Do Not Forget Bibliographical Data in Technical Documentation!

Information products, e.g. manuals, drawings etc, must, besides the technical message, contain certain formal data, which too often is left out. Proper formal data contributes to good order and favours the producer as well as the user of information products.

Rullgård, Åke. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Documentation through the Discovery Process  

Kloss describes a process of composing documentation that requires the writer's involvement at every phase of product development.

Kloss, Marilyn B. Intercom (2002). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Elegant Documentation  

Blank discusses the benefits of using consistent styles in documentation.

Blank, William. Intercom (2001). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

An Exchange of Views

A discussion about INTECOM's project for researching and establishing English-language documentation guidelines.

Fuchs, Amo and Ronald S. Blicq. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Style Guides and Technical Writing

A style guide consists of formats used when creating documentation. Some companies maintain a formal style guide and adhere to strict documentation standards. Other companies may be more informal, but still maintain some semblance of a style guide, even if it is only an example of the documentation they create.

Taylor, Vicki M. Suite101 (2001). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Using a Doc Spec for Printed Books  

All technical documentation projects benefit from a good content plan or 'doc spec.' The doc spec is a blueprint for a document. It identifies the product, users, source materials, and subject matter experts (SMEs). It also provides a preliminary outline of topics and estimates the work effort to produce the document. The doc spec template is simply a tool that guides you through the document planning and estimating process. Your customized doc spec serves as a record of the who, what, when, why, and how of your project.

Wing, Elizabeth. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides

Using Manual Quality Tables To Improve Manual Quality  

Technical writers need to decide what information is to go into a manual, and in how much detail. Such decisions can have a crucial effect on manual quality. Poor decisions can result in published manuals that lack required information, contain unsuitable or unnecessary information, or repeat information in other manuals. To help make better decisions, Hitachi technical writers use Manual Quality Tables. The tables specify what type of information is to go into a manual, the required level of detail, and sources for the information. These tables enable writers to itemize the required contents of a manual before starting to write the manual. In addition, during later revisions, the tables enable writers or reviewers to easily discover any topics that were left out in the original version.

Sudo, Hideki. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Style Guides