Teaching Technology: Immersing Students in a High Tech Environment  

Teachers of technical communication should not simply focus on what tools to use in the classroom and how to use them. We should consider what happens when we use technology. In this presentation, we attempt to answer that question and to demonstrate what technologies the Cedarville professional writing faculty employ to accomplish their learning objectives.

Harrier, Sandra W., Donald M. Humphreys and Philip Wittmer. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Software

Review: Teaching Yourself Adobe GoLive 4.0  

Reviews Adobe GoLive 4.0 Classroom in a Book, and Adobe GoLive 4.0 for Macintosh and Windows: Visual QuickStart Guide.

Wallia, C.J.S. Intercom (2000). Articles>Reviews>Software>Adobe GoLive

The Technical Communication Suite from Adobe

R.J. Jacquez, senior product evangelist at Adobe.com, talks about the new Technical Communication Suite from Adobe, which includes RoboHelp 7, Captivate 3, Acrobat 3D version 8, and Framemaker 8.

Johnson, Tom H. and R.J. Jacquez. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>Software>TC>Podcasts

The Technical Writer as Software Evaluator

Technical writers are taking on more responsibilities. More and more, writers are being asked to participate in the design and review of a new product, or to help organize the efforts of a product team. Before you even begin evaluating software, resolve the following points in your own mind: Performing a comprehensive evaluation of a piece of software takes time, and chances are that no one product has all the capabilities you would like it to have, so be prepared to make concessions.

Boston Broadside (1992). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Software

Technical Writing Using OpenOffice.org Writer

If you're in the business of writing technical documents and you've been using Word in particular, you could benefit by switching to OpenOffice.org Writer. OpenOffice.org Writer is a strong competitor to Word for both drafts and final layout (desktop publishing) of many technical documents because it combines some of the best features of Word and FrameMaker. Indeed, Writer does several things better or easier than each of them.

Weber, Jean Hollis. O'Reilly and Associates (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Software>OpenOffice

Technologizing Change: Rhetoric of Software Implementation at a University Campus  

This paper reports on a study of new software implementation at a university. Seven emails distributed by a central Office of Information Technology were examined for semantic (content) meaning and syntactic (grammatical) function. Semantic findings show a high degree of topical shift. Syntactic findings show a high number of clauses and complements. The analysis also shows how determiners were used to construct 'new' information as 'given' (presupposition). The paper argues that discursive stability was created by technologizing the rhetoric of implementation. The study concludes by suggesting that a heavy reliance on dependent clauses, along with other features, may be indicative of technologized discourse.

Faber, Brenton D. ACM SIGDOC (2003). Articles>Technology>Software>Rhetoric

Technology and Management Issues in Implementing Online Documentation  

This workshop explores how traditionally trained technical communicators can help their companies make wise investments in authoring and delivery software for online documents, explore the potential of technology currently available, and ensure that their technology choices don't lead to dead ends.

Hayhoe, George F. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Software

Ten Misconceptions about Software Documentation  

Presents ten misconceptions about software documentation that may have contributed to the persistence of poor documentation.

Nayar, Pawan. Intercom (2000). Articles>Documentation>Software

Ten Obscure Word Tricks to Expedite Common Chores  

Buried within Word are lots of cool tricks that not too many people have discovered. These are small things--shortcuts that, in some cases, may not look much more efficient than pulling down a menu and heading for the dialog box you need. But if you perform a certain task a thousand times a week, being able to bypass some steps or automatically slap a change into a document without having to stop and think about it can be a welcome convenience. The techniques included here include things like making vertical text selections, creating a shortcut to launch Word using a specified template, placing the Calculate command on a toolbar for quickly adding numbers, and duplicating text and objects with the mouse.

Gilbert, Jody. TechRepublic (2006). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word

The Author's Toolkit: Creating a Partnership Between Technical and Nontechnical Team Members  

This paper discusses the evolution of the Author's Toolkit project. Pioneered in 1994, this educational effort was originally designed by SEMATECH's Technology Transfer department to create a paradigm shift in the way that SEMATECH's engineer-authors perceive the technology transfer process.

Modrey, Laurie. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Software>Technology

Threaded Text in InDesign CS

If you use Microsoft Word, you are used to the fact that if when your text will get to the end of a page, another page will be automatically added. With InDesign and most layout programs, this is a little bit different. This is because layout programs work with text boxes (or tex frames) which allow you more freedom when you lay out your document.

Bruno, Elisabetta. Designorati (2005). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe InDesign

Three Good Reasons To Stop Using PowerPoint

Quit using PowerPoint? But why? After all, you're used to PowerPoint, it does the job, it's the corporate standard, and you're not a techie trying to impress an audience with your know-how. All you want to do is create and deliver a good presentation with the least amount of effort. Which is precisely the point. If the objective of a presentation is to train, teach, sell or motivate, then good may not be good enough – PowerPoint may not be good enough. Other programs may have better options for illustrating specific processes or techniques, or they may have advantages when it comes to re-purposing the content for distribution via print, CD or the Web. Your time is also valuable, and there may be times when PowerPoint is not the most efficient way to create the visuals you need.

Waldman, Harry. Presentations (2003). Articles>Presentations>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint

Three HyperCard Stacks on CD-ROM: A Review

A review of the Macintosh CD-ROM versions of The Manhole, the Time Table of History, and the Electronic Whole Earth Catalog with emphasis on their usability and their support of hypertext navigation. Based on the discussion of these hypertexts the following general principles are found to be useful for analyzing hypertext user interfaces: Navigational dimensions and their explicitness, directionality and literalness, landmarks, locational orientation, history lists, and backtrack mechanisms.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1989). Articles>Usability>Software>Hypertext

Three Models of Computer Software    

People in the computer industry frequently toss around the term 'computer literacy.' They talk about how some people have it and some don't; about how those who have it will succeed in the information age and those who lack it will fall between the social and economic cracks of the new age. But computer literacy is nothing more than a euphemism for making the computer user stretch to reach an information age appliance rather than having the appliance stretch to meet the user.

Cooper, Alan. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Software>Writing

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

Time to Make Tech Work

The IT industry is maturing. Hopefully, this maturity will result in a slower introduction of new features, which in turn will let companies focus their attention and resources on making existing technology work better for users.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Usability>Programming>Software

A Tip on Record-Keeping in Windows

Microsoft Windows keeps all your files in folders (within directories and subdirectories), and allows you to have as many folders as you want. You can also name them in almost any way you want, but that sometimes leads to confusion, because Windows needs to be told how you want these folders ordered.

Pinkham, Gordon. MetroVoice (2004). Articles>Software>Operating Systems>Microsoft Windows

To Dream, Weave, or Read The Front Page?

What You See Is What You Get Editors (referred to as WYSIWYG editors from here after) are programs that have been written specifically to aid in the development of Websites and their components, I say components as in this day and age database management and script setup have major parts to play within the editors. In the next ten minutes you will realise that WYSIWYG editors are not the way to go.

Harrop, Jamie. DevBay (2005). Articles>Web Design>Software>Dreamweaver

To Use or Not to Use Word

For long Word documents, I never use the main/sub document feature. It's unreliable. Instead I link the graphics without saving in the document. When the document is completed I change it to relative path (using a Find & Replace procedure) for reliable file transfer.

Ring, Peter. TC-FORUM (1997). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word

Toggling Shapes in Visio

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

Tools for Authoring Knowledge Products

Authoring tools are used to create and integrate the components of knowledge products. They include tools used by designers, writers, editors, artists, animators, photographers, videographers, and others involved in producing knowledge products.

Horton, William K. III and Katherine W. Horton. Indus (2002). Articles>Knowledge Management>Software

Tools in Technical Writing

Technical writers create documents in various formats like electronic publishing, print, online help, etc. The various tools used to produce technical documents are described below.

Smita, Richa. Blogspot (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Software

Tools Training for the Technical Communicator

When we started our training room at Ace Communications, the goal was to offer hands-on training in the tools of the trade for technical communicators. Even though there is continuity in the core tools used in the profession, there is enough evolution in the design and application of these tools to warrant ongoing training, even for experienced users. The experience of running both a training business and a consulting/staffing business points out that the most successful technical communicators combine extremely strong inter-personal skills with ongoing tools training.

Ace, Mark. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Articles>Education>Technology>Software

The Trellix 1.0 Development Project

An overview of the history of the project that helped us come up with the ideas presented in Good Documents.

Bricklin, Dan. Good Documents (1998). Articles>Web Design>Software

Trends in Transforming Communication: Response to STC Editorial

In stark contrast to the suggestion that software products are easier to use these days, I would have to say that in general they are _not_ any easier to use, _especially_ Microsoft products. While they have more features and deliver more performance, I would be careful about making a blanket statement about ease of use, especially when we know the resources to create usable products in most of the industry has been shrinking.

Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Usability>Software