#10071
Documentation Without Documents -- The COIL Model
A description of a Canadian content-management system from the early days of the emerging knowledge management industry. COIL is a document management system that manages the information held in documents, rather than the documents themselves. By integrating more than 1,500 hardcopy pages of legacy documentation into one on-line information resource, COIL provides chart producers with an effective way of consulting the standards and procedures for their GIS, and of managing revisions to those standards and procedures.
#13192
Drawing on experience in bringing the material of many clients to the Internet and CD-ROM, this paper describes how to develop an intelligent online document repository. The paper describes how to plan scalable solutions, how to manage production, what to watch out for, and how to maintain your collections into the future.
Thurston, John. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Publishing>Online
#10840
One man's career transition from academia to the technical writing. He dicusses foiled ambitions, crossing over, what is shared, Is it different, and Is it a matter of worth?
#18471
Review: A Matter of Style: On Writing and Technique
Many editors and writers will find A Matter of Style useful, but as readers, most will find it frustrating. Matthew Clark, a professor of classical literature and a musician, addresses the book to editors and writers, both creative and non-fiction, and especially to academic writers. The book is not an introduction and Clark assumes that his readers “already have a good grounding in the basics of grammar and style” (p. iv). He skips quickly through a chapter called “A Few Points of Grammar” to get to his real target, “questions of artistry” (p. 1). So far, so good, but problems soon develop around many of these nodes. The level of audience assumed by the book frequently varies. The book functions in many passages as an introduction to various classical arcana of questionable utility. Even more than questions of artistry, Clark deals with “questions about style” that are “questions of taste” and so “do not have definitive answers.” As many critics before him, he claims that “taste can still be discussed” (p. 14). The question is, “How?”
Thurston, John. Writer's Block (2002). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides
#29911
Writing in the Presence of Disaster: A Case Study of an Aviation Investigation Report 
The investigation of fatal aircraft incidents has gained in importance and in the attention of the public. This paper presents the experience of one documentation company in working on a major aircraft accident investigation report. The paper covers the general approach the company took, the challenges it encountered, the standards it applied, the strategies it developed, and the lessons it learned.
Thurston, John. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Reports
#29193
Writing in the Presence of Disaster: A Case Study of an Aviation Investigation Report
The experience of a documentation company in working on a major aircraft accident investigation report.
Thurston, John. Writer's Block (2005). Articles>Writing>Reports>Case Studies
