#20272
Adapting Traditional Editing Practices for Online Documentation 
Technical editors are possibly best known for their abilities to transform information with format, content, grammatical, and mechanical problems into coherent, concise, understandable, and usable documents. Editors must not only provide such services for the information authors, but they must also understand and support users' needs and expectations. This presentation gives editors an approach to editing online documentation that is rooted in traditional editing practices.
Fink, Bonnie L., Carol Gasser, Jennifer Giordano and Beth A. Williams. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Editing>Documentation>Online
#34700
Best Practices for Online Review
Marking up paper is still the most common way to review documents, but online review is critical if you work as part of a distributed team. There are advantages to online review even if you sit only a cubicle away from your reviewer. Here are few tips for making your online reviews go smoothly.
Smith, Terry. Carolina Communiqué (2009). Articles>Editing>Online>Collaboration
#20972
A Brief Guide to Communication Products Used in Online Learning
An overview of the various genres of information about online learning products.
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Articles>Editing>Online
#34286
Comparing Featured Article Groups and Revision Patterns Correlations in Wikipedia 
Collaboratively written by thousands of people, Wikipedia produces entries which are consistent with criteria agreed by Wikipedians and of high quality. This article focuses on Wikipedia’s Featured Articles and shows that not every contribution can be considered as being of equal quality. Two groups of articles are analysed by focusing on the edits distribution and the main editors’ contribution. The research shows how these aspects of the revision patterns can change dependent upon the category to which the articles belong.
Poderi, Giacomo. First Monday (2009). Articles>Editing>Online>Assessment
#23647
E-Editing for Global Audiences
The role of the technical communicator, including that of the technical editor, has evolved to encompass a broad range of responsibilities and skills. The familiar editing processes can be streamlined into four levels of editing, thus providing a basis for a business model for highperformance, global teams. By combining the familiar levels of editing with the latest innovations of one-page business plans, a streamlined e-editing model can be used by high-performance teams to produce high-quality information in a timely and an efficient manner for global audiences.
Adler, Linda J. and Helen Lenane. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Editing>Online
#19251
Editing Online Documents: Strategies and Tips 
This paper explains the basics of editing online documents: the issues, skills, strategies, and processes. Practical tips address editing the following: nonsequential content, structure and navigation, links, and online writing style. Most of these strategies and tips apply to both online technical documents and general purpose Web pages. However, they do not apply to PDF or PostScript™ documents that are posted online for printing purposes only.
Troffer, Alysson M. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Editing>Online
#10809
Editing anything that is intended to be read on a computer rather than (or in addition to) being read on a paper copy.
Weber, Jean Hollis. ASTC (1996). Articles>Editing>Online
#24159
Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: A Model of User-centered Technology Adoption
This article connects the research into electronic editing reported by the author in two previous articles to a well-established theory of innovation adoption and diffusion. Everett M. Rogers's theory is first summarized, with emphasis on the perceived characteristics of innovations central to the innovation-decision process. The three most important of these categories for organizing personal judgments about an innovation are used to develop a model of the innovation-decision process with regard to electronic editing in technical communication. The central role of reinvention in the gradual, erratic diffusion of diverse e-editing practices in technical communication is discussed. The author explains and advocates a user-centered ethic of technology adoption, a perspective that values the agency of workplace communities in selectively adopting and reinventing innovations to support the work they do while preserving or enhancing their quality of life on the job.
Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Online
#19982
Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: Different Strokes for Different Folks
The author conducted a multi-modal study of electronic editing practices, impacts, and attitudes among technical communicators. Data were gathered from focus groups and face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as from email discussions and responses to open-ended questions on a Web-based survey. Observations based on a preliminary analysis of this data will be presented and discussed.
Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online
#22172
Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: The Compelling Logics of Local Contexts
Reports a qualitative study of e-editing practices and attitudes in specific workplace contexts. Sheds light on how specific workplace contexts influence perceptions and interpretations of e-editing's benefits and drawbacks.
Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Online
#19983
Electronic Editing: Results of a Dual-Mode Survey
The preliminary results from an STC-sponsored survey of electronic editing practices, impacts, and attitudes will be presented. In addition to a full-scale survey of a random sample of STC members, the research included a pilot survey administered on the World-Wide Web and a pretest using email software that automates the survey administration process. The potential advantages and problems associated with these innovative survey methods will be discussed.
Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online
#15132
File-Exchange and Workflow Issues
Suggests ways that editors can organize multiple versions of articles and avoid the pitfalls of transferring electronic files over the Internet.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2000). Articles>Editing>Online
#24565
From the Margins to the Center: The Future of Annotation
This article describes the importance of annotation to reading and writing practices and reviews new technologies that complicate the ways annotation can be used to support and enhance traditional reading, writing, and collaboration processes. Important directions for future research are discussed, with emphasis on studying how professionals read and annotate, how readers might use annotations that have been produced by others, and how the interface of an annotation program affects collaboration and communication on revision. In each area, the authors emphasize issues and methods that will be productive for enhancing theories of workplace and classroom communication as well as implications for the optimal design of annotation technologies.
Wolfe, Joanna L. and Christine M. Neuwirth. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2001). Articles>Editing>Online
#37365
Green and Onscreen: Benefits of the Onscreen Editing Method
While it is beneficial to employ greener methods, companies have to weigh the pros and cons of new business ideas. For this reason, I wanted to explore the advantages and disadvantages of onscreen editing, pointing out green benefits where possible.
Glick, Heidi. Intercom (2010). Articles>Editing>Online>Environmental
#19933
Green Squiggly Lines: Evaluating Student Writing in Computer-Mediated Environments
We have a theory, a trace, a prediction of what will happen in the influence that word processors have had on student writing. By outlining a history of word processors in writing pedagogy and assessment (a vast increase in studies of and pedagogies advocating revision occurred in the 1980s), 'Green Squiglly Lines' sketches the potential impact of electronic portfolios on writing assessment. How will the publication--the turning of academic essays into (pre)professional documents [literally portfolios in the graphic artist sense of the word]--change writing assessment in American higher education?
Whithaus, Carl. Academic.Writing (2003). Articles>Editing>Online>Word Processing
#24172
Implementing On-Screen Editing
On-screen editing offers obvious advantages over paper editing, including greater accuracy, shorter turnaround times, and improved consistency. Because authors don’t have to retype handwritten edits, there’s less risk of misreading or missing corrections. Moreover, the edits have already been typed and spellchecked, so no new typos are introduced. Most editors can also enter corrections faster with a keyboard than with a pen, particularly when complex edits require restructuring of the document or extensive rewording, and eliminating the retyping phase further reduces turnaround times. Last but not least, using the search tools makes it easier to achieve consistency in long or complex documents.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2004). Articles>Editing>Online
#19692
Internet Resources for Editors
This month, I’ll depart slightly from my usual topic and focus on onscreen practices that aren’t actual edits—but that support activities such as fact-checking that we must perform while editing. Specifically, I’ll describe how to use the Internet as a research tool to improve the quality of your editing.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2003). Articles>Editing>Online
#15156
Discusses innovative ways to provide notations in electronic documents using Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, and HTML. These methods include inserting text and voice comments, and displaying short messages.
Linderman, R. Ivan. Intercom (2000). Articles>Editing>Online
#19663
Keyboard Shortcuts and Other Tricks
This column focuses on using a computer to increase the effectiveness (both the productivity and the quality) of editing manuscripts, with an emphasis on tools and techniques rather than issues of grammar and usage.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2003). Articles>Editing>Online
#31848
Check out seven tips that will help you and your team remain busy and useful when you have extra time or gaps between projects.
Crognale, Heather. Intercom (2008). Articles>Editing>Collaboration>Online
#20759
Making Technical Reviews More Efficient
This paper proposes the use of a database to collect and track technical review comments. It discusses the merits of using a database, provides a sample database structure, and describes use of the database in the review process.
Gelb, Janice. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online
#33864
Off Site Reviews: Six Ways to Exchange Edits
Coordinating a document review can be a tedious process. However, the task is even more difficult when reviewers work in another location and can't quickly exchange comments via paper. Fortunately, technology is presenting writers with new options for handling off-site reviews.
HelpScribe (2009). Articles>Collaboration>Editing>Online
#13768
Online Editing, Mark-Up Models, and the Workplace Lives of Editors and Writers
Despite the fact that most editing is still performed on paper, there are compelling reasons to begin marking copy on the computer.
Farkas, David K. and Steven E. Poltrock. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (1995). Articles>Editing>Online
#15172
Online Editing: Minimizing Your Turnaround Time
Outlines an editing process that minimizes turnaround time by making the most of word processor technology.
Petersen, Judy H. Intercom (2000). Articles>Editing>Online
#23742
Overcoming Objections to Onscreen Editing
Although onscreen editing has been available for many years, it remains underused in many workplaces. Editors offer many reasons for their reluctance to embrace this technology, and by understanding these reasons, it becomes possible to mitigate the problems and help editors begin using the technology. By doing so, managers can implement a process that is more efficient for both the editor and the authors being edited.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Editing>Online
