Unit 2. Preparing Your Course

2–1. Selecting Organizational Patterns

    Go from the simple to the complex

    Go from the known to the unknown

    Other organizational patterns

 

2–2. Using standard Text Breakdowns

    Major organizational elements

    Organization below the section level

 

2–3. Numbering

    Volume number and lesson identification system

    Unit numbers

    Section numbers

    Lesson numbers

    Self-test question and answer numbers

    Figure numbers

    Foldouts

 

2–4. Sending Electronic Files

    Required files

    Other files

 

2–5. Sending Hard Copies

    Illustrations

    Administrative materials

 

2–6. Mailing Materials

    Packaging

    Mailing

    Keeping your volume moving

 

2–7. Sending Changed Material after You’ve Sent Your Project

    Before an ISS begins work on a volume

    While an ISS or editor is working on a volume

    After a volume has been processed

 

2–8. Coordinating Electronically with Your ISS

 

2–9. Keeping Electronic Files of CDC Text

    Which files do you get for archiving?

    Explanation of how flies pass back and forth between you and the Institute

 

Summary

 

Return to Guide home page

PREPARING your course for publication takes up where planning left off. Study this unit carefully—it gives you tips on organizational patterns, explains the logic of our numbering system, prescribes the contents of document (DOC) files, identifies required hard copy, and tells you how to send your project.

2–1. Selecting Organizational Patterns

Your final product reflects the quality of your first organizational efforts. You can write from a well-organized outline more easily and quickly than from a poorly organized one. Spend extra time organizing and you save time overall. More importantly, you write a better course.

An extended discussion is easier to follow if it has a clear pattern. Yet, you’ll rarely use only one pattern; you’ll mix two or more—space and time, for example. Many subjects seem to choose their own patterns. Most discussions of the first few seconds of an atomic bomb explosion fall into the time pattern, but discussions of bomb damage fall into cause and effect or division presentation. Always pick a pattern (or combination) that presents your ideas clearly. Here, you can learn about several useful patterns.

Go from the simple to the complex

Compare the next two paragraphs as “teachers.” The first paragraph hurries into the subject and may leave students behind. The second leads students into the subject carefully, moving from easy to hard ideas. If you use the second method, students can absorb simple ideas before you throw tough ones at them.

Geophone patterns can be complex. Star and cross patterns are used for different structures, the latter being especially useful for steep-dip structures.

Since geophone patterns are complex, and since different patterns are used for different purposes, let’s start with the simplest. A geophone pattern is a regular grouping of “jugs” on the ground. The simplest grouping is the straight line, usually consisting of a straight line of geophones across the hole.

Go from the known to the unknown

This organizational pattern is much like the one just discussed; here, though, you start with what your students know and build discussions on that base. One way to use this device is to relate job situations students may have experienced to the new material you are teaching.

Other organizational patterns

Review this table when you start to organize.

Other Organizational Patterns
Pattern	Description
Cause and effect	Use this pattern to point out why an event took place, the effect of one event on another, or the relationships of a chain of events.
Contrast and comparison	Use this pattern to distinguish between two similar items or events. Use it to point out how things that seem alike are different and how things that seem different are alike.
Definition	Often, you simply want the student to define a term. To define a term, first put it into its class and then tell how it differs from others of its class.
Division	When a lesson requires the student to demonstrate an understanding of a total operation, an outline that presents the operation in a step-by-step way is useful, especially if the operation or procedure is long.
Space	If space, location, or geographical arrangement is an important feature of the item being discussed, and if one of those features is required knowledge for the student, use the spatial approach in developing the outline and lessons.
Time	Often, the most important aspect of an event happens at a specified time, or perhaps the sequence of happenings before or after the event is of the greatest importance.
Topical	This may be the most common presentation pattern in technical writing. Use it to treat closely related topics separately. With this pattern, as with others, use parallel structure in your headings. Parallel structure helps point up the relationship of the topics.

Return to the unit menu

2–2. Using Standard Text Breakdowns

To help students organize their thoughts, organize your thoughts and show the organization through titles and headings.

Major organizational elements

Courses are divided into volumes, volumes into units, units into sections, sections into lessons, and lessons into headings. Ideally, a volume has from two to six units; a unit has from two to eight sections. A section should be no longer than a student can study in one study session.

The course title, unit titles, section titles, topical statements, and other headings must not repeat one another. (The format for volume, unit, and section titles is to capitalize the first letter of each major word.) If, in planning a volume, you produce an outline for the first unit like the one below, you need to refine the organization.

Volume Title: Ignition Systems

Unit 5. The Ignition System

5–1. The Ignition System

635. The ignition system

After analyzing the information again, you may refine the standard text breakdowns. The outline at the bottom of the next page shows the refined organization down to the boldface heading level.

A unit written on the second outline is easier to follow—the headings give cues to the logic of the material. The first outline does not break down the unit title; it repeats it. Divide your text as far as logic requires. If you break down a piece of text, break it into at least two pieces—

• A course may have only one volume but generally has at least two.

• A volume should have at least two units.

• A unit should have at least two sections.

• A section should have at least two lessons.

If your material does not fit in the breakdowns given here, talk with your team. For instance, if a unit doesn’t lend itself to two sections, ask your team whether to omit the section heading or to make some other adjustment, such as combining the unit with another one.

Note the logic of the heading levels, which correspond to styles in the Word templates. In Word, to see and revise your outline, switch to Outline view. To see all headings down to the italic level without the accompanying text, select Show Heading 6 on the Outline toolbar that pops up in this view. To leave the Outline view, select Normal or Page Layout view.

Note also that a proficiency code is included for each topical statement. Type the code in hidden text just after, but on the same line as, each topical statement. (Press Ctrl+Shift+H, type the code, and press Ctrl+Shift+H to turn off the hidden font.) To see the codes, click the Show/Hide ¶ button on the Standard toolbar.

Organization below the section level

Sections are broken into lessons (topical statements: heading level 3), lessons into boldface divisions (heading level 4), boldface divisions into boldface italic divisions (heading level 5), and boldface italic divisions into italic divisions (heading level 6). Generally, you do not break down text past the italic level. You can see a summary of headings in the table here.

Unit title	Heading 1
Section title	Heading 2
Topical statement (lesson title)	Heading 3
Boldface heading	Heading 4
Boldface italic heading	Heading 5
Italic heading	Heading 6

 

Topical statements or lesson headings (heading level 3)

A topical statement is an abbreviated behavioral objective that appears before each lesson. Please read how to write good topical statements in unit 3 of this Guide.

The topical statement goes on a line just before the lesson text. Use heading level 3. Capitalize the first letter of the first word, and lowercase other words unless they are proper nouns. Use no end punctuation unless the topical statement asks a question.

A topic important enough to need a section heading usually has enough text to need at least two lessons. Analyze any section having only one lesson. If the lesson is long, you may need to break it into two or more lessons. If you have a short one-lesson section, go back to the overall plan to see whether you can combine sections.

Boldface headings (heading level 4)

The first heading within a lesson is boldface. There should be at least two boldface headings if there are any. If you cannot break a lesson into at least two parts, do not use a boldface heading in that lesson. A boldface heading goes on a separate line just before the related text. Use heading level 4. Capitalize the first letter of the first word, and lowercase the other words unless they are proper nouns. Use no end punctuation unless the heading asks a question.

Boldface italic headings (heading level 5)

Further breakdowns into boldface italic headings are allowed but not required. Just as you must not have a single boldface heading in a lesson, neither may you have a single boldface italic heading.

Put the boldface italic heading on a separate line just before the related text. Use heading level 5. Capitalize the first letter of the first word, and lowercase the other words unless they are proper nouns. Use no end punctuation unless the heading asks a question.

Italic headings (heading level 6)

You may break down discussions further and use italic headings as organizational markers. Again, though, do not have a single italic heading.

Put the italic heading on a separate line just before the related text. Use heading level 6. Capitalize the first letter of the first word, and lowercase the other words unless they are proper nouns. Use no end punctuation unless the heading asks a question.

Numbered and lettered lists

Though you may use numbers and letters to show text breakdowns below the italic level, normally numbers are only for lists, not for paragraphs. If you find yourself using numbers or letters for paragraphs, look again at the lesson’s organization. Probably, the numbered or lettered paragraphs should be paragraphs with italic or boldface italic headings.

Bullets

Bullets are not subordination devices. They are tools for emphasis and advance organizers. See unit 3 for a full discussion on how you can use bullets to stress important information.

Notes

To include notes, format the entry like this—

NOTE: Use bold, all caps for the word “NOTE,” and then use regular text, uppercase and lowercase, for the note itself. Set each note in a paragraph of its own.

Cautions and warnings

To emphasize cautions, warnings, or safety issues, format the entry in a boxed statement, without shading, like this—

 

Return to the unit menu

2–3. Numbering

Materials you send for publication must conform to our numbering guidelines. Be especially careful to number precisely in sequence.

Volume number and lesson identification system

Number volumes consecutively throughout the course, starting with volume 1. Do so even when you divide a long course into two or more courses. Make the first volume of each course volume 1.

Number lessons in three digits with a range for five volumes of 001 to 999. For courses that exceed five volumes, use letters and numbers. Lesson numbers are assigned to specific volumes:

Volume	Lessons
1	001–199
2	201–399
3	401–599
4	601–799
5	801–999
6	A01–A99
	B01–B99
7	C01–C99
	D01–D99

 

 To divide long volumes into parts A and B, use this numbering system:

Volume	Lessons
1A	001–099
1B	101–199
2A	201–299
2B	301–399

 

Unit numbers

Number units consecutively in each volume. Always start with unit 1.

Section numbers

Give sections dual numbers, and start numbering anew in each unit. The first part of the dual number is the unit number, and the second part is the sequence number of the section within the unit.

 

Unit 1. The J–5 Ignition System

1–1. System Description

1–2. System Maintenance

Unit 2. The Saturn VB Ignition System

2–1. System Description

2–2. System Maintenance

Lesson numbers

Number lessons (or topical statements) consecutively throughout each volume. The specific numbers assigned to each volume are listed in the tables on this page.

Self-test question and answer numbers

Reference the self-test questions by topical statement and number. Sequence questions in the same order that the supporting text appears in the lessons. Arrange and number self-test questions according to appendix.

Reference the answers for the self-test questions by topical statement number only. Do not put a period after the topical statement number. See appendix.

Figure numbers

Accurate numbering of figures is crucial. As a final step before you send your materials, check the numbering of all your figures. For technical information on graphics, see unit 4. For how to name graphics files, see section 4–2.

Dual-number identification

Except for cover art and foldouts, give figures dual numbers: the first part of the dual number is the unit number, and the second part is the sequence number for the figure.

STQ, URE, CE, and answer figures

Number all figures in each unit in sequence, including self-test question and answer figures. Number any figures you wish to use in UREs or CEs as T–1, T–2, and so forth (see appendix), and refer to them as such in your proposed multiple-choice test questions. When your ISS selects items to use in the volume and items to save for the course examination, an editor will assign proper numbers to the URE figures so that they, too, will be numbered in sequence with the other figures in each unit. When the ISS develops the examinations for the course, the ISS will see that the figures are referenced properly in the examination questions.

Tables

Tables may be graphics or be typed into the text.

Tables as graphics

Number these tables consecutively—in sequence with figures. Do not set up a separate numbering sequence for tables. Tables are figures if you send them as graphics. Send as a graphic any table you cannot format successfully in Word.

Tables typed into the text

If you type a table for immediate reference, do not number the table. If you refer to the table in other areas of the text, number the table in sequence with the other unit graphics, as a figure (even though the table remains in the Word file).

To number or not to number a table

This decision table should help you to decide whether to use a figure designation for a table.

If table is...	Then...
Typed into text and you refer to it once	Do not assign a figure number.
Typed into text and you refer to it in more than one location	Assign a figure number (in sequence with other unit figures).
Sent as a graphic

Foldouts

Number foldouts consecutively in the order in which you refer to them in each volume. Use single numbers and make a separate legend list. 

Return to the unit menu

2–4. Sending Electronic Files

How should you send electronic files and which electronic files should you send? When you send your volume manuscript and graphics, mail them to this address:

AFIADL/DCC

50 South Turner Boulevard

Maxwell AFB, Gunter Annex AL 36118–5643

For the details of packaging and mailing, see section 2–6. Follow the instructions given there “to the letter.”

Check each disk you send for viruses just before you send it. Also label each disk with—

·         Your name, office symbol, and DSN.

·         CDC and volume numbers.

·         A list of the disk contents.

·         The classification of the disk contents—FOUO or unclassified.

·         Notice of copyright if disk has copyrighted material.

Required files

With each package you send to the Institute, you must include certain electronic files:

·         U0.DOC for multiple-choice items for the URE and course examinations.

·         FRONT.DOC for front matter.

·         U1.DOC, U2.DOC, etc., for units.

·         GLOS.DOC to define acronyms, abbreviations, and special terms.

·         F1–01.JPG, F1–01.GIF, etc., for any graphics.

·         LEG.DOC to show appendix and foldout numbers and legends.

U0.DOC

Send your multiple-choice item pool in this file. Unit 5 explains the details.

FRONT.DOC

This file contains the front and inside front covers, the preface, and the table of contents. Create this file last—the table of contents is compiled automatically from existing units. If you have not created the units, the table of contents cannot be compiled properly.

When only unclassified information is in a volume, use the basic front matter template to develop the front matter. When FOUO material is in a volume, use the special FOUO front matter template to develop it. This special template inserts the required FOUO notice. For guidance on FOUO, refer to DOD 5400.7–R/Air Force Supplement, DOD Freedom of Information Act Program.

Preface

The templates include the standard statements for the preface, but you must give an overview of the volume. Say concisely what the volume covers. In volume 1 of a multivolume course, also say what the course covers.

Then, give special notes. Explain where foldouts are and identify extra materials, such as glossaries, appendixes, and so forth.

Volume contents

If you create the FRONT.DOC last, the table of contents for the volume is generated automatically by a field code in the template.

U1.DOC, U2.DOC, and so forth

These files have the text of the units. Please refer to appendix for examples. Send hard copies only for pages having very complex material—extensive cuts, complicated formulas or equations, and so forth—that you could not do in Word. If your volume is FOUO, “For Official Use Only” must be printed at the foot of every unit page. The Institute’s applicable Word templates include a toolbar button for installing this footer.

Heading levels and outlines

Because using Word for Windows heading levels in your units allows us to generate an outline automatically, do not send a separate outline. For this automatic feature to work, though, you must use the heading level styles in our templates. Please look at the table below for information on viewing outlines and heading levels.

NOTE: In Outline view, you can move entire paragraphs or groups of paragraphs easily. You can reorganize text while you look at the “big picture.” How? Select the heading for the discussion you want to move and then drag it to a new outline location. The text under the heading moves with it.

Use short, clear titles and headings

A title should state without ambiguity what is in the text it seeks to define. If possible, make the title interesting; a short, peppy title is better than a long, involved one. Titles and headings should not repeat one another.

Punctuation in titles and headings

Do not use end punctuation after titles or headings except when a title or heading is stated in the form of a question.

Capitalization in titles and headings

Capitalize the first letter of each major word in course, volume, unit, and section titles. Do not capitalize minor words, such as a, an, the, and short prepositions. In topical statements and headings, capitalize only the first letter of the first word and the first letter of each proper noun in the heading. AFI 33–360, volume 1,  Publications Management Program, gives detailed guidance.

Capitalization in the text

The modern tendency is to use as few capital letters as possible. A guiding principle is to avoid capitalizing anytime you are in doubt. The Institute must abide by the capitalization rules in the AU Style Guide. Thus, it is extremely important for you to start the writing process by using this same guide. To see the AU Style Guide entry on capitalization, go to the Air University home page and follow the links to the AU Press.

The Institute is the final authority on capitalization. When you get your page proof, text and glossary capitalization may be different from what you sent us. Our editors are applying the rules of the AU Style Guide to make sure your course conforms to correct capitalization conventions.

Abbreviations and acronyms in the text

Use abbreviations and acronyms sparingly. Do not saturate writing with abbreviations and acronyms to the detriment of reader understanding. Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms in headings. You may, however, begin or end a sentence with an abbreviation or acronym.

Spell out the name of an agency, organization, term, phrase, and so forth, the first time you use it, and follow it with the acronym or abbreviation in parentheses. You may use the acronym or abbreviation (without periods) thereafter. For more details and examples, see the AU Style Guide entry under “abbreviations and acronyms.” It is not necessary to spell out a term and include its parenthetical abbreviation or acronym in each unit of a volume. Do not capitalize the spelled-out term for an abbreviation or acronym unless the term is a proper noun. Do not make an abbreviation or acronym plural or possessive on its first use.

NOTE: Define every acronym and abbreviation each time you use it in a test item (U0.DOC file). Editors at AFIADL will remove all of the definitions in the URE (since they were defined in the unit text), but the definitions will appear in the course examination items.

Titles of forms and service publications

Short titles, such as DD Form 200 or AFH 33–337, save space and time, but they do not reveal the nature of the form or the content of the publication. For your students’ sake, the first time you mention a form or a publication, give the identifying number and the complete title (for example, DD Form 200, Financial Liability Investigation of Property Loss; AFH 33–337, The Tongue and Quill). Note that the form title is not italicized but the publication title is. You may give a title more than once if needed.

Figure placement

Type each figure legend just below the paragraph that has the first reference to the figure. (See the appendix for an example.) Leave one blank line above the legend. We will place figures with the legends. Insert a credit line for each copyrighted graphic in your text files. Unless your copyright release requires otherwise, follow this example: Figure 3–1. Clearing the airway. (Reprinted by permission.)

Lists

To make lists, first select numbers, then letters, and then lowercase roman numerals for the list elements, as shown here:

1.       First level of list. Indent .25" from left

2.       Still first level of list.                                  

a)      Second level of list. Indent .5" from left

b)      Still second level of list.

i)        Third level of list. Indent .75" from left

ii)       Still third level of list.

Subscripts and superscripts

Make text and figures consistent in the use of subscripts and superscripts to show values and name components. We cannot verify these subject matter elements. Use the subscript and superscript fonts available in Word.

For standards on subscripting values (E₁, C₁, V_BB, etc.), we must rely on you—the subject matter expert—to send us text that is “subbed,” “supered,” or “on the line,” according to the conventions of your career field—electronics, chemistry, and so forth. The Institute will accept your usage, if you are consistent within each volume. Unfortunately, we often get manuscripts in which such elements appear various ways in the text and still another way in the graphics. Obviously, such inconsistencies within the same volume are unacceptable both from publishing and from educational standpoints. Double-check your work. Make sure text and graphics agree!

Self-test questions

Enter self-test questions after each section. Group questions by lesson number and topical statement. Apply the STQLO style to the topical statement here. The questions themselves should have the STQs style, unless they are matching questions.

For matching self-test questions, use the special custom toolbar to apply appropriate styles. To get this special toolbar, click on View, Toolbars, and select it.

Answers to self-test questions

Place answers at the end of each unit. Group answers by lesson number. Do not use a period after lesson numbers. Apply the STQLO style to the lesson numbers. The answers themselves should have the Answers or Subordinate Answer style.

Do not repeat the question in the answer. Use simple phrases to give answers—complete sentences are not needed. For example, a self-test question that asks for the capital of Alabama would have for its answer “Montgomery,” not “The capital of Alabama is Montgomery.”

GLOS.DOC

With each CDC volume you send, send one or both of these types of glossaries:

·         Abbreviations, acronyms, and initials.

·         Technical terms.

The first type of glossary is required with each volume. Send the second type as needed. Keep the two types of glossaries separate within the GLOS.DOC file. (See an example in the appendix.)

A published glossary can be particularly helpful to students if your career field uses uncommon definitions for common abbreviations, acronyms, or technical terms. Glossaries are essential to the ISS and editor who work on your course.

Do not include lesson numbers as study references with glossary entries. Do not include publications and forms as glossary entries.

Do not use glossaries to support more than one volume unless you can verify all entries against all volumes you will send. Our production procedures do not let us hold completed volumes to read them against a glossary. Course glossaries do not add credit hours or points.

Glossary of abbreviations

Send a glossary of abbreviations with each volume that has any abbreviations, acronyms, or initials. Of course, you don’t include such common abbreviations as “qt” and “lb,” acronyms such as “radar,” and initials such as “CDC.” Because the Guide is directed toward a more diverse readership than is your course, the Guide glossary contains some of these entries.

The AU Style Guide prescribes Joint Pub 1–02, Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms, as the source for abbreviations and acronyms. For abbreviations and acronyms, lowercase each word in the spelled-out term unless the word is a proper noun.

Glossary of technical terms

If any terms you use are technical and new to the students, a glossary will be helpful. Even though you define the new terms in the text when you first use them, a glossary offers an advantage––it gives students a list of key words that they can review without having to scan the text.

F1–01.EPS, F1–01.JPG, and so forth

Which graphics files to send and how to name them are frequent course author questions.

Which graphics files must you send?

The answer is simple: all of them. Send a new electronic copy of each figure each time you send a volume. The Institute does not and cannot archive graphics.

Include a separate file for each graphic, and send a coordination hard copy made from the electronic file. Except for photographs, we will not accept graphics that we must paste up manually. Unit 4 discusses graphics in detail.

What are all those numbers?

Graphics for our courses carry two types of numeric identification:

·         Graphics shop number.

·         CDC figure number.

 

Figure 2–1. Tubular lock. 

File-naming conventions

Electronic file names should duplicate figure numbers. The file name of each graphic should include the dual figure number and a file name extension identifying the graphics file format. If the file format of figure 2–1 is Graphics Interchange Format (GIF), the file name must include this information: F2–01.GIF.

You may include more information in the file name. You may name your files for volume 1 as V1F1–01.GIF, and so forth, and for volume 2 as V2F1–01.GIF, and so forth. Including volume numbers may help avoid confusion from volume to volume. What we must have are the figure number (F1–01) in the file name and the format type (GIF) in the file name extension.

If you are sure which figure numbers will go with graphics before you do a graphics work order, you may be able to get the graphics shop to assign file names to correspond with figure numbers. If not, you must rename files with the proper figure numbers after you have organized your material and decided on figure sequence.

LEG.DOC

In this file, include legends for appendixes and foldouts. (A “legend” identifies an appendix or a foldout; for example, “Foldout 1. Ordnance devices.”) Group legends for appendixes and foldouts separately. (See appendix for an example.)

·         Enter all appendix legends and then all foldout legends.

·         Do not use blank lines to separate legends.

·         Sequence the legends for foldouts in the order you refer to them in the volume.

·         List any sublegends just below the legend.

·         In legends for forms, include the word “sample.” Do not send blank forms to us as illustrations (unit 4)—fill in the form with hypothetical entries.

Other files

Include in your package electronic files for any of these documents relevant to the volume you are sending:

·         ACK.DOC to acknowledge permission to use copyrighted material (not for thanks to people who helped you).

·         APPEN.DOC if an appendix is needed.

·         BIB.DOC when a bibliography is needed.

·         README.DOC with administrative notes.

ACK.DOC

The Word template for front matter leads you through preparation of all front matter elements except for acknowledgment for permission to use copyrighted material. If you must make acknowledgment, create a separate ACK.DOC file modeled after the one in the appendix. We insert the acknowledgment into the preface.

APPEN.DOC

Set up extensive material, such as charts, tables, and extracts from TOs and other government publications, as appendixes. (See the example in the appendix.) If your reference material is too bulky to be bound in the back of your volume, call your team to discuss having it bound separately.

BIB.DOC

A bibliography in a CDC is optional unless a copyright release requires a bibliography to list a copyrighted work. A bibliography should not include Air Force publications. Use a bibliography to list commercial texts, periodicals, and other publications the students can consult for more information. Since our courses are self-contained, you seldom need a bibliography. Do not send one unless you want your students to consult the sources listed or a copyright release requires one. (See the BIB.DOC file example in the appendix.)

README.DOC

This file is optional. Include it only to give information to the Institute’s staff that we may need before we start work on your project.

 

Return to the unit menu

2–5. Sending Hard Copies

Besides electronic files, you must send several other things to get your volumes published. Here, we identify these items.

Illustrations

Send coordination copies of—

·         Figures.

·         Foldouts.

Coordination copies of figures

Send a coordination hard copy for each digitized graphic to be printed in the text. On the hard copy, lower right-hand corner, write the course, volume, and figure number. We do not ask for a camera-ready copy.

Foldouts

Send print-quality (camera-ready) foldouts. On the front, lower right-hand corner, 1 inch from any part of the foldout that is to be printed, write (in blue pencil) the foldout number, course, and volume number. Send only one set of foldouts.

Administrative materials

Include in your package these documents:

·         Letter of transmittal.

·         Checklist for shipping course material.

·         Copyright release (when needed).

Letter of transmittal

In the letter (see appendix for example), identify—

Yourself

Give your name, DSN number, and E-mail address.

NOTE: AFIADL recommends that your office establish a stable e-mail address that students and your course development team can use to contact you or your successors.

FOUO information in the volume or supplemental material

See DOD 5400.7–R/Air Force Supplement, DOD Freedom of Information Act Program.

Common volumes

Say whether the volume is common to a volume in another course. An entire volume to be used in two or more courses is a common volume. If you are preparing a text that will used in at least two courses (whether in production or already printed), please call your team to discuss how to send the materials.

NOTE: The common volume process is much easier if you can make the common volume have the same volume number for each course.

Borrowed text

Identify the exact source of material you reuse. If you borrowed a section or more of text exactly from any CDC (including the previous edition of the one you are revising), cite the source. Correlate borrowed text to its source by unit, section, and lesson number. When you borrow from a CDC, call the writer of the material to find out whether corrections and improvements have been made for the next revision.

Copyrighted material

State whether the volume has copyrighted material.

Request to use color

If there’s something you cannot teach without using color, send justification.

Checklist for shipping course material

Use a checklist to make sure you have everything in your package that you need to send to the Institute. See the sample checklist for shipping course material in the appendix.

Copyright requests and releases

Attach a copy of each copyright request and release to your letter of transmittal. Send us a copy of each copyright request and release when you use copyrighted material, no matter how often the same material has been used in CDCs before. See the sample requesting permission to use copyrighted material in the appendix.

 

Return to the unit menu

2–6. Mailing Materials

When you have all of your materials together, pack and mail your project to us. The rules here apply to all courses except cryptologic CDCs.

Packaging

Protect camera-ready material. Pack course materials in containers strong enough to protect them in transit. Wrap packages to meet Air Force and postal specifications.

Mailing

Use first-class mail, United Parcel Service (UPS), or the Base Information Transfer System (BITS). Check local requirements. Electronic file transfer is reserved for later coordination with your ISS. Send all CDC materials (volumes, changes, and supplements) to—

AFIADL/DCC

50 South Turner Boulevard

Maxwell AFB, Gunter Annex AL 36118–5643

Keeping your volume moving

As we log in your course materials, we check to be sure they are complete and are prepared properly. If your package is missing something, it goes “on hold” (with downtime charged to you). The Institute cannot accept responsibility for not meeting a need date when we don’t receive a complete package early enough to process it.

We put your materials on hold only if we must. We correct minor deficiencies if we can; other times, materials are so deficient that we must get you to make corrections. This table is a checklist of areas that most often lead to our putting your package on hold and calling on you for remedial action. Check your project to make sure you are clear in these areas.

Preparation Checklist
	Missing graphics.
	Graphics our equipment can’t read.
	Missing topicid in the U0.DOC file.
	Missing self-test questions and answers.
	Missing hidden TEST markers in units.
	Graphics not matching hard copy.
	Graphics files not named as figure numbers. (The graphics shop identification number, or whatever, doesn’t tell the editor which graphic to insert into the text file.)
	More self-test questions than answers, or vice versa. (If this problem is not widespread, we try to solve it by phone.)
	Misnumbering so widespread or so crazy that we can’t figure out how to renumber, can’t figure out whether materials are in the right order, etc.
	Fewer than two multiple-choice items per lesson or fewer than 75 items per volume.

Return to the unit menu

 2–7. Sending Changed Material after You’ve Sent Your Project

Sometimes, you must send changes to materials already at the Institute. These instances involve changes to equipment, procedures, and so forth, mandated after you sent in the project. Your prompt attention to such a circumstance may let you get the changes in your CDC volumes rather than into an “activation” supplement—a supplement sent with your course when it is activated. When you must change material already here, how you proceed depends on where your volume is in the production cycle.

Before an ISS begins work on a volume

If your volume is “doing shelf time,” follow these steps:

1. Contact your branch chief at the Institute right away so that he or she can adjust assignment of projects if need be.

2. Notify the Curriculum Control Branch (AFIADL/DCC, DSN 596–4153) to expect new materials for input, if the volume has not yet reached Course Development Branch A or B.

3. Prepare your changes very carefully.

4. For text updates and corrections, insert changes into the unit. Mail a new unit file and tell us to replace the old unit with the new one. Do not prepare inserts for the Institute.

5. For corrected graphics, send new graphics files, named properly, and hard copies of the new graphics, labeled properly.

6. Send a letter of transmittal explaining exactly how to use the new material.

7. Mail the package to your branch chief or AFIADL/DCC, as appropriate.

While an ISS or editor is working on a volume

If your volume is in production for educational review and rewrite or for editing, tell your ISS about the changes you need to make and discuss what to do. Together, you will decide on the best way for you to send changes (E-mail or regular mail), to whom you must address the corrections, and the best way for the Institute to incorporate the material.

After a volume has been processed

When a volume has been reviewed, rewritten as needed, and edited, but the volume has not been printed, you and the branch chief together can decide whether the changes can and should be made to the book before course activation. If your discussion with the branch chief reveals that you cannot send your changes in time for us to rework your project to meet the field need date, you must send a change supplement.

 

Return to the unit menu

2–8. Coordinating Electronically with Your ISS

It is the Institute’s procedure to coordinate with course authors unit by unit when possible. The most practical way to coordinate is to exchange digital files by E-mail. Ask your local CDC manager and your local systems people how to attach and download Word files in E-mail messages. AFIADL recommends that your office establish a stable e-mail address that students and your course development team can use to contact you or your successors.

If you have questions about the Institute’s part in file exchange, please talk to your team or call DSN 596–4317 and ask to speak to our connectivity point of contact. If you do not have E-mail, we can coordinate by mailing disks.

 

Return to the unit menu

2–9. Keeping Electronic Files of CDC Text

When the editor sends you electronic disk copies of your volume files, keep only those files. You will get those files with the page proof of each volume. These files reflect both the ISS’s and the editor’s work on your volume, but the unit files you get do not contain illustrations; therefore, they do not reflect final layout. You get only a hard-copy page proof to show illustration insertion and layout.

Which files do you get for archiving?

Keep these electronic files of your CDC volumes—FRONT.DOC, U#.DOCs, GLOS.DOC, APPEN.DOC, U0.DOC, and BIB.DOC (when a bibliography is required).

Again, keep only the edited files you get at the page-proof stage. Do not keep the original files you sent to the Institute, and do not keep the files your ISS sent you unit by unit for coordination. Keeping multiple electronic copies of your CDC can be big trouble.

Explanation of how files pass back and forth between you and the Institute

If you understand the first three paragraphs of this section, you may disregard the rest of this section. If you do not understand the first three paragraphs, this brief review of how files pass back and forth between writers and the Institute should clarify things.

You send original manuscript text to the Institute in electronic files on disk. An ISS reviews and rewrites or revises each volume to improve it, as needed, for educational effectiveness, clarity, currency, style, and so on. The ISS coordinates with you unit by unit by E-mail or diskettes. These coordination files are an interim product.

After you coordinate with your ISS on these files and reach agreement on changes, an editorial assistant (your editor) takes over the project at the Institute. The editor reads the text carefully for grammar, punctuation, internal consistency, and so on. Editorial changes should not affect meaning, and, generally, there is no need to coordinate with you on these matters. If there is a need, the editor or ISS phones you to work out the details or E-mails the files to you for your review.

When the editorial process is complete, the editor sends you new electronic files that include editorial changes, an electronic pageproof.

Return to the unit menu

Summary

This unit covered a number of very important factors in preparing your course materials. First, we discussed the crucial step of organizing your material. Your success as a course writer depends on your careful attention to this element. Plan your book carefully and your task will become much easier. After discussing organization, we covered our standard numbering system. Then, we introduced file names for the various parts of your book and explained what should be in each file. We also listed the hard copies we need with each volume. Finally, we explained packaging, mailing, and coordination requirements.

 Return to Guide home page

For questions on the content of this page, send E-mail to:

Guide Authors

DSN: 596–4420  Comm: (334) 416–4420

 

Pagemaster
DSN: 596-4277 Comm: 334-416-4277

Webmaster
DSN 596-3795 Comm 334-416-3795

Air Force Institute for Advanced Distributed Learning

50 South Turner Blvd
Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex AL 36118-5643