Anything That Can Go Wrong: Lessons Learned from A Decade of Toolkit Documentation  

Writing software toolkit documentation for programmers is a special challenge and opportunity for technical writers. Compared with writing software documentation for lay users, toolkit documentation is more demanding and exacting. Checking facts and finding tiny errors is like riding a motorcycle through a swarm of gnats. However, for me at least, toolkit writing has opened doors to a larger role and greater input into product design. Engineers treat me like a peer and I get to see into their culture. I know my readers and salespeople need me.

van Oss, Joseph E. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>SDK>Technical Writing

How We Built Our Tech Pubs Intranet Site With Cheap Stuff  

Our Veep of Development laid down the glove: An award, he promised, would be given to that department producing the most useful intranet site. Budget, you ask? So we used all manner of freeware. In this session, we'll explain why an intranet made sense in our company, what tools we used to build our site, feedback we have received, and how the intranet has made our work more pleasant and efficient.

van Oss, Joseph E., Ina L. Mutschelknaus and Gerald F. Heiderschheit. STC Proceedings (1999). Design>Web Design>Intranets