How-to's
The Department of Extension and Experiment Station Communications (EESC) provides communication support to staff and faculty within OSU's Extension Service and Agricultural Experiment Station. Listed here are some of the services we provide to help staff and faculty with distance education projects.
Distance Education
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The purpose of ADEC is to assist member universities and colleges in developing and promoting high-quality distance education programs and services for diverse audiences by using the best and most affordable information technologies available.
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The success of a blog depends on the same elements that make for successful writing, successful websites, and successful conversation. Before launching your blog, learn what to include to ensure its success.
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This guide provides the basic steps required to create multimedia-rich Adobe Presenter presentations that can be used online.
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Multimedia projects have laid the groundwork for a new way of thinking--and a new way of learning.
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A tour of the most common social media and some advice for users.
Graphic Design
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Web-published photos are copyrighted just as if they were published in a book. If you plan to use a photo from the Web in a printed piece, be sure it is at least 300 ppi.
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Anything you want to “picture” on television--slides or graphics--needs to fit inside the TV frame.
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Oregon State University has a unique stationery system that carries the OSU logo. Extension offices and departments identify themselves by including a specific statement and using local addresses.
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Multimedia projects have laid the groundwork for a new way of thinking--and a new way of learning.
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If you want to use text, photos, illustrations, tables, charts, or graphs from another publication or Web site, note that most material is copyrighted and using it without permission is illegal. Therefore, EESC requires that you submit written documentation that you have obtained permission to reproduce anything from another source.
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Authorized versions of the OSU logo are available for downloading from this site.
Impact Reporting
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Positive media coverage attracts grant money and legislative support. It may be easier to ignore the mainstream media, but expanding our audience is essential for the success of the university.
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Find out the key elements to impact reporting.
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This document walks you through the steps required to access your Extension Web site statistics. It is an accompaniment to the video tutorial.
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Quick guide for finding Web statistics for OSU Extension Web sites.
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Impact is the difference your programs are making in peoples' lives. In more technical terms, impact is the reportable and verifiable difference a land-grant program makes in the lives of citizens.
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A step-by-step process for organizing your thoughts and powering up your prose (originally presented at the 2007 OSU Extension Spring Training program).
Multimedia
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There’s no such thing as a bad shot--just one that isn’t close enough.
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Not all camera gear has to be expensive or high tech. Sometimes something as simple as a clothespin can make all the difference in what you capture with your camera.
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Here are a few tips to remember when selecting and providing digital images for a publication.
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An important decision for every digital photographer, besides selecting a camera, is deciding what software to use in the digital darkroom.
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The success of a blog depends on the same elements that make for successful writing, successful websites, and successful conversation. Before launching your blog, learn what to include to ensure its success.
-
This guide provides the basic steps required to create multimedia-rich Adobe Presenter presentations that can be used online.
-
Use a camera long enough, and eventually slides, prints, and negatives start piling up all over your office. If your photo file consists of the back half of a dusty file drawer, consider upgrading your storage system.
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Multimedia projects have laid the groundwork for a new way of thinking--and a new way of learning.
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Built-in flash can be a powerful tool in bright light. Some camera models have controls that allow the photographer to use the flash to fill in, highlight, or balance exposure.
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EESC provides a form for you to use to get permission from subjects of your photos.
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Messages delivered via video are most effective when supported by compelling visual images.
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A straw-vote survey of county chairs and program leaders earlier this year suggested a growing interest in streaming video--or video on the Web.
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Spring makes me want to get out in the garden…and shoot plant pictures.
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Writing for the web is very different from writing for print media.
Photography
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A common compositional trick used by many photographers is the "rule of thirds"
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You’ve heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. But often in our business of education and information, it’s a few words that add value to a good picture.
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Web-published photos are copyrighted just as if they were published in a book. If you plan to use a photo from the Web in a printed piece, be sure it is at least 300 ppi.
-
There’s no such thing as a bad shot--just one that isn’t close enough.
-
Not all camera gear has to be expensive or high tech. Sometimes something as simple as a clothespin can make all the difference in what you capture with your camera.
-
Here are a few tips to remember when selecting and providing digital images for a publication.
-
An important decision for every digital photographer, besides selecting a camera, is deciding what software to use in the digital darkroom.
-
Anything you want to “picture” on television--slides or graphics--needs to fit inside the TV frame.
-
Use a camera long enough, and eventually slides, prints, and negatives start piling up all over your office. If your photo file consists of the back half of a dusty file drawer, consider upgrading your storage system.
-
Multimedia projects have laid the groundwork for a new way of thinking--and a new way of learning.
-
Built-in flash can be a powerful tool in bright light. Some camera models have controls that allow the photographer to use the flash to fill in, highlight, or balance exposure.
-
EESC provides a form for you to use to get permission from subjects of your photos.
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By planning ahead, you will have quality images to choose from, and you won’t be disappointed with the prints
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Messages delivered via video are most effective when supported by compelling visual images.
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Spring makes me want to get out in the garden…and shoot plant pictures.
Publishing
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Use one of these statements on any publication that announces your services, programs, or events.
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Web-published photos are copyrighted just as if they were published in a book. If you plan to use a photo from the Web in a printed piece, be sure it is at least 300 ppi.
-
Here are a few tips to remember when selecting and providing digital images for a publication.
-
Writing a useful publication is more than choosing words. Much of the work occurs before you begin writing and after you finish the first draft. Here are some tips for getting from idea to published piece, whether printed or online.
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In Extension, we often are called on to explain tasks ranging from applying correct amounts of fertilizer to preparing roses for winter. With a little effort, we can leave our readers satisfied rather than cursing the instruction writer. Here are some tips.
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Here's an easy method to help you organize your writing without doing an outline.
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By including a nondiscrimination/affirmative action statement on your published materials, you meet USDA Civil Rights requirements.
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If you want to use text, photos, illustrations, tables, charts, or graphs from another publication or Web site, note that most material is copyrighted and using it without permission is illegal. Therefore, EESC requires that you submit written documentation that you have obtained permission to reproduce anything from another source.
-
Authorized versions of the OSU logo are available for downloading from this site.
-
EESC provides a form for you to use to get permission from subjects of your photos.
-
Tips for selecting and providing digital images for an EESC publication.
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A tour of the most common social media and some advice for users.
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There are several things you can do that will take a few extra minutes of your time, but they will increase the usability of the PDF file.
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A step-by-step process for organizing your thoughts and powering up your prose (originally presented at the 2007 OSU Extension Spring Training program).
Spanish Language
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Use one of these statements on any publication that announces your services, programs, or events.
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If you work with Spanish-speaking clients in agriculture, check out these resources the next time you’re stumped by an agricultural term.
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The best-written text in the world will fail to serve its purpose if the reading level is too high for the intended readers.
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By including a nondiscrimination/affirmative action statement on your published materials, you meet USDA Civil Rights requirements.
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EESC provides a form for you to use to get permission from subjects of your photos.
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If you want to offer educational programs to Hispanics, begin by forgetting the program. Instead, think people. Only with a system of healthy relationships in place can you begin to deliver educational content.
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A great Web site for anyone looking for educational materials in Spanish, help with translation, or information about Hispanic culture.
Web Help
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Add a link to your county web site that takes users to OSU Extension's Northwest Gardeners' eNews.
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The purpose of ADEC is to assist member universities and colleges in developing and promoting high-quality distance education programs and services for diverse audiences by using the best and most affordable information technologies available.
-
Use one of these statements on any publication that announces your services, programs, or events.
-
What's a wiki? The short definition is "collaborative online workspace," but a wiki is really a new--some might say anarchistic--way of cooperatively generating information content.
-
Writing a useful publication is more than choosing words. Much of the work occurs before you begin writing and after you finish the first draft. Here are some tips for getting from idea to published piece, whether printed or online.
-
Multimedia projects have laid the groundwork for a new way of thinking--and a new way of learning.
-
By including a nondiscrimination/affirmative action statement on your published materials, you meet USDA Civil Rights requirements.
-
Authorized versions of the OSU logo are available for downloading from this site.
-
EESC provides a form for you to use to get permission from subjects of your photos.
-
A straw-vote survey of county chairs and program leaders earlier this year suggested a growing interest in streaming video--or video on the Web.
-
A tour of the most common social media and some advice for users.
-
There are several things you can do that will take a few extra minutes of your time, but they will increase the usability of the PDF file.
-
This document walks you through the steps required to access your Extension Web site statistics. It is an accompaniment to the video tutorial.
-
Quick guide for finding Web statistics for OSU Extension Web sites.
-
Writing for the web is very different from writing for print media.
Writing and Media Relations
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What's a wiki? The short definition is "collaborative online workspace," but a wiki is really a new--some might say anarchistic--way of cooperatively generating information content.
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Here are nine of the worst mistakes when writing press releases or otherwise dealing with the media.
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A call from the media can be a good experience--if you are mentally prepared.
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Here is a suggested checklist of tasks that not only will identify and solve common writing problems, but could reduce the amount of time you spend rereading, tinkering, rewriting, and re-editing.
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If you want to be quoted as often as Thomas Jefferson, a good way to start is to tighten your writing.
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The success of a blog depends on the same elements that make for successful writing, successful websites, and successful conversation. Before launching your blog, learn what to include to ensure its success.
-
Positive media coverage attracts grant money and legislative support. It may be easier to ignore the mainstream media, but expanding our audience is essential for the success of the university.
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How to overcome the task of sorting through the volumes of information we gather before we actually write a popular science article about someone's research.
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Knowing how to avoid writing mistakes likely to send an editor scrambling for the “delete” key is a good way to smooth having your submission accepted for publication.
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Suppose you are the one chosen to spread the word about your organization's latest accomplishment, plan, or upcoming event. You need to get the word out in your local newspaper.
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Writing a useful publication is more than choosing words. Much of the work occurs before you begin writing and after you finish the first draft. Here are some tips for getting from idea to published piece, whether printed or online.
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Skillfully blending the passive voice into your prose lends it variety and spice.
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See the "lite" on informal spelling, when to use "over" versus "more than", and how to restrict your use of commas's--these are only a few of the many topics on a website with clear, fun, and funny discussions of how words work. It's a compilation of Grammar Hints from writers who are members of the Association of Communication Excellence.
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Is there something you want the public to know? Writing a letter to the editor is one way to express yourself. Follow these tips to increase the possibility of your letter being published.
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In Extension, we often are called on to explain tasks ranging from applying correct amounts of fertilizer to preparing roses for winter. With a little effort, we can leave our readers satisfied rather than cursing the instruction writer. Here are some tips.
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Journalism professors like to extol the virtues of a punchy, lean, and clear writing style because it keeps readers interested.
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The best-written text in the world will fail to serve its purpose if the reading level is too high for the intended readers.
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Take a 4-year journalism course in 5 minutes.
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Even on the slimmest budget, your newsletter can be a useful, reliable document of record that tracks the events, accomplishments, membership, and goals of your group.
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Working with your local media is essential to share your research, teaching, and Extension successes.
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A tour of the most common social media and some advice for users.
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You'll stand tall in your readers' eyes if you replace long words with shorter ones whenever you can.
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Many sins of poor writing are lumped under the heading of “wordiness.”
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Your lead paragraph can be a grabber, your quotes pithy and your prose perfect. But if you allow errors--even little ones--to creep into your copy, they'll damage your credibility.
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Adverbs are misused so often, it's hard to know how to use them correctly.
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Parallel structure arranges words, phrases, clauses, or sentences in a series of two or more grammatically equivalent structures.
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The explosion of information systems seems to be speeding up the rate at which misuse of words is overtaking proper use.
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Impact is the difference your programs are making in peoples' lives. In more technical terms, impact is the reportable and verifiable difference a land-grant program makes in the lives of citizens.
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Are you tired of being quoted out of context in the newspaper? Want to build public awareness about an issue important to you? Take charge and write an “in my opinion” piece.
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Make your county newsletters more appealing to readers by writing better headlines.
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What makes a column interesting?
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Writing for the web is very different from writing for print media.
-
A step-by-step process for organizing your thoughts and powering up your prose (originally presented at the 2007 OSU Extension Spring Training program).
