#28184
Structuring Your Documents for Maximum Reuse 
A major topic among information development managers these days is single sourcing--writing information once and using it many times. Structured documents are critical for single sourcing. So, let's explore: what we mean by structuring documents; why structuring is useful; some of the concerns that writers have about structuring documents.
Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. Center for Information-Development Management (2005). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>XML
#24224
Studies in Hypertext: the Conversion of Traditional Texts into Web Sites
The production of a web page has become a common assignment in a number of university classrooms, but there has yet to be established a pedagogy for the generation of large group-generated web sites that replicate the methods found in industry. In Studies in Hypertext, a course offered to technical communication students at the University of Central Florida, such a pedagogy is being shaped. In this course, students with little or no experience in web site generation work their way through a series of written and small web site construction tasks to eventually produce one complex and competently-integrated web site.
Applen, J.D. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Hypertext
#10399
This study investigates the effectiveness of information design principles and feedback-based usability testing in the development of clinical questionnaires, with the goal of increasing the amount of data collected in the Breast Cancer Lymphatic Mapping Database at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute. It finds that although both the Control and Study forms were generated using the same form design software, the Study form developed using information design principles collected significantly more data than the Control form developed by a systems analyst. The article observes that information designers face conflicts between the needs of users, general information design guidelines, constraints of the software, and misunderstandings by medical researchers and health professionals over the role of information designers.
Zimmerman, Beverly B. and Jessica R. Schultz. Technical Communication Online (2000). Articles>Information Design>Usability
#26562
Studying the Creation of Kindergarten
How does the pursuit of one man's interests result in the creation of kindergarten and timeless design principles? Bill Lucas shows us how Friedrich Fröbel took basic elements to create intricate, scalable systems that can serve as a model for creating new experiential systems today.
Lucas, Bill. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Information Design>Instructional Design
#14567
This course is designed to teach you to: recognize the variety and characteristics of styles of technical communication; adapt your writing style for different aims and audiences; revise efficiently and appropriately; and articulate reasons for revisions in your writing.
Dragga, Sam. Texas Tech University (2009). Articles>Information Design>Visual>Technical Writing
#18545
Subheadings enable your readers to find detailed information quickly. They also give the reader an idea of how deeply a topic is covered. Subheadings provide more detail about the topic stated in the main entry. Effective subheadings represent distinct aspects of a topic.
Brown, Fred. Allegro Time! (2001). Articles>Indexing>Information Design
#29402
Subsetting and Customizing DITA
This article explores ideas related to subsetting and customizing the DITA specification without the addition of new elements. Instead, we explore taking default rules and adapting them to meet the needs of specific writing and publishing environments. Introductory information about the DITA specification and the difference between subsetting and specialization is provided.
Aschwanden, Bernard. Publishing Smarter (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA
#30584
Substantive Editing: Building the Logical Inner Sanctum
The inner sanctum of any good piece of writing is a solid, logical core. To produce the logical core, a writer frequently has to synthesize complex information, which means understanding it well enough to transform often muddled and random detail to clear and easy to apprehend expression. Synthesis of new information, being one of the most difficult thinking skills, can require more of a writer than the writer has time for. An editor's job, from the first draft to the last, is to help build the writing around an appropriate logical core. In this workshop, participants will practice techniques that editors can use to make sure that they find, or help the writer find, the core - what users need to know, and the order in which they need to know it. Participants will form groups to scan a document, using a checklist of tips to spot problems in the document's structure. Each group will report its findings to the larger group.
Nahigian, Alma L. and Jacquelyn Malone. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Editing>Information Design>Writing
#28010
Succeeding at Information Architecture in the Enterprise
This article explores some of the approaches needed to ensure that we are successful at implementing IA within organisations, with the goal being to encourage further discussion in the community about these issues.
Robertson, James. Boxes and Arrows (2006). Articles>Information Design>Workplace
#21397
Synonym Rings and Authority Files
In part 3 of the continuing series on controlled vocabularies and faceted classification, the authors explain synonym rings and authority files and how their use can bridge the gap between natural language and complex controlled vocabularies (taxonomies and thesauri).
Fast, Karl, Fred Leise and Mike Steckel. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>Indexing>Language
#28512
Tag cloud displays tags in a website which emphasize some of the tags by showing them with larger font sizes, and/or in darker colors. Moreover, tags in a tag cloud are usually arranged in alphabetical order. Tag cloud seems to work in the English world as a means of visualization as well as an extra means of navigation - what about in the Chinese world or more specifically, what about in Hong Kong?
Wong, Rex. uiGarden (2007). Articles>Information Design>Metadata>China
#29323
I was shocked today when I realized I hadn't ever written a post on tagging. At the ASTD TechKnowledge conference, when I explained Web 2.0 to a group, tagging was an integral part of the conversation. But tagging requires you to take a step back from the web, and consider how you think.
Lentz, Michelle. Write Technology (2007). Articles>Information Design>Metadata>Collaboration
#31512
Admit it. Your intranet is a mess. What started out as a great idea for sharing information inside the company has turned into the corporate junk drawer—a jumbled collection of useful, not-so-useful, relevant, irrelevant, redundant, inconsistent and unmanaged stuff. While parts of it make you proud (perhaps the employee directory or news portal), taken as a whole, it just hasn’t lived up to all the grand ideas you had when you posted those first few pages.
Stevenson, Jerry. Communication World Bulletin (2004). Articles>Web Design>Intranets>Information Design
#24068
Information designers are continually faced with the challenge of finding creative information solutions. In this workshop we invite you to discover ways to unlock your hidden creative talents to enhance both your information products and your work processes. Through role-play, narrative, and audience participation, each speaker will lead the audience to recognize common experiences and challenges in bringing more creativity to your work with clients. The speakers will demonstrate specific techniques that enhance both your own and your clients’ creative thinking and actions.
Banner, Phylise, Patrick Hofmann, Robert Reynolds, Edward See and Elinor Knodel. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Information Design
#27741
Technical Context and Cultural Consequences of XML
The Extensible Markup Language (XML) is an open standard for creating domain- and industry-specific markup vocabularies. XML has become the predominant mechanism for electronic data interchange between information systems and can be described as a universally applicable, durable “Code of Integration.â€Ω As we celebrate its tenth anniversary, it is appropriate to reflect on the role XML has played and the technical ecosystem in which it functions. In this paper, we discuss both the environment from which XML arose and its technical underpinnings, and we relate these topics to companion papers in this issue of the IBM Systems Journal. We discuss the broad consequences of XML and argue that XML will take its place among the technical standards having the greatest impact on the world in which we live. We conclude with some reflections on the significant technical, economic, and societal consequences that XML is likely to have in the future.
Adler, S., R. Cochrane, J.F. Morar and A. Spector. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML
#20734
Taxonomies have recently emerged from the quiet backwaters of biology, book indexing, and library science into the corporate limelight. They are supposed to be the silver bullets that will help users find the needle in the intranet haystack, reduce 'friction' in electronic commerce, facilitate scientific research, and promote global collaboration. But before this can happen, practitioners need to dispel the myths and confusion, created in part by the multi-disciplinary nature of the task and the hype surrounding content management technologies.
Montague Institute Review (1992). Articles>Indexing>Information Design
#21401
The Power of Process, The Perils of Process
Traditionally, information architects and designers (UI, visual, ID) are creatures of process. We generally work in prescribed ways—discover, design, validate, repeat. We sketch first, then create rough flows and then finetuned detailed wireframes and mocks. This usually works well, once accepted, and most companies—whether in-house teams or consultancies—work along similar lines. In my experience, I have found that creating and documenting process has been a good exercise to help institutionalize ways of working, to help educate new team members as well as to unveil the mysteries of what we do for executives, product folks, and development teams.
Malone, Erin. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>Workflow
#29151
There's More to the Title than Meets the Eye: Exploring the Possibilities 
There is little research on the use of titles in academic articles, and even less on different types of titles. In this article Crosby's taxonomy of titles [1] is brought up-to date and extended. Twelve types of titles are distinguished. The author argues that it would be helpful to discuss these different types with student writers.
Hartley, James. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2007). Articles>Writing>Information Design
#23217
A tutorial on the basics of constructing an information retrieval thesaurus. It includes a glossary of thesaurus terms.
Craven, Timothy C. University of Western Ontario (1998). Articles>Language>Information Design>Metadata
#21365
Three Visio Tips: Special Deliverables
No column on information architecture deliverables would be complete without at least some mention of tools. Dan Brown offers three tips on using Visio, Microsoft's diagramming application, that should make your life easier and more efficient.
Brown, Dan. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Information Design>Software>Visio
#29901
Tidbits for Teaching Information Architecture
Technical writing classes can be excellent launch pads for students to begin the journey of discovering what IA is and how it works. Following instructional design principles, educators must first determine what students know about IA and guide learners to what they need to know. This journey can begin by defining IA using the rich resources that exist in print and on the web. Following this, students are introduced to IA authorities, many of whom have tutorials posted on the web. The learning culminates in case histories that ask students to learn IA principles and apply them as part of a written critical analysis of web sites that is also part of an oral presentation.
Stern, Caroline M. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Education>Information Design
#19864
Tips and Tricks of Information Management
Technical communication, when it comes down to basics, is getting the right information across to the right audience, with results. But how do you wade through all that ocean of information? How do you sort them, separate them, store, and retrieve them at your fingertips? In this presentation you will learn tool such as L files and Mailword, and share other tips and tricks of managing information in an open discussion with other participants.
Dijamco, Renato A. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Information Design
#19466
Tips and Tricks of Information Management
Technical communication, when it comes down to basics, is getting the right information across to the right audience, with results. But how do you wade through all that ocean of information? How do you sort them, separate them, store, and retrieve them at your fingertips? In this presentation you will learn tools such as L files and Mailword, and share other tips and tricks of managing information in an open discussion with other participants.
Dijamco, Renato A. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>TC>Information Design
#30685
To Structure or Not to Structure
Behind all the questions about how to model something is a bigger question: do you model it at all? When is it obvious to structure some content, and when do you just throw it into the 'WYSIWYG pile'?
Gadgetopia (2008). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>Content Strategy
#25607
This article will expand upon the Visio techniques presented in the last Special Deliverable and will build on them, showing how to create a widget that can be toggled between two states.
Brown, Dan. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Information Design>Software>Visio
