Decaf Resistance: On Misbehavior, Cynicism, and Desire in Liberal Workplaces    

The author reconnects resistance in production to its radical roots. Current literature suggests that resistance in the liberal workplaces of late capitalism has gone underground, becoming mostly evident in unofficial, offstage practices such as cynicism, parody, and humor. The author argues this resistance is too often a decaf resistance. This is a resistance without the cost of radically changing the economy of enjoyment, which ties us to our master. The author argues that resistance, as a real act, which suspends and changes the constellation of power relations, has a cost that cannot be accounted for in advance. To understand this cost, we need an ethics, which the author calls, following Lacan, the Ethics of the Real.

Contu, Alessia. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Workplace

Deciding What Needs to be Done

Before you begin editing a document, you need to analyse it and plan what needs to be done. The exception is when your job is strictly limited (by your supervisor or the client) to correcting only the glaring errors of spelling, punctuation and grammar (a 'light edit'). There is no point to attempting a more substantive edit if doing so will only get you into trouble (or if the client won't pay you for the time you spend).

Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2001). Articles>Editing>Project Management

Defining a TC Body of Knowledge

First of all, a profession cannot be recognized as a profession until it is defined as such. Engineers, for instance, have a body of knowledge they must master before they can practice as engineers, whether structural, electrical, or mechanical. Although technical communicators may not yet want such a highly codified and subdivided set of skills and practices, we do need an authoritative place to find answers to that eternal question: "What do technical communicators do, anyway?"

Hart, Hillary. Between the Lines (2008). Articles>TC>Knowledge Management>Body of Knowledge

Defining Benchmark Questions for Great Results

Part of the challenge of determining the questions to ask during benchmarking is to match the questions to the purpose of the study and the outcomes you are trying to achieve. Below is a breakdown of some of the issues regarding benchmarking questions that need to be addressed before beginning a benchmarking exercise.

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2002). Articles>Management>Communication>Assessment

Definition of Information Management Terms

There is considerable confusion in the marketplace regarding the definition of various information management terms. The scope and role of specific information systems is particularly blurry, in part caused by the lack of consensus between vendors. With the aim of lessening this confusion, this briefing provides an at-a-glance definition of terms for a range of information systems.

Robertson, James. Step Two. Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Glossary

Delivering Content That Makes a Difference  

Local control facilitates informed decision-making by giving users access to highly relevant and timely information.

Trippe, Bill. Gilbane Report (2004). Articles>Content Management

Demonstration of an XML-Based Content Management System Implementation  

The impact of XML and content management on the field of technical communications is no longer just a speck on the horizon. This paper presents techniques and observations from the trenches of a real-world XML-based content management system implementation that is being used to develop and publish print and online documentation at a prominent software company.

Bookless, Jody, Annette Marx and Scott Davis. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Content Management>XML

The Design and Development of a Project-Oriented Information System    

In this paper, the idea of building a project-oriented information system based upon a specialized information database was discussed. It attempts to provide tools for helping researchers use Internet resources effectively in the course of their research. Based on this idea, a web-based project-oriented information system was constructed. The paper systematically expounds the design and development process of the project-oriented information system. Furthermore, examples of utilizing the project-oriented information system to obtain useful information and suggestions for specific projects were described. According to our discussion and utilization of the system, we believe that building a project-oriented information system can help researchers with their research projects.

Zhao, Yuehong, Chao Liu, Hao Wen, Hezhen Zhang and Zhihong Xu. Data Science Journal (2003). Articles>Project Management>User Centered Design

Designing and Planning Modular Content Projects  

Modular writing involves writing, labeling, storing, and assembling content modules. Read about how to design and plan a modular writing project and how this writing system affects traditional roles and responsibilities within a publications team.

O'Connor, Virginia. Intercom (2006). Articles>Content Management>Workflow

Developing a Content-Management Strategy: Implications in a Multi-Language Environment  

Why we went to a single-source CMS and how we went about it.

Douma, Barbara. ComTech Services (2001). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Case Studies

Developing a Database Publishing System: A Demonstration  

We developed a database publishing system that uses raw data from a database and produces camera ready copy using Microsoft Access, FrameMaker, and Brio Publish. This type of project requires a project plan that defines the scope of the project, a complete understanding of the various relationships in the database, selection of the right tools for the task, and a sensitivity to the needs of the users who face dramatic change in their environment. This demonstration focuses on all aspects of this effort.

Cantoni, Georgina C. and Judith L. 'Judy' Glick-Smith. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Microsoft Access

Developing a Project Life Cycle for Technical Publications  

Having a technical publications project life cycle (pLC) that parallels an organization's product life cycle (PLC) greatly facilitates its adoption by engineering or development organizations. A technical publications project life cycle relates major documentation project management strategies, tasks, and deliverables to the same model used by technical organizations to control product development in an efficient and cost-effective manner. Some technical organizations perceive the documentation development process as being “intrusive” into the product development process, particularly during the Implementation Phase of the PLC. Communicating a technical publications pLC to these organizations early in the PLC eliminates this misperception.

Le Vie, Donald S., Jr. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Project Management

Developing and Maintaining a Large Document for Publication in Multiple Media  

This paper outlines the development of the Software Technology Reference Guide—a 500-page directory of software technologies— from the planning phase to its publication in both hard copy and HTML. It explores the problems of coordinating multiple, remotely located authors; producing frequent drafts when material is changing rapidly; managing a large documentation project; maintaining a source document for publication in multiple media; and handling the conversion of a complex hard-copy document to a usable online document.

Brune, Kimberly. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Developing Information for Multiple Formats: You Can Get There from Here  

This paper describes the experiences of SAS Institute Inc. in developing single-source software documentation for presentation in multiple formats. The project is an ongoing team effort from all areas of the Publications Division. Our main goal is to develop online and hardcopy reference documentation. Toward this end, we set goals of using single-source files, reusing information, and tracking all information chunks and the relationships among them. To accomplish these goals we had to make decisions about the tools we are going to use, what information we are going to include, how we will design and present the modular information, linking and indexing strategies, and testing. This paper discusses the choices we made in light of our goals.

Moell, Patricia G. and Helen F. Weeks. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Developing the Political Perspective on Technological Change Through Rhetorical Analysis    

Rhetorical analysis provides a means through which a political perspective on technological change can be developed at a micro-discursive level. Through the analysis of managers' arguments and counterarguments, this article identifies three rhetorical strategies that negotiate the relationship between the technical and the social: attributing the effects of technology; claiming convergent and divergent interests; and constructing identities for self, groups, and the technology. It argues that a rhetorical approach maintains space for agency on the behalf of employees (through the witcraft of argument) and analytical skepticism concerning the reality of technology properties and effects (through counterargument). In addition, it proposes the concept of the argumentative context as a means of bridging the gap between individual and organizational rhetoric.

Symon, Gillian. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Technology>Rhetoric

Developing the Specification for a Document

Between 25-30 percent of the overall writing time is typically devoted to developing the document specification, meaning how the document will be formatted and actually present the information. This is true even when the organization has a style guide with a prescribed format, but no “standard” for documentation overall. Although this may seem an inordinate amount of time and effort on the front end, before getting any information onto the paper, it is far more cost-effective than spending unplanned time rewriting and reformatting the document late in the production process.

Tech-Writer. Articles>Writing>Project Management>Technical Writing

Developing Tools to Manage Projects  

Coordinating the resources and tasks involved in a large documentation development effort requires the ability to gather meaningful project information at critical junctures so that appropriate decisions can be made. Project managers need the right tools to help them make sense out of the sometimes overwhelming and chaotic flow of project activities. When appropriate tools are not available, documentation project managers must adapt and invent to obtain what they need.

Harr, Robert G. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Project Management

Development of a Model For Managing Organizational Knowledge  

The proliferation of interest in “knowledge management” in the last few years is a reflection that information has finally gained visibility as a major corporate asset. Furthermore, sharing information across the organization to support greater learning and competitiveness has resulted in moving to the next level of information management (IM)—knowledge management. Those of us who have been in the information business for a while have to contain our amusement as we have seen a society preoccupied first with data (anything that is observed, measured, counted, or collected), then information (organized data), now knowledge (selected information), and, perhaps next, wisdom (integrated knowledge).y´ As Thomas Stewart defines it in Intellectual Capital: The New Wealth of Organizations, “Intelligence becomes an asset when some useful order is created out of free-floating brainpower—that is, when it is given coherent form (a mailing list, a database, an agenda for a meeting, a description of a process); when it is captured in a way that allows it to be described, shared, and exploited; and when it can be deployed to do something that could not be done if it remained scattered around like so many coins in a gutter. Intellectual capital is packaged, useful knowledge.”

Ashdown, Barbara and Kathy Smith. OSTI (1999). Articles>Knowledge Management>Workflow

Device Indepenence: Single Sourcing's Other Side  

Considers the possible ramifications for technical communicators of device-independent publishing.

Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2005). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

The Digital Debate: Should CEOs Blog?

A debate continues to rage about how important and influential media such as blogs, podcasts and social networking sites really are. At the heart of this debate is the question, Is the blogosphere really an appropriate place for executives and others in positions of power who have everything to lose?

Cody, Steve. Communication World Bulletin (2007). Articles>Management>Business Communication>Blogging

The Dilemma of Credibility vs. Speed  

CoRRs implicitly constrained but officially open acceptance policy for submitted papers raises concerns about both censorship and credibility. To avoid refereeing incoming papers yet still help readers assess their merits, CoRR could use coordinated public comments and ratings in the manner of some online auctions and booksellers.

Prekeges, James G. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Content Management>Online

Discursive Leadership: A Communication Alternative to Leadership Psychology    

Without question, the study of leadership has a long and rich history within the organizational sciences despite varying attitudes toward the topic. For example, leadership psychologists portray leadership as an inner motor of leader and increasingly follower traits, states, emotions, and cognitive processing styles that as independent variables cause messages and behavior to be produced.

Fairhurst, Gail T. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Theory

Distributed Workgroups Employing Single-Sourcing Techniques Around the Globe  

Single sourcing, which is increasingly used at the technical writer's workplace, has now reached the classroom of Technical Communication programs. This paper examines the impact of working on an XML-based single-sourcing solution on a geographically diverse graduate student team whose partners were all singlesourcing novices. It shows that managing communication within the virtual team is superordinate to managing the publication process. The paper discusses best-practice strategies for transient start-up publication teams, which rely solely on online communication, pointing to the differences between teams in the classroom and in business organizations.

Kaempf, Charlotte. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

DITA Is Not the Answer

Single sourcing is good, I’m sure most of us can agree on that, but I’ve recently been wondering if perhaps DITA isn’t quite good enough?

McLean, Gordon. One Man Writes (2007). Articles>Content Management>XML>DITA

Do Groups Know What They Don't Know? Dealing With Missing Information in Decision-Making Groups    

Although scholars have examined how individuals deal with information that is unavailable on decision-making tasks, little research has explored how groups deal with missing information. The present study proposes two ways groups can address information that is unavailable: by employing a diminished information set or by inferring the value of missing information. Both of these approaches are tested using an information sharing task. Groups are compared with information unavailable to any member, available but unshared among group members (i.e., hidden profile), and available and shared among all group members. Evidence indicates that group members may utilize both strategies to deal with missing information.

Henningsen, David Dryden and Mary Lynn Miller Henningsen. Visual Communication (2007). Articles>Knowledge Management>Collaboration