#31742
Paradigm Shifts are Never Pretty: Advice on Making the Move to XML Authoring
Most people are risk-averse, and profound changes such as the move to structured authoring require new skills and workflows. To ensure a successful transition, XML implementers need to assess their team members, identify allies, and build their implementation strategy around the staff members who embrace change.
O'Keefe, Sarah S. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>Project Management>XML
#28019
A Pattern Language Approach to Usability Knowledge Management 
Knowledge gained from usability testing is often applied merely to the immediate product under test and then forgotten--at least at an organizational level. This article describes a usability knowledge management system (KMS) based on principles of pattern language and use-case writing that offers a way to turn lessons learned from usability testing into organizational knowledge that can be leveraged across different projects and different design teams.
Hughes, Michael A. Journal of Usability Studies (2006). Articles>Usability>Knowledge Management>Language
#31142
What is the current scenario for applications and systems in the area of technical communication? Who is using which editor? And how many companies are using a Content-Management-System? To answer these and other questions, tekom conducted a survey from July to November 2006, which was conceived as an online questionnaire and made available via the tekom web site. 547 participants took part in the survey.
Straub, Daniela and Wolfgang Ziegler. tekom (2007). Articles>Content Management>TC>Surveys
#31408
The Pitfalls of Financial Benchmarking
Recently I spent two hours with a management consultant trying to help her identify appropriate metrics for benchmarking a client's communication function. Some of the initial financial measurements that were being considered raised some concerns.
Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (1999). Articles>Management>Communication>Assessment
#24636
Planning a Web Site Redesign in Six Steps
True Web site redesigns focus on much more than visuals. Brink and Regenold's redesign process will help technical communicators rethink a site from the ground up.
Brink, Marcia and Michele Regenold. Intercom (2004). Articles>Web Design>Redesign>Project Management
#22120
Planning an Electronic Performance Support System Project
Electronic performance support systems are software programs that directly support a worker's ability to perform tasks. Such systems go beyond passive task-oriented online help. To be effective, EPS systems should be closely interlocked with the supported product's user interface and its online help. This paper outlines some of the planning considerations and steps involved in an EPSS project, and some of the problems and complications that arose during a specific project.
Hollis Weber, Jean. Technical Editors Eyrie (2002). Articles>Project Management>EPSS
#23638
Planning and Analysis Articles and Surveys
Provides you with several resources you may find valuable during the planning and analysis phases of implementing content management.
Abel, Scott. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Content Management>Content Strategy
#28777
Planning for DITA Success: How to Set Up the Right Team and the Right Strategy
This two-part series explores why DITA has created such a buzz in the content management arena, particularly among technical documentation teams--and how you can prepare for long-term DITA success.
Manning, Steve and Su-Laine Yeo. Rockley Group, The (2007). Articles>Content Management>Standards>DITA
#19834
Planning for Factors That Affect Project Cost
Documentation projects often change to respond to changes or obstacles in the system development process. Sometimes, these changes increase project costs. However, as corporate budgets tighten, project managers are frequently asked to work within their original estimates despite the changes. To minimize these situations, project managers need to identify the factors that can increase the costs of a project, evaluate the chances of problems arising, and adapt the work plan and estimate to anticipate the problems that are outside of their control.
Fredrickson, Lola and Joyce Lasecke. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Management>Estimating
#23631
Planning: The Key to Successful CMS Implementation
So you think you need content management? The temptation is to call your Information Technology (IT) department and ask them to help you choose a content management system (CMS). Being very tool oriented, your IT department will love buying you the latest 'silver bullet' without ever looking at your content requirements or your internal processes. This is the best prescription for failure.
Glick-Smith, Judith L. 'Judy'. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing
#30240
Playing to Win: Building a Strategic Plan
This workshop uses games to provide an overview of strategic planning. The first step in strategic planning is identifying the objectives of your project. Participants play a version of musical chairs to identify and prioritize objectives. The second step is developing a vision of meeting those objectives. Participants play a version of darts. The third step is building the plan that fulfills the vision. Participants play a board game to create the best plan with limited resources.
Merritt, Leila and Emanuel Katzin. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Management>Project Management>Planning
#24868
Playing to Win: Building a Strategic Plan
This workshop uses games to provide an overview of strategic planning. The first step in strategic planning is identifying the objectives of your organization. Participants play a version of musical chairs to identify and prioritize the objectives of STC. The second step is developing a vision ofyour organization meeting its goals. Participants play a version of darts as they develop a picture of STC fulfilling its objectives. The third step is building the plan that will fulfill the vision. Participants play a board game whose object is to create the best plan with limited resources.
Collins, Trevor and Leila Merritt. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Management>Planning
#28490
Podcasting Tutorial: Create Your Own Podcast
This podcasting tutorial will show you how to create your very own podcast quickly and easily! Think about listening to a radio show on a topic that you're interested in, but instead of having to tune in at a specific time, you can listen to the show at the time and place of your choosing. That's what podcasting enables you to do.
Guides and Tutorials (2006). Articles>Content Management>Streaming>Podcasting
#27281
Heterogeneous research environments, interests and locations do not necessarily coincide, thus hitherto the primary method of communication amongst researchers has been email. In this article a novel unified polythematic, real-time, synergistic, data telecommunication system is proposed with peer-reviewed, bidirectional fuzzy feedback for research scientists, to facilitate scientific information exchange via the extensible markup language (XML) on multiple scientific topics, e.g. in mathematics, physics, biology and chemistry.
Petratos, Panagiotis. Data Science Journal (2003). Articles>Knowledge Management>Scientific Communication>Collaboration
#28503
Power from the People: Assessing the New Online Participatory Tools for Your Organization
New online participatory tools like blogs, YouTube, and MySpace can be powerful and valuable--if they mesh with your goals. Colin Delany walks through the benefits and costs of common participatory tools and suggests which are likely to be useful for you.
Delany, Colin. IdealWare (2006). Articles>Content Management>Community Building
#26588
The Power of PowerPoint: Providing MBAs a Leadership Edge
Edward Tufte (2003) argues that PowerPoint is so flawed that it is impossible to communicate anything meaningful using it. The medium is not flawed; the users are. Instead of condemning PowerPoint, we owe it to the MBAs to teach them how to use this powerful communication tool. Knowing how to use PowerPoint effectively can give MBAs a leadership edge. This article discusses what we should be teaching the MBAs to allow them to take advantage of PPT and use it to deliver powerful presentations.
Barrett, Deborah J. Association for Business Communication (2005). Articles>Presentations>Management>Microsoft PowerPoint
#27874
Practical Tips for Working with Global Teams
Save team members time and conduct meetings and other steps in the project process effectively by integrating these tips for working with team members scattered in various locations.
Nesbitt, Pamela and Elizabeth Bagley-Woodward. Intercom (2006). Articles>Project Management>Collaboration>International
#31309
Preparing Your Organization for Pandemic Flu
In the past few weeks, articles appeared on the inside pages of The New York Times and other news sources, with reports from Indonesia of human-to-human infection by avian flu, such as Elisabeth Rosenthal's article "Human-to-Human Infection by Bird Flu Virus Is Confirmed." Another article by Donald McNeil in the Times reported that mortality rates for avian flu are higher in young people, which was also the case in the devastating Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
Matalucci, Paul. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Management>Risk Communication>Biomedical
#24921
Preparing Your Staff for Content Management
Few changes are as potentially uncomfortable for technical communicators than implementing a content management system. Freeman explains why, and offers advice to managers on how to address writers' concerns.
Freeman, Bret. Intercom (2005). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration
#31537
As Leadership Community Resource (LCR) volunteers, we constantly receive requests to help a community with volunteer burnout. In the worst cases, we have seen entire councils walk away from communities, one volunteer doing all four elected positions, overworked volunteers snapping at each other, and many communities run by officers who have been in the same position for years. We want to help community leaders understand volunteer burnout and provide ways to help prevent it.
Stark, Mary Jo and Jackie Damrau. Tieline (2008). Articles>Management>Community Building>STC
#19736
Principle-Centered Leadership for IT
The IT revolution has been a much-needed boon for India. It has not only changed the fiscal reserves ($), ushered a new economy and created numerous job opportunities but also caused worldwide recognition of Indian talent. The revolution has been slow, but never a result of chance accidents. In earlier revolutions, Indians missed the bus and became followers, but the IT revolution is different as we have taken the lead and demonstrated our capabilities in the software sector to the world.
Pathak, A.K. Indus (2003). Articles>Management>Technology
#10364
Print to Online: Conflicting Tales of Transition 
This is a success story of how a large, high-tech service support organization made the transition from print to online documentation in both CD-ROM and Web media. But this is also a cautionary tale of the damaging drawbacks resulting from that changeover. The co-existence of two such very different evaluations, both based on accurate reporting about common products and circumstances, is emblematic of the challenges that new technologies can bring to information developers. The success story, told by the publications group responsible for the transition, is focused on new features and reduced production expenses. The cautionary tale highlights larger issues of process, product suitability, and indirect costs that affect both users and the company, including the publications group itself. The instructive value of considering two such versions of a single case history is in developing a fuller view of how technology advances can lead to unintended consequences for information developers.
Rehling, Louise. Technical Communication Online (1999). Articles>Content Management>Publishing>Online
#18331
It's a fact that some businesses and organizations do not take privacy very seriously. However, the truth is that privacy of confidential customer information is mandated by law — many laws, actually. There are more privacy laws than we can discuss here. But...
Intranet Journal (2003). Articles>Management>Privacy
#22801
The Problem, the Balloon, and the Four Bedroom House
Without a problem, there is no project. Where there is a problem, however, there is a stakeholder who is desperate for a solution and who has a delivery deadline — which is normally sometime yesterday. Find out how a good process can tame even the most unruly project.
Di Stefano, Joe. List Apart, A (2004). Articles>Project Management>Workflow
#19887
Process Maturity Model for Publications Organization
Since 1994, I have continued to develop and test the Five-Level Process Maturity Model. The model has been validated with a number of publications organizations. As a result, the assessment questionnaire is complete, and an assessment process is in place. I have isolated eight significant characteristics that help the publications organization efficient and effective in meeting user and customer needs.
Hackos, JoAnn T. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Project Management>Publishing
