Whether you are writing for a course, for publication, or in the workplace, you’ll find yourself turning to — and creating — informative documents on a regular basis. If you are new to a conversation, informative documents can help you learn about a subject. As you prepare to contribute to the conversation, they can help you understand what is generally agreed upon about the subject and what remains unknown or open to debate. And as you draft your contribution, you can use information and ideas from informative documents to introduce your subject, to support your points, or to illustrate alternative perspectives.

Good writers select a genre that allows them to best address their purpose, their readers, and the context of the conversation they want to join. In the following sections, you’ll find examples and discussions of some of the most common types of documents used to inform readers: informative essays, infographics, and profiles. In this chapter, you’ll find discussions and examples of Web sites, brochures, and maps.