| |||||||||
|
Typography is the study and process of typefaces; how to select, size, arrange, and use them in general. Traditionally, typography was the use of metal types with raised letterforms that were inked and then pressed onto paper. In modern terms, typography today also includes computer display and output.
526. #25453 Blogs as Virtual Communities: Identifying a Sense of Community in the Julie/Julia Project We must understand, first, why virtual communities are considered important, and, second, what the characteristics of a virtual community are. Then, we must determine if at least some blogs have these characteristics. Blanchard, Anita. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Communication>Community Building>Blogging 527. #23682 Blogging as a trend has gained enormous popularity with the simplification of automated self-publishing systems, such as Blogger at www.blogger.com, or MT at www.moveabletype.org. Blogging as a way of life is also gathering adherents at a rapid pace. Young, Lisa. MetroVoice (2003). Articles>Publishing>Online>Blogging 528. #26933 Bloom's Taxonomy in Technical Content Development Technical writers provide information enabling users to learn and apply various technologies. In the endeavor to enable users, technical writers often need to use different strategies of classification, presentation, and structuring for the different types of information. However, in most cases such classifications or decisions about the best method of presentation and optimum structure are guided by instinct and are rarely heuristic. In this article, we present an established classification of information called Bloom’s taxonomy (of educational objectives), which can help technical writers make decisions about content classification. Robbani, Wasique. KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Document Design>Academic>Contextual Inquiry 529. #23397 The Blue Background in PowerPoint Why is the default color of PowerPoint dark blue? People prepare the best slides man can create - and yet they leave the default color stay dark blue. Fuchs, Amo. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Presentations>Visual Rhetoric>Color 530. #28137 Review: The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation If you are still struggling to decode the complex jargon and structure of English grammar with a long list of reference books, relax. The long wait for a reader-friendly book on English grammar is over. With her straightforward and perfectly-logical approach, Jane Straus reveals the mysteries of grammar and punctuations in her book The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. The book is extremely well-organized, allowing readers to quickly locate the required topics. Concepts are described in clear and simple phrases, backed with examples from everyday language usage. Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Grammar 531. #19603 In the dusty institutions where usability standards gather to party with each other, ISO 9241 is a bit of a celebrity. It is widely cited by people who would be hard pushed to name any other standard, and parts of it are virtually enshrined in law in some European countries. But as is the fate of many celebrities, all most usability professionals know about the standard is its name. This white paper describes each of the 17 parts of ISO 9241 in detail. Travis, David. Userfocus (2003). Articles>Usability>Standards 532. #18881 The nature of hypertext challenges many underlying assumptions for traditional literary critics. Literary critics frequently like to think that they have objectively looked at the lexias of the work, thoughtfully considered them, and constructed a solid interpretation or analysis of the work based on those lexia. Hypertext, however, presents the possibility that two critics who are reading the same work may have differing sets of lexia from which to work. Thus, even if critics objectively consider the lexia before them, they cannot free themselves from the subjectivity of the reading performance that made those lexia (and not others) appear. This raises the concern that, if hypertext critics can only present subjective views of the text, there may be little or no benefit to reading or writing those critiques. Higgason, Richard E. Journal of Digital Information (2003). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext>Theory 533. #23486 A good understanding of the subject matter or the access to a specialist is an important element in technical writing and translation. It is a quality issue that I don’t believe too many people in the business would dispute. In Brazil, however, the creation and translation of technical material has increasingly become a problem exactly because this factor is being overlooked. Destro, Delio. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization 534. #25113 An overview of the typical components of a printed technical book and the typical content, format, style, and sequence of those components. McMurrey, David A. Illuminati Online (2001). Articles>Document Design>Publishing 535. #22058 Combine the probing thoughts of media culture sage Marshall McLuhan with the visual insights of design guru David Carson and the result is the quintessential coffee table book for anyone that works with technology and design. The Book of Probes is an intentional chocolate-in-my-peanut-butter experiment to combine the ideas of McLuhan with the images of Carson in thought provoking ways. MacLaughlin, Steve. Boxes and Arrows (2004). Articles>Reviews>Graphic Design 536. #12931 I was a tech writer long before I wrote my first book, although I had to jump through some difficult hoops to land my first tech writing job (a series of six tests on technology); however, a great deal of my work later, especially my consulting jobs, came about as a result of my books and the reputation they bestowed on me. Being published between covers brings you respect almost as quickly and surely as becoming known as a millionaire business owner does. Even now, it happens. A reader who owns a small business in Baltimore hired me recently to do some consulting with him, after reading one of my books published a few years ago. The gentleman had read several books on the subject of proposal writing and contracting, and he decided that my book reflected the kind of thinking he needed, although it was one of my most slender volumes. Holtz, Herman. TECHWR-L (2001). Articles>Writing>Publishing 537. #13644 Review: Book Reviews in Technical Communication This page provides links to book reviews related to technical communication. I am looking for book reviews to publish. Please email me if you have a review that you would like to see published here. Note that this is a non-commercial site -- I don't pay for reviews. 538. #25574 Boost Your Website With Expert Content The only effective way to promote a website is by hosting unique, quality content. Search engine optimization and paid inclusions are a waste of time and money if there isn't a compelling reason for your visitors to come back once they have found you. Warren, Robert. TypePad.com (2003). Articles>Web Design>Writing 539. #22190 Border? What Border? Documents are Interfaces Documents are interfaces. In situations where documents help us do tasks - whether simple or complex - they look and act like software interfaces. Academics in technical communication are in the business of helping people learn to design, build, analyze, and assess these interfaces. Yet, only occasionally do we admit this responsibility. Judging from our curricula, our research journals, and our textbooks, we still view this responsibility as somehow distinct from what we do to teach 'technical writing,' 'technical editing,' or 'document design.' It isn't. Hart-Davidson, William. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>User Interface>Theory 540. #25568 Review: Bosworth's Web of Data In a Thursday morning keynote at the MySQL Users Conference 2005, Google's Adam Bosworth advocated an open model for data. Although he was not referring to open source, he expanded upon the example by explaining that customers like open source software because of the transparency. Steinberg, Daniel H. O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>SQL 541. #23073 Bottoms Up: Designing Complex, Adaptive Systems Web design is under attack. Our enemy is a dangerous meme known as reductionism. This devious adversary is spreading the notion that we can fully understand Web sites as a combination of simpler components, and that we can break the process of design into lots of quick steps and clearly defined deliverables. Morville, Peter. New Architect (2002). Articles>Information Design>Web Design 542. #30210 This article uses qualitative material gathered at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to construct a model of the rhetorical activity that occurs at the boundaries between diverse communities of practice working on complex sociotechnical systems. The authors reinterpret the notion of the boundary object current in science studies as a rhetorical construct that can foster cooperation and communication among the diverse members of heterogeneous working groups. The knowledge maps constructed by team members at LANL in their work on technical systems are boundary objects that can replace the demarcation exigence that so often leads to agonistic rhetorical boundary work with an integrative exigence. The integrative exigence realized by the boundary object of the knowledge map can help create a temporary trading zone characterized by rhetorical relations of symmetry and mutual understanding. In such cases, boundary work can become an effort involving integration and understanding rather than contest, controversy, and demarcation. Wilson, Greg and Carl G. Herndl. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Scientific Communication>Collaboration>Rhetoric 543. #28642 Brainstorming is an individual or group process for generating alternative ideas or solutions for a specific topic. Good brainstorming focuses on the quantity and creativity of ideas: the quality of ideas is much less important than the sheer quantity. After ideas are generated, they are often grouped into categories and prioritized for subsequent research or application. Usability Body of Knowledge (2007). Articles>Usability>Methods>Collaboration 544. #22052 Brainstorming and Storyboarding The whole idea of “brainstorming” is to get ideas on paper. No particular order or structure, just get them ideas down. All you need is a quiet room, a clock, and pencil and paper. The procedure is simple: think about the subject and write down every idea that pops into your head within a set time. 545. #27328 Begin sentences with subjects and verbs, letting subordinate elements branch to the right. Even a long, long sentence can be clear and powerful when the subject and verb make meaning early. Clark, Roy Peter. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Writing>Rhetoric 546. #23972 Branding and the User Interface, Part 1: Brand Basics Develops a foundation for future, more detailed discussions by introducing several key brand concepts. Fortin, Nate. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Articles>User Interface>Marketing 547. #23969 Branding and the User Interface, Part 2: Tips on New Media Branding: Behavior and Color A look at how branding differs between traditional applications, like printed corporate collateral, and emerging new media applications, such as software user interfaces, with a focus on behavior and color. Fortin, Nate. Cooper Interaction Design (2003). Articles>User Interface>User Centered Design 548. #10574 Many web sites exist primarily to create or strengthen the brand for a product or service. We’re finding that a site’s usability can dramatically affect branding. And the graphical aspects of the site — such as logos or evocative pictures — have much less effect on branding than we expected. User Interface Engineering (1999). Articles>Usability>Web Design 549. #25223 Branding Copy and Web Sites: A Bad Fit The trouble with using text as a branding tool on web pages is that it gets in the way of what visitors are looking for. Visitors want and expect text to be useful and information. They are in 'active' and 'engaged' mode. They are searching. They want something. Text that isn't useful is disappointing. Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Marketing 550. #28893 A Breadth-First Survey of Eye Tracking Applications Eye tracking applications are surveyed in a breadth-first manner, reporting on work from the following domains: Neuroscience, Psychology, Industrial Engineering and Human Factors, Marketing/Advertising, and Computer Science. Following a review of traditionally diagnostic uses, emphasis is placed on interactive applications, differentiating between selective and gaze-contingent approaches. Duchowski, Andrew T. Lunds Universitet (2002). Articles>Software>Usability>Eye Tracking
| |||||||||
| |||||||||
Click here to learn how to embed the RSS feed of this category in your website.