Practical Lessons for Small-Scale Web Publishers  

Electronic publishing through the World Wide Web offers tantalizing opportunities for small-scale operators such as individuals in academic or other non-profit institutions trying to reach a wide audience. Early users of the Web quickly recognized it as a ground-breaking medium for electronic publications. By making it easy to display and read texts online, the Web became a platform for materials that were too specialized, too ephemeral or too experimental for publication as traditional books or articles. However, the recent explosive growth and widespread commercialization of the Web have eroded or at least marginalized small-scale electronic publications. Successful small-scale Web publishing is still possible, but that success must be preceded by careful planning and goal-setting.

Sowards, Steven W. Journal of Electronic Publishing (1999). Articles>Publishing>Online

Practical Tips for Aspiring Authors  

Three research projects provide a foundation for ten tips for authors aspiring to publish in technical communication journals. The research indicates that cognitive dissonance stimulates successful topics. Collaboration facilitates the research and writing processes. Responses of authors published in six technical communication journals in 1990 provide a positive view of publishing opportunities for authors who polish their prose and follow up on their submissions.

MacNealy, Mary Sue. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Publishing>TC

A Practitioners' Citation Index?    

Whether articles have been applied on the job or have simply expanded our mastery of the field, how can we tell which articles practitioners find useful? This is the question I've wrestled with over the past three months. Unfortunately, supplying an answer isn't as easy as asking the question.

Hayhoe, George F. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Publishing>Assessment

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

Printer Versus Press: How and Where to Print Your Projects

How, you ask yourself, would someone who is unfamiliar with printing navigate their way through the mine field of contemporary offset printing?

Green, Chuck. Ideabook.com (2005). Articles>Publishing>Prepress>Printing

Problems and Joys of Reading Research Papers for Practitioner Purposes  

Discusses reasons that practitioners read research papers and the obstacles that they face when reading research papers. Jarrett provides several examples and suggestions for improving the accessibility of research papers for practitioners. Her suggestions include writing clear titles, ensuring that the abstract states the study population and limitations of the study, and ensuring that the conclusions are written clearly. She also discusses her criteria for determining whether or not a research paper is relevant to her work.

Jarrett, Caroline. Journal of Usability Studies (2007). Articles>Publishing>Research>Writing

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

The Processed Book  

The 'processed book' is about content, not technology, and contrasts with the 'primal book'; the latter is the book we all know and revere: written by a single author and viewed as the embodiment of the thought of a single individual. The processed book, on the other hand, is what happens to the book when it is put into a computerized, networked environment. To process a book is more than simply building links to it; it also includes a modification of the act of creation, which tends to encourage the absorption of the book into a network of applications, including but not restricted to commentary. Such a book typically has at least five aspects: as self-referencing text; as portal; as platform; as machine component; and, as network node. An interesting aspect of such processing is that the author's relationship to his or her work may be undermined or compromised; indeed, it is possible that author attribution in the networked world may go the way of copyright. The processed book, in other words, is the response to romantic notions of authorship and books. It is not a matter of choice (as one can still write an imitation, for example, of a Victorian novel today) but an inevitable outcome of inherent characteristics of digital media.

Esposito, Joseph J. First Monday (2003). Articles>Publishing>Online

Producing A Winning Newsletter  

This workshop explores all the principles of newsletter creation--design, production, editing--with special emphasis on creating winning STC chapter newsletters.

McWilliams Johnson, Mary. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Publishing>Community Building>Newsletters

Progress and Trends in Ink-jet Printing Technology

This paper provides a brief review of the various paths undertaken in the development of ink-jet printing. Highlights of recent progress and trends in this technology are discussed. The technologies embedded in the latest ink-jet products from current industry leaders in both thermal and piezoelectric drop-on-demand ink-jet methods are also described. Finally, this article presents a list of the potential ink-jet technology applications that have emerged in the past few years.

Le, Hue P. Society for Imaging Science and Technology, The (1998). Articles>Publishing>Technical Illustration>Color

Promoting Access to Public Research Data for Scientific, Economic, and Social Development    

Access to and sharing of data are essential for the conduct and advancement of science. This article argues that publicly funded research data should be openly available to the maximum extent possible. To seize upon advancements of cyberinfrastructure and the explosion of data in a range of scientific disciplines, this access to and sharing of publicly funded data must be advanced within an international framework, beyond technological solutions. The authors, members of an OECD Follow-up Group, present their research findings, based closely on their report to OECD, on key issues in data access, as well as operating principles and management aspects necessary to successful data access regimes.

Arzberger, P., P. Schroeder, A. Beaulieu, G. Bowker, K. Casey, L. Laaksonen, D. Moorman, P. Uhlir and P. Wouters. Data Science Journal (2004). Articles>Publishing>Research>Scientific Communication

Publication Communication

Does your business put out a regular publication, such as a newsletter, journal or annual report? If so, the reason for it is to communicate a particular message to a particular audience, and it will be vital to your business to do this effectively. The following are some questions to ask yourself when assessing your publications.

Right Words. Articles>Publishing>Assessment

Publications Project Management A Toolkit for Overcoming Common Pitfalls  

Traditional project management 'science' and generic tools rarely match the unique needs of publications projects. The high-degree of human interaction and creativity involved in publication projects makes managing them more and than a science. This discussion/demonstration focuses on the unique challenges involved in managing publications projects and common pitfalls to avoid. We explain why we at Comprose, Inc. created the Documentation Blueprint Project Management Toolkit for managing publications projects, and we demonstrate how technical communicators can use these Custom-designed tools to make any publication project run more smoothly -- whether your project involves just one person or twenty.

Anton, Kathy, Teresa J. Tarwater and Andrea Heugatter. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Project Management>Publishing

Publishing — The Way We Were  

Five experienced technical communicators will look back on changes in the field of publishing, sharing knowledge of the old ways, comparing them with what’s current, and examining how we all can benefit from both the old and the new.

Cox, Alberta L., Donald W. Bush, Elizabeth Babcock, David Dobson and Lola Zook. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Publishing>History

Publishing Futures Within (or Without) the Humanities

Humanities disciplines have attributed enormous importance to scholarly publishing, but have not yet sufficiently examined the changes of circumstance which have re-formed the nature and interests of the publishing industry in recent decades.

Sauer, Geoffrey. Society for Critical Exchange (1999). Articles>Publishing>Assessment>History

Publishing is Dead  

What does the internet mean for Traditional Publishing? It means death. Not one to pull punches, Mike Scantlebury expounds his theory in a humorous and direct way.

Scantlebury, Mike. FreeIQ (2007). Articles>Publishing>Online>Video

Publishing Newsletters on Paper or Online: A Profile of How Three Chapter Editors Did It

The switch to web delivery meant that we no longer had to restrict the newsletter to black and white, and we were no longer limited to four pages (a folio) or a multiple of four pages. An end to the cost constraints imposed by printing also allowed more creative formatting and the use of color.

Wilson, Scott. Usability Interface (2003). Articles>Publishing>Online>Newsletters

Quality Control in Scholarly Publishing on the Web  

As scholars and researchers, we are often called upon to separate the high-quality materials from the bad. What are the methods by which quality control is established and what are the indicators that allow a user to recognize the good materials?

Arms, William Y. Journal of Electronic Publishing (2002). Articles>Publishing>Research>Online

Real Costs Of Technical Publications  

This workshop shows a technical publication manager or rising professional how to work in the following technical publishing/financial areas: project management, operating budget preparation and management, and quality control.

Caernarven-Smith, Patricia. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Publishing>Technical Writing>Project Management

Reality Bytes -What the Information Superhighway Won't Deliver  

Today, information technology has deluged us with not only a torrential flood of information but also a multitude of ways in which to display, package, and disseminate this information. With the proliferation of computer technology and the vigorously-and somewhat fanatically-promoted paperless and faceless virtual society of the fiture, we are faced with somewhat frightening challenges.

Dahm, Rea Etta M. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Publishing>Online

Recycled Papers

The demand for recycled paper is on the rise and more and more paper manufacturers are producing recycled paper in the same categories and range of choices as virgin stock. However, because of the variations and inconsistencies in the raw materials used, paper that contains recycled fiber tends to he at the middle to lower quality levels of each paper grade.

Boston Broadside (1992). Articles>Publishing>Prepress>Paper

Rethinking Your Newsletter  

This workshop gives you a structured way of thinking about your newsletter. We’ll go through the key questions you need to pose, both to yourself and to your colleagues. What goals do you have for the newsletter? Who is the audience? What personality do you want to project? What’s the name, and what’s in a name? Who will write the articles? Who will edit them? Who will design the newsletter? How will it be distributed? Which tasks will you do yourself; which will you delegate; how much time will it all take?

Grodsky, Susan J. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Publishing>Community Building>Newsletters

Reviews in Biological Sciences published in Current Science: Ex Ante Versus Ex Post Facto Micro-Scientometrics

During 1990–2002, the journal Current Science has published 291 review articles: biological sciences 135, medical sciences 53, physical sciences 31, chemical sciences 30, agricultural sciences 27, and geological sciences 15. Author synchronous self-references in each biological sciences review article and diachronous Science Citation Index (SCI) citations per review article have correlation 0.4. Recency for synchronous self-references was six years and one month, whereas half-life considering diachronous SCI citations was two years and five months. Review articles receiving ten or more SCI citations are identified. Editors of science journals may take into consideration recency while approving review submissions.

Kalyane, V.L., Anil Kumar, Anil Sagar, Anjali Prabhu, C.R. Gaderao, E.R.Prakasan, Lalit Mohan, Nita Bhaskar, Rajiv Gupta, Sanjay Kumar Singh and Vijai Kumar. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Research>Publishing

Rock, Paper, Stone: The Biz Stone Guide to Independent Publishing

People have things to say. Maybe you're one of them, struggling to get a voice through the bottleneck that is big publishing. Maybe you're a talented individual who would write more if you had a forum. Maybe you're an expert in certain areas but all that insightful content stays trapped within you because you don't have an outlet. Oh, but you do. Today's Web is fertile soil for independent publishing. Not only is it easy to get your voice out there, but your voice is also heard, acknowledged, and in many cases responded to by interested, intelligent readers who have discovered your work because they sought it out and are happy to have found it. This low barrier to publishing gets you writing, and that's important.

Stone, Biz. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online