Abstraction: Making the Complex Easier to Understand  

How can we make difficult concepts easier to grasp? Hart explores abstraction and how it can be used to clarify both simple and complex ideas.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Intercom (2006). Articles>TC>Rhetoric

The Academe-Industry Partnership: What's In It For All of Us?    

I'm always puzzled by the misunderstanding, distrust, and sometimes downright animosity between academic and practitioner members of the technical communication family. At its extremes, this attitude manifests itself in practitioners who consider research and theory to be ivory tower games with no relevance to their practice, and in professors who regard practitioners as ignorant anti-intellectuals. The vast majority of us, of course, would never admit to being either academic snobs or practitioner rednecks, but many of us evidence less extreme vestiges of these biases.

Hayhoe, George F. Technical Communication Online (1998). Articles>Collaboration>TC

ACM’s Computing Professionals Face New Challenges  

The ACM community is in a position to take a leadership role in responding to the challenges brought by last fall’s terror attacks. Some of us have already been contacted to contribute to designs for improving security at airports, verifying identity at check-in, or redesigning cockpits to give more options to pilots and ground controllers. Others will be asked to redesign systems that trace financial transactions across international borders or examine email patterns among loosely affiliated groups. These efforts win the broadest support when our decisions about how to pursue safety and security are coupled with a strong defense of civil liberties and privacy.

Shneiderman, Ben. University of Maryland (2001). Articles>TC>Professionalism

Add a Touch of Drama  

Several similarities exist between writing technical documentation and writing dramatic scripts. Technical writers who also write drama find they become much more aware of audience, differentiate more easily between 'need to know' information and 'nice to know' details, and better anticipate reader actions and reactions.

Blicq, Ronald S. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>TC

Adding Value as a Professional Technical Communicator    

Value added means generating greater return on investment than the cost of the initial investment.

Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. Technical Communication Online (1995). Articles>TC>Assessment

Addressing Quality in the Real World  

Members of the STC Quality Special Interest Group (SIG) present a realistic look at Quality in today’s hectic business climate. Based on their experiences, you will gain insight into ways to improve documentation quality, establish processes to assist the improvement, and an understanding how outside forces can impact your documentation efforts. They will look at what is meant by quality, how it’s determined and measured; processes, techniques and basic tools that can be used to improve quality; and the impact of international standards on corporate policies and procedures. A case study will highlight some of the barriers, problems, and successes experienced by an organization in implementing a quality system for monitoring its documentation.

Jong, Steven F., Don Lenk, Amy Perry, Ralph E. Robinson and Roberta A. Rupel. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>TC>Quality

Aligning Inner and Outer Visions of Technical Communication: Reflections Beyond Traditional Technical Writing    

Technical communication is often misunderstood by those outside the profession or the academic field. These outside perceptions of our work, generally based on extremely limited and narrow notions of the field, can influence the opportunities available to technical communicators. In this paper, three faculty members from the University of Washington's Department of Technical Communication describe their academic assumptions and research activities that range far beyond traditional areas from technical writing such as writing, editing and production. They describe projects that represent the expanding boundaries of the field of technical communication, spanning domains (including medicine, corporate, and public service), methods (including contextual inquiry, content analysis, case studies, and log file analysis), and solution types (including content management, user driven content, computer mediated communication, and strategic management of systems). What these projects share is abroad vision of the field of technical communication and a broad vision of the contributions that technical communication professionals have to offer.

Haselkorn, Mark P., Geoffrey Sauer and Jennifer Turns. IEEE PCS (2002). Articles>TC

Applying Common Sense to Technical Writing    

How can budding writers achieve a middle path in their approach to documentation? This no-model approach is an attempt at busting the myth that only a model-based approach works.

Chitkara, Promila. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>TC>Writing>Technical Writing

Applying Minimalist Principles, Strategies, and Techniques  

People use documentation differently from what we might expect. They don’t like to read; instead they jump to a task with prior knowledge, and sometimes don’t realize they’ve made an error. Understanding how users learn and applying John Carroll’s minimalist principles will help provide solutions to this problem. Documentation that has been successfully planned and designed for minimalism may take longer to create than other manuals, but reaps the benefits of making users more productive and happy, while reducing support calls, maintenance, translation, and publishing costs. The key factors to a successful minimalist approach (or any good documentation design) are a keen understanding of your users, prototypes designed to match tasks relevant to users, and iterative testing to improve each draft.

Lester, Susan M.J. STC Proceedings (2000). Articles>TC>Writing>Minimalism

Approaches to Professionalism--A Codified Body of Knowledge      

Professionalism is a recurrent topic of discussion—formally and informally—among technical communication scholars and practitioners. In the diversity among our programs and approaches to technical communication, the difficult issues surrounding certification in technical communication is a professional goal that major stakeholders have typically considered too complex to be addressed. Increasingly, however, many of these stakeholders agree that we can no longer continue to ignore these complex issues. In an earlier article, I have described twelve issues that must be addressed and tasks that must be undertaken to move the profession towards meaningful certification. In that discussion, I also suggest approaches to begin the work on each of these steps. In this present discussion, I address the first of these steps—codification of the bodies of knowledge through the development of an encyclopedia of technical and professional communication. In order to accomplish this, I describe the categories of knowledge in the field and the editorial and organizational structure of the project.

Rainey, Kenneth T. IEEE PCS (2005). Articles>TC>Professionalism>Body of Knowledge

April 15, 2002, through August 15, 2002  

This report covers specifications, standards, and amendments received from April 15, 2002, through August 15, 2002.

Bach, Claudia. Intercom (2002). Articles>History>TC

Argumenteren Over Lezersproblemen: Is Consensus Haalbaar?

Kunnen experts het met elkaar eens worden over de vraag of een lezersprobleem aannemelijk is en of dat probleem ernstig is? Uit menig onderzoek is gebleken dat beoordelaars sterk van elkaar verschillen in hun oordelen over tekstkwaliteit. In dit artikel wordt verslag gedaan van een poging om met behulp van de Delphi-methode consensus te bereiken tussen beoordelaars. In het eerste deel van het artikel wordt duidelijk dat op deze manier consensus niet haalbaar is, hoewel de mate van overeenstemming wel enigszins stijgt. In het tweede deel analyseren we de argumenten die beoordelaars aandragen voor de stelling dat een probleem (on)aannemelijk en wel of niet ernstig is. Vijf typen minder adequate argumentatiepatronen worden met behulp van voorbeelden toegelicht.

Lentz, Leo and Menno D.T. de Jong. Universiteit Stellenbosch Taalsentrum (2002). (Afrikaans) Articles>Rhetoric>TC

Aristotelian Rhetorical Theory as a Framework for Teaching Scientific and Technical Communication    

Classical rhetorical theory has been used for relatively discrete, practice-oriented purposes in its application to teaching Scientific and Technical Communication. However effective these appropriations are, they isolate these resources from a comprehensive framework and from that framework's role in shaping disciplinary practice. Because these theoretical assets are integral to each student's preparation to be an effective, responsible practitioner, I have developed and taught an upper level rhetorical theory course for STC majors that is grounded in Aristotle s <em>On Rhetoric</em> and in his understanding that effective communication is a systematic <em>tekhne</em>/art.

Newman, Sara. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (1999). Articles>Education>TC>Rhetoric

Arthur Levitt and the SEC: Promoting Plain English  

Intercom's assistant editor profiles a recent recipient of STC's President's Award. The Securities and Exchange Commission was honored for requiring plain English in all disclosure statements filed with the SEC.

Nielan, Cate. Intercom (2000). Articles>TC>History>Minimalism

An Articulation of a Fragmented Discipline: A Postmodern Conception of Formalism and Rhetoric in Professional Communication

If a single course is to be an effective representation of the discipline it should hope to include rhetoric, critical thinking, formalism, service learning, and civic rhetoric to, depending on how effectively so much can be managed within a semester.

Hicks, Tim. Orange Journal, The (2005). Articles>TC>Theory

Asian Cultural Backgrounds for International Technical Communication  

The communication styles of Asian people have often been seen by Westerners as part of a single, unified 'Oriental culture.' However, there are observable differences in communication strategies among them, mainly Japanese, Chinese, and Koreans. The present research attempts to reveal the deep structure of their thinking and behavior that affects writing styles in international technical communication. Its purpose is to overcome stereotypes, and to understand better similarity and diversity within East Asian countries.

Otsuka, Yoshihiro, Kenji Hitomi and Eiichi Yubune. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>TC>International>Asia

Assistive Listening Systems: Crucial For Skilled Listeners With a Hearing Loss  

Technical communicators are skilled listeners. Whether interviewing subject matter experts or working on teams, good communication is essential. But if you have a hearing loss, assistive listening systems (ALSs) can help.

Vinegar, Judy A. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>TC>Accessibility>Audio

Assumptions About Technical Communication Programs  

Survey data indicate that current academic programs in technical communication exhibit more differences than similarities in requirements, student support, faculty, schedule, and student support. Moreover, current programs are vigorous, continue to increase, and exhibit three primary needs: increased budgets, more new faculty, and increased involvement with industry.

Rainey, Kenneth T. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>TC

At the Heart of Information Ecologies: Invisibility and Technical Communication    

The ecological metaphor for technological systems provides a useful supplement to others dealing with the question of human control over technologies. However, it fails to develop adequately its own reliance on communication as the means whereby human values may be embedded in technologies, or to recognize the role of professional communicators in that process.

Ranney, Frances J. Journal of Computer Documentation (2000). Articles>Information Design>TC

Attending an STC Conference on a Shoestring Budget

Companies are reducing their training budgets. During these austere times, the technical writer must get more creative than ever to participate in the annual conference. An informal survey of attendees at the 50th Annual Conference in Dallas showed that many people paid their own way to the conference. There are numerous ways to reduce the cost to attend the conference.

Bine, Katharyn. Usability Interface (2003). Articles>TC>Professionalism>STC

Austin's Technical Documentation Focus Group: An Industry/Academic Partnership In Action  

Austin's Technical Documentation Focus Group represents an innovative collaboration between major area publications departments and academia. Designed to provide a networking forum on current publications, the group is managed by its one not-for-profit member, Austin Community College's Department of Technical Communication.

Dunlap, Johnny L., Deborah J. Rosenquist and Katherine E. Staples. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Collaboration>TC

Authorship and Responsibility: The Problem of Special Knowledge  

The ethical questions that technical communicators face frequently present themselves obliquely, arising because the communicators depend heavily upon the special knowledge of other people who provide necessary information. The special knowledge that communicators lack and others possess may come from highly technical education, privileged access to information sources, or socially constructed access to information. Proponents of need-to-know policies may argue that limiting communicators' knowledge absolves them of responsibility for the information's veracity and effects; however, more ethically rigorous considerations of the issue consider communicators' authorial roles, their right to know, and their responsibility to their audiences.

Bryan, John G. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Ethics

Basic International Technical Communication  

International technical communication is the profession of the present and most definitely of the future. Businesses around the world need technical communicators who are skilled in communicating with a multicultural audience and who are comfortable working as members of international teams. This workshop introduces you to some basic skills you need to master to be successful as an international technical communicator. The skills this workshop focuses on are: performing an international user analysis, identifying cultural bias, generating a glossary for translators, and designing a page with translation and the international user in mind.

Hoft, Nancy L. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>TC>International

Basic Marketing Techniques  

Effective marketing is key to your success. Marketing is based on your image and message, both of which can be delivered in a myriad of methods.

Maggiani, Rich. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>TC>Marketing

Behind the Scenes of Creating Value

There's a lot of volunteer work that that goes on behind the scenes by chapter members to create value. Today, I'm inviting you to get involved so you can take part in and benefit from creating value.

Koster-Lenhardt, Victoria 'Vici'. Carolina Communique (2004). Articles>TC>Community Building>Volunteering