Page 284 - DLIS402_INFORMATION_ANALYSIS_AND_REPACKAGING

Unit 13: Abstract and Abstracting

Let the action be clearly derived from the strategy, which identifies how the inputs are to be converted Notes
to outputs. Each action listed in this section should be related to one of the outputs (objectives,
goals), and it should be clear how the described action will contribute to reaching its respective
objective.

Appendices, Budget and Schedule

The purpose of appendices, now, is to supplement that text, ie to provide details that support the
argument included in the text. Budgets and schedules are among such details.
The Budget for the work plan should be placed in an appendix, not in the main text of the work
plan. Important as it is, it is not part of the argument of the work plan, but is a list of details that
supports the argument. It can be the first appendix.
Each of the budget items should relate to one or more of the objectives (outputs). Some budget
items (e.g. transport, postage, photocopying, phones, e-mail) must be arbitrarily divided among
several outputs, because they support all of them. No budget item should be included that does not
relate to some identified portion of the text of the work plan.
The Schedule of the work plan is optional. Some coordinators feel that they must plan for everyday
in the period. What is recommended here is that completion dates for each of the stated objectives
(or outputs) are listed in order, and that a reasonable length of time be allotted to each; e.g. one
output can be completed on one day between two stated dates, say, a week apart. This is more
flexible and reasonable. Dates of actions to be taken are therefore optional.
If there are any other details, such as lists, that are mentioned in the text (the argument of the work
plan), they can be included as appendices, where they will not clutter up or clog the argument.
These are optional.
The text must refer to each appendix where appropriate. No appendix should be included unless it
is referred to in the text. The appendices therefore provide necessary details, but are put at the end
of the work plan where they will not hinder the reader from seeing the continuity of the whole
argument, and how each of the above described chapters link, one to the next.

Overall Flow of the Work Plan

Note the inclusion of appendices in the structure and outline of the work plan. These are essential
parts of the whole work plan, especially the budget, but they are put into appendices at the end of the
work plan for an important purpose.
The text of the work plan is composed of several chapters (introduction, background, goals, objectives
outputs, resources, constraints, strategy, actions). Together, these comprise a single argument, and
every unit is related to each of the others.
• The background identifies the problem(s); then
• The goal defines solution(s); then
• The objectives (outputs) refine the goals, specific and verifiable; then
• The resources and constraints indicate what can and cannot be used to reach the objectives;
and then
• The strategy, along with specific or precise actions, indicates how the inputs will be con-
verted to outputs.
The logic that links these chapters together constitutes an argument.
That argument should be easy to follow, written in very simple vocabulary and grammar, and easy
and smooth in linking one chapter to the next. To make the argument more visible, more transparent,

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