjoy art if you have time to visit the Louvre. Many people do not miss to
see one of the beautiful cathedrals, La Madeleine or to walk on one of the most famous
street, Champs-Ellysee. It is also an opportunity to sit down for a cup of coffee at one of
the beautiful cafes. French is an international language, but you shouldnt worry because
many people speak English , too. So you wont need a dictionary to take with you.You
dont have to stay in expensive hotels to enjoy Paris. There are other options, including
hostels which are affordable for students.
PROPOSAL
Example
ch01_p038.pdf
ESSAY
Example
Title: Museums are a waste of money
(Paragraph 1)
Some people claim that museums are a waste of money i.e. they use money which would
be better spent on other things. In this paper , my arguments will stand for keeping any
museum and multiplying the number of museums in all the countries of the world.
(Paragraph 2)
Museums are of great importance in the twenty-first century. There are a large variety (of
museums) based on its aim: some are history museums, some are educational or touristic.
No matter their aim, they are of national importance . Museums tell us about the history
of a nation and therefore, we should encourage to visit them. Other museums teach the
younger generation on the culture of a country, city or village, i.e. the life and creation of
a personality, the science and technology along history or even the way people lived in
the past.
Museums attract a large number of tourists whose interest is on history, science or
different personalities. Museums offer these people information about historical events of
an area, country, city or village.. No matter their cost and maintenance, researchers and
town decision makers are expected to support the come-into-being and the existence of
these wonderful worlds to be visited. They have a good impact on our lives. We should
advertise museums that we have seen up to a certain moment of our lives and encourage
other people to spend time in them.
(Paragraph 3.)

Some people consider investments in museums a waste of money that might be spent on
other things but , if they could see and understand how people lived in the past, how
things happened in the past and what people invented along history, maybe they would
feel richer and more instructed. Moreover, people should know that culture brings
happiness to our souls and information helps people not to repeat the mistakes made in
the past. Museum are peaceful and educative places in a city or a town.
(Paragraph 4)
To sum up, it seems to me that museums are not only useful but they also embellish the
life of any person. WE should protect them and tell other people about them.