Front and Back Matter Notes

Any document has three distinct parts: front matter; text; and back matter and reference material.

Tech-Writer. Articles>Publishing>Project Management

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

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

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

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

Why Technical Publishing Shouldn't Be Art

The work may start with the author, but to get it from the author to the end reader means it also has to go through an editor, copy editor, book designer, typesetter, printer, sales and marketing team, distributor, book buyer, and, eventually, a retail store.

Porter, Alan J. TechCom Manager (2008). Articles>TC>Publishing>Project Management

Aardvark et al.: Quality Journals and Gamesmanship in Management Studies    

Publication in quality journals has become a major indicator of research performance in UK universities. This paper investigates the notion of `quality journal' and finds dizzying circularity in its definitions. Actually, what a quality journal is does not really matter: agreement that there are such things matters very much indeed. As so often happens with indicators of performance, the indicator has become the target. So, the challenge is to publish in quality journals, and the challenge rewards gamesmanship. Vested interests have become particularly skilful at the game, and at exercising the winners' prerogative of changing the rules. All but forgotten in the desperation to win the game is publication as a means of communicating research findings for the public benefit. The paper examines the situation in management studies, but the problem is much more widespread. It concludes that laughter is both the appropriate reaction to such farce, and also, perhaps, the stimulus to reform.

Macdonald, Stuart and Jacqueline Kam. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Publishing>Management>Research

The Internet's Impact on International Knowledge    

With data from a national telephone survey, the current study examines the comparative and synergistic influence of the internet on international knowledge. Independent and interactive media effects are considered in terms of four medium-specific measures of international news attention. Internet news attention had the most positive effect on international knowledge of any of the news measures. In terms of the other three news attention measures, the effects of newspapers and cable TV were positive, while that of network TV was non-significant. In addition, the interaction of internet news attention and network TV news attention positively predicted international knowledge. In contrast, the interaction of newspaper news attention and network TV news attention negatively predicted international knowledge. These findings indicate the positive comparative and synergistic influence that the internet can have on international knowledge development in the United States.

Beaudoin, Christopher E. New Media and Society (2008). Articles>Knowledge Management>Publishing>International

Magazine Content Management System Revolution: From Turnkey to Open Source, Publishers Taking a Fresh Look at CMS

Choosing the right CMS is about making the technology support a company's business needs and not vice-versa. "The software or solution doesn't set your business rules," says Eric Shanfelt, president and founder of Colorado-based eMedia Strategist Inc. "You should know what it is you want it to do first and then find the right solutions that will get the job done." Here's a look at how three very different publishers are tackling their CMS needs.

Ambroz, Jill. Folio (2007). Articles>Content Management>Publishing>Case Studies

Constant Transformation Is the New Normal 

There's no challenge that taxes leadership more than driving true transformation. Three pithy bullet points clearly aren't enough to crack the transformation code. But hopefully they help transformation-oriented executives — in and out of the magazine industry — to begin to move in the right direction.

Anthony, Scott. Harvard Business Review (2009). Articles>Management>Publishing