Making the Transition From Traditional Reference Manuals to Consumer-Oriented Alternatives  

As computers have evolved from limited-purpose, limited audience, multi-million dollar, room-sized machines to desktop machines with almost unlimited use, computer documentation has remained geared toward describing the technical attributes of software, not the use of the software. Increased competition, cost, and environmental considerations make it increasingly important to change from the paradigm of reference documentation to task-oriented documents and to consider all of the alternatives available. These include simple one-page cards, videos, online systems, and example-based user guides.

Leetham, Judith. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Measuring Value Added: Rationale and Approaches  

This panel will present case studies on the value added by technical communicators and their information products to the products and services they support. Many of us practitioners would like to do more value-adding assessments, but don’t know how to adapt the measures to our real-world situations of limited budget and often limited interest among our customers. The panel will focus on practical approaches for applying some of the metrics used to calculate the value of our products and services (1,2). We will also discuss the benefits of this exercise for ourselves and our customers. With the current economic clime, waiting for others to determine the value of their work often means waiting in unemployment lines.

Knodel, Elinor L., Sandra M. Gallagher, Judith Leetham, Theresa Marchwinski, Amy E. Smith and Emily A. Sopensky. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>TC>Assessment