http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/TC A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and TC in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/TC http://tc.eserver.org/35843.html http://tc.eserver.org/35843.html Technical communicators tend to get caught up in tools and techniques and formats. But, as Scott Abel said, It’s not about tech writing. It’s about content. http://tc.eserver.org/35838.html http://tc.eserver.org/35838.html Parents spend years trying to teach their children to be polite, and some of us had to learn at school how to properly address an archbishop. Yet, it seems that advice on courteousness and politeness in technical communication is in short supply; most of us learn these skills through what is euphemistically called “on the job training.” With enough bruises on my back to demonstrate the amount and variety of my experience in this area (though not my skill), here are some of the things I’ve learned. http://tc.eserver.org/35788.html http://tc.eserver.org/35788.html Sometimes, you don’t need documentation made up of perfectly-chosen words and phrases. Instead, you need something that can be easily scanned, easily understood, and easily digested. Documentation that distills the main points quickly. http://tc.eserver.org/35757.html http://tc.eserver.org/35757.html STC SIGs are like areas where outside professions insert specialized instances of their expertise into our profession. But what if we could reverse that gateway? Our SIGs could be an excellent outreach channel to market our specialized knowledge into those other professions. http://tc.eserver.org/35721.html http://tc.eserver.org/35721.html Maybe the confusion that surrounds the STC is its inability to define who it serves. Maybe the STC is trying to drum up support and be more inclusive. http://tc.eserver.org/35675.html http://tc.eserver.org/35675.html Over the past decades, technical communication in India has grown from an unknown profession to an indispensable part of many industries and sectors. A testimony to the maturity and significance of this professional field is the tremendous growth of the so-called TWIN community, representing the Technical Communicators of India. http://tc.eserver.org/35540.html http://tc.eserver.org/35540.html Much has been said about the problem the Society for Technical Communication has found itself in, including on blogs, Twitter, and email listservs. I’ve deliberately kept quiet here until I had some semblance of perspective to offer. But I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe this is a crisis STC needed—an impetus to get us all thinking together about how to improve the model, how to offer more direct benefits to the members. http://tc.eserver.org/35529.html http://tc.eserver.org/35529.html A huge problem for projects is the lack of a common language between the developers and the users. When my colleague and I were preparing a presentation for an internal conference on this subject, he said something that has stuck with me. He said, “The goal of the project is to make the user successful.” I added to that: It’s not to write code or validate code. It’s not even to ship a product or make money (of course, this last one is especially true in a non-profit organization). At least, it shouldn’t be these things. http://tc.eserver.org/35510.html http://tc.eserver.org/35510.html Radio and documentation. It sounds like a strange, if not incompatible, mix. But as Scott Nesbitt explains, an ideal model for writing documentation is a good radio report. http://tc.eserver.org/35494.html http://tc.eserver.org/35494.html I’m amazed when I hear people say they learn nothing from others in the technical communication field. Some people have a lot of experience, so they feel there are few opportunities to learn from others. I believe they forget that often through discussions, we discover a new perspective or a new way to solve an old problem. Different approaches can also lead to new techniques and solutions. http://tc.eserver.org/35445.html http://tc.eserver.org/35445.html How is the role of technical communicators changing? What skills should we be focused on for future success? With content coming from many sources and contributors throughout the community, technical communicators can feel threatened. For many years, we were the sole developers of content, carefully crafting each phrase to deliver information clearly and concisely. As social media expands, our skills for crafting the message may become less important and less valued. http://tc.eserver.org/35427.html http://tc.eserver.org/35427.html Branding encompasses everything you do. If you participate in your STC chapter, for example, how does that promote your brand? If you write for a SIG or chapter newsletter or website, or some similar outlet--or give a presentation to one of those groups--how do these activities promote your brand? http://tc.eserver.org/35357.html http://tc.eserver.org/35357.html Examines the Chinese culinary instruction genre. Analyzes culinary texts produced from 500 BC to the present. Argues for a historicized and contextualized understanding of technical communication in China. http://tc.eserver.org/35344.html http://tc.eserver.org/35344.html Checkliste der wichtigsten Kriterien für die Auswahl eines Tools zum Erstellen von Software-Dokumentation (Handbücher, Online-Hilfen) - sog. Help Authoring Tools, kurz HAT. Viele Help Authoring Tools können Benutzerhandbücher und Online-Hilfen aus einer gemeinsamen Textquelle heraus generieren (sog. Single Source Publishing). http://tc.eserver.org/35345.html http://tc.eserver.org/35345.html Screenshots oder Screencaptures). Benötigt werden Screenshots in allen Formen von Software-Dokumentation, z.B. für Handbücher, Online-Hilfen, interaktive Demos und Tutorials, aber auch für Webseiten oder Broschüren. http://tc.eserver.org/35346.html http://tc.eserver.org/35346.html Checkliste der wichtigsten Kriterien für die Auswahl eines Tools zum Erstellen interaktiver Software-Demos (engl. Screencasts). Verwendet werden Software-Demos oder Screencasts nicht nur auf Webseiten, sondern häufig auch als Ergänzung zur Technischen Dokumentation für Software: z.B. als eigenständiges Tutorial oder auch als integrativer Bestandteil einer Online-Hilfe oder sonstiger Software-Dokumentation. http://tc.eserver.org/35332.html http://tc.eserver.org/35332.html Building on the 1996 retrospective by Pearsall and Warren, the authors examine the decade that followed for the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). As the world became more closely knitted together through trade agreements and advancements in communication technology, CPTSC took up its mission in response as it helped promote program growth internationally. During this period, the organization added many more members beyond the United States, as it hosted a series of roundtables in Europe and Canada, working to diversify the ethnic make-up of its membership through scholarships. http://tc.eserver.org/35316.html http://tc.eserver.org/35316.html The mission of STC is to “advance the arts and sciences of technical communication.” How does this help you, the member? I have been a freelancer/business owner for the vast majority of my career (so far). Let me say a few things about STC’s value proposition for mercenaries like me. http://tc.eserver.org/35186.html http://tc.eserver.org/35186.html I need to figure out where I am with all the STC stuff going on, and blogging will help my introspection. Also, it will let me share with you some of the background and complexity that surround the current state of affairs with STC. My e-mail tag line reads "Anyone who is sure of the answer doesn't understand the question," and this blog is an invitation to join me in understanding how we got here, where we are, and where I think we need to go. http://tc.eserver.org/35194.html http://tc.eserver.org/35194.html Introverted people aren’t normally considered passionate. Even if you’re an extrovert, would you consider yourself passionate about technical communication? http://tc.eserver.org/35128.html http://tc.eserver.org/35128.html Although previous researchers have proposed organizational demography as an important determinant of communication, no one has tested this relationship directly. http://tc.eserver.org/35124.html http://tc.eserver.org/35124.html In this post, technical writer Milan Davidovic that contributing to wikis can help novices build skills and a portfolio. And he offers a simple roadmap for doing that effectively. http://tc.eserver.org/35117.html http://tc.eserver.org/35117.html Based on an information processing approach to organizations, this paper argues that product effectiveness is contingent on the match between the project's communication patterns and the nature of its work. http://tc.eserver.org/35083.html http://tc.eserver.org/35083.html Technical communication is changing rapidly. If you’re not ready for that change, it’s going to really catch you off guard. Anne Gentle's book Conversation and Community is an excellent guide to rolling with those changes, and for staying ahead of them. This article takes a close look at the book. http://tc.eserver.org/34918.html http://tc.eserver.org/34918.html In a profound sense, the teaching of business and technical communication (BTC) is always already the teaching of writing in the disciplines (WID). Yet the WID dimension of BTC is often hard to see. The question this article addresses is, How might the North American tradition of BTC communication courses be more consciously—and effectively—articulated with the disciplines? The article reviews some of the research literature concerning the value of articulating BTC with WID in undergraduate education and program descriptions of such efforts to examine what BTC has done, is doing, and might do in the future to strengthen WID in BTC. http://tc.eserver.org/34946.html http://tc.eserver.org/34946.html There are many articles on the web, which have deliberated upon technical communication (TC) and usability together. Apparently, there are two distinct regions of usability where technical communicators can contribute. http://tc.eserver.org/34898.html http://tc.eserver.org/34898.html Although we look at the past with embarrassment about some of our practices, we often lack the foresight to see the present with the same degree of scrutiny. Years from now, we’ll look back at what we’re currently doing and not only blush, but feel remorse and wish we could get back what we lost. http://tc.eserver.org/34770.html http://tc.eserver.org/34770.html Unstoppability. What does that mean to you? To Tom Johnson, it's about leading a life with passion and engagement. In this guest blog post, Tom talks about unstoppability and how it applies to technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/34707.html http://tc.eserver.org/34707.html Social networking and social media have been touted as giving us a never-before possible opportunity to connect with and influence and work with others. The board might be new, but the game is essentially the same. http://tc.eserver.org/34715.html http://tc.eserver.org/34715.html Technical Communication continues to change as we find new ways to meet the needs of our audiences. I have attended several conferences recently and discussed several of the latest trends with other technical communicators. This article provides a quick list of several of these trends and ideas. http://tc.eserver.org/34705.html http://tc.eserver.org/34705.html The people who own the creation, collection, and distribution of content may not be the same people in the very near future. I also believe technical communication is part of information architecture and user experience design. While the technical communication community, specifically many STC members, also work in usability or information design, the culture of the user has changed faster than the culture within the tech comm community. http://tc.eserver.org/34695.html http://tc.eserver.org/34695.html In the absence of safety concerns, I think that accuracy must win. Thus, as the information curator, you have a responsibility to correct inaccurate information. If the inaccuracy is truly dangerous, you may need to edit the post directly. Make sure that you disclosure what you've done with brackets. http://tc.eserver.org/34651.html http://tc.eserver.org/34651.html Perhaps the time has come to wrap up the STC and let a new organisation grow from the ashes. Those who are interested, and who believe our profession needs such an organisation will rally round and rebuild something. If there is not enough interest then perhaps that is a further indication that the STC has had its time. http://tc.eserver.org/34636.html http://tc.eserver.org/34636.html It's been pretty clear over the last few months that the Society for Technical Communication (STC) is facing some hard times. Attendance at this year's conference was way down (below 1,000) and memberships, the other major source of revenue, are falling too. The STC has been sponsoring a series of webinars to discuss future directions and has acknowledged that unless they can turn things around, and quickly, the organization will run out of money in a couple of years. http://tc.eserver.org/34625.html http://tc.eserver.org/34625.html In case you haven’t heard, the STC’s finances are facing crisis proportions. Unless membership stabilizes, it could go out of business in a couple of years. Here are a few recommendations to help solve the problems of the STC. http://tc.eserver.org/34626.html http://tc.eserver.org/34626.html STC represents two conflicting groups: academics and actual business world employees. These are complimentary roles for building theory but they are conflicting for actual execution. http://tc.eserver.org/34627.html http://tc.eserver.org/34627.html As you may have heard, STC is in a financial crisis. According to the board of directors meeting minutes from May 5, 2009, STC must retain membership "for the next year or STC will be out of business in two years." I believe that STC needs to make some significant changes in the following areas. http://tc.eserver.org/34628.html http://tc.eserver.org/34628.html Recently, I have begun to feel that there is not much value left in STC as it stands today, and it is in need of a radical overhaul in order to survive. I believe that outside the rarefied atmosphere of the STC Board and Head Office, this view is widely shared. http://tc.eserver.org/34543.html http://tc.eserver.org/34543.html The Twitter Book was created as being a different approach to publishing. But it’s also a different approach to writing. And that approach has definite applications in technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/34519.html http://tc.eserver.org/34519.html There was a time when organizations did offer a value proposition. Once upon a time, there was some prestige attached to being part of a professional organization. Being a member marked you as a professional. The potential was there for membership in an organization to open a more than a few doors. And organizations offered training, courses, information, and even pointers to jobs that you couldn’t find anywhere else. The Web, though, hasn’t just leveled the playing field. The Web has flattened the playing field, paved it over, and moved the goal posts. http://tc.eserver.org/34470.html http://tc.eserver.org/34470.html The term Technical Communication refers to the process of relaying technology-related information. Sciences, high technology, computers and electronics are a few of the types of technology that may be addressed. http://tc.eserver.org/34373.html http://tc.eserver.org/34373.html Professionals use contextual collaboration most frequently. It includes two forms: genre use and document borrowing. Professionals use hierarchical collaboration in moderation. It includes two forms: author-centered and sequential. Professionals use group collaboration the least of all. http://tc.eserver.org/34344.html http://tc.eserver.org/34344.html In this follow-up piece to her 2004 article, Giammona explores the future of the industry and how technical communicators need to evolve to remain relevant and demonstrate their value. http://tc.eserver.org/34263.html http://tc.eserver.org/34263.html Twitter can be a great tool, and can help people get answers quickly. However, when you have a question and need an answer, you probably ought to consider your question, and determine what channel is best suited for the type of answer you need. That may or may not be Twitter. http://tc.eserver.org/34253.html http://tc.eserver.org/34253.html The online transition to web 2.0, with its proliferation of blogs, wikis, podcasts, tweets, and other user-generated content, has posed a question for the state of help content. Should help material concern itself with web 2.0? Do users want to interact and contribute to help content in the same way they contribute and interact with web content? What is the technical writer’s role in relation to new media? http://tc.eserver.org/34198.html http://tc.eserver.org/34198.html Explores how and why the German and Chinese cultures differ in the presentation and perception of technical information. Presents a theoretical framework for technical communication across different cultures. Provides guidelines to technical communicators in Sino-German technical communication and services. http://tc.eserver.org/34166.html http://tc.eserver.org/34166.html STC has meant a lot to my professional growth over the past 20+ years as a teacher and practitioner of technical communication, and I want to help STC expand its educational mission for all technical communicators. It is time our profession had a defined body of knowledge. Why? http://tc.eserver.org/34130.html http://tc.eserver.org/34130.html With the passing of the Brayley Bill in Congress, the significance of plain language has become even more apparent to technical communicators. The author lays out a step-by-step plan to maintain the relevance of plain language as an important and necessary profession. http://tc.eserver.org/34131.html http://tc.eserver.org/34131.html As an Indian living in South Korea for the past few years, Rahul Prabhakar has had the opportunity to gain a unique perspective of global awareness and cultural sensitivity. In his article, he details the positive and negative aspects of living and working amidst a different culture. http://tc.eserver.org/34076.html http://tc.eserver.org/34076.html Agreement about research questions can strengthen disciplinary identity and give direction to a field that is still maturing. The central research question this article poses foregrounds texts, broadly defined as verbal, visual, and multimedia, and the power of texts to mediate knowledge, values, and action in a variety of contexts. Related questions concern disciplinarity, pedagogy, practice, and social change. These questions overlap and inform each other. Any single study does not necessarily fall exclusively into one area. A mapping of a field’s research questions is a political act, emphasizing some questions and marginalizing or excluding others. The emphases may change over time. This mapping illustrates reasons for the tensions between the academic and practitioner areas of the field. It also points out their shared research interests and opportunities for future research. http://tc.eserver.org/34077.html http://tc.eserver.org/34077.html Most technical communication practitioners conduct research throughout their careers. Yet, a survey of the Web sites of 114 undergraduate technical communication programs between September 2006 and April 2007 revealed that 65% (about two thirds) of these programs are providing minimal or no exposure to research instruction and therefore are not sufficiently preparing students to handle the types of research they will encounter in their upcoming careers. Given the disconnect between the centrality of research in the work that technical communicators do and the low presence of research instruction at the undergraduate level, academics need to look for ways to overcome institutional and other constraints in order to give research training greater priority in their undergraduate programs. http://tc.eserver.org/34079.html http://tc.eserver.org/34079.html This article reports data from questionnaires assessing the day-to-day experiences that members of the technical communication field have in carrying out their research. The data revealed that most members experience at least some frustration and numerous constraints that prevent them from doing the kinds and amounts of research that they want to do and that may affect the quality of their research. In short, technical communication scholars face an array of challenges. This article presents examples of these challenges and ideas that respondents had both for lessening the challenges scholars face and for better preparing graduate students. It suggests several practical initiatives for addressing these challenges along with realistic strategies for implementing those initiatives. http://tc.eserver.org/34064.html http://tc.eserver.org/34064.html A short blog post that discusses why users are more interested in learning how to, and not what is. http://tc.eserver.org/34065.html http://tc.eserver.org/34065.html Does a truly intuitive user interface exist? The author of this blog post doesn't think so. To create one, designers and developers really need to put the wrecking ball to the UI as it is now. http://tc.eserver.org/33927.html http://tc.eserver.org/33927.html Tech newbies, and often these are people from an older generation than us techies, are easily overwhelmed by technology. Why do we expect them to get it? It's not their business to get it, it's our business to get it and then translate it to them. Do we think we are impressing them with all our knowledge? Chances are we are intimidating them. We need to stop, slow down and listen, ask questions, understand where they are coming from and then meet them where they are at. It isn't condescending or patronizing to slow things down and start with the basics. http://tc.eserver.org/33917.html http://tc.eserver.org/33917.html It is not often I’m contacted by a student to respond to an informational interview, so it was a pleasure when I was contacted early last week by a student in Eugene, Oregon USA to see if I would respond to his by email, and some great questions he had too. With the student’s permission, I’m posting the interview here in the event his questions reflect those of other students, whether in France or anywhere else. http://tc.eserver.org/33888.html http://tc.eserver.org/33888.html It is important to identify, understand, and evaluate key business processes to determine how effective they are in accomplishing the business goals of an organization. As a result, end-to-end business process documentation is increasingly becoming a significant initiative for many organizations. Essentially, process documentation should communicate the guidelines to support specific processes, and can be used by a wide range of business units, partners, process leaders, and anyone who is involved in these processes. Interviewing people who follow a business process is an effective method toward understanding how the business process is executed. While interviewing the right people to understand how they execute processes, it is essential that the writers look beyond just recording what they are told about the process. Handling situations like these also provide opportunities for the writers to evolve to business domain analysts or subject matter experts http://tc.eserver.org/33712.html http://tc.eserver.org/33712.html Surveys have always been a great way to gauge users' opinions and reactions toward new and existing products and services. With SurveyMonkey, an online survey software program, creating a survey has become a quick and easy way to create useful surveys for a multitude of needs. In this reprint of David Farbey's article, originally published in the January 2006 edition of Forward, the newsletter of the UK Chapter, Farbey gives a step-by-step guide on creating a survey with SurveyMonkey. http://tc.eserver.org/33713.html http://tc.eserver.org/33713.html Many STC members have contributed to the Body of Knowledge and as the endeavor continues, the more important it becomes to gain many perspectives and ideas from all across the STC membership. SIGs have unique angles for their contributions. Lori Gillen, co-manager of the AccessAbility SIG, contributed this persona for use by the BOK. This persona illustrates pertinent accessibility issues that a body of knowledge for technical communicators should encompass. http://tc.eserver.org/33714.html http://tc.eserver.org/33714.html Innovation is important in any area of life, and STC communities are no exception. Last year, STC Chicago and STC-NIU (Northern Illinois University) combined their strengths to facilitate innovation and to help revive a student chapter. http://tc.eserver.org/33697.html http://tc.eserver.org/33697.html A large number of scholars in technical communication advocate stances that rely more on qualitative methods often associated with more subjectivist research paradigms that seem to acknowledge Foucault’s notion of the episteme with its inherent social and power relations as determining factors in epistemology. Fewer scholars, mostly in textbooks, embrace the scientific method or a variation thereof. However, several scholars attempt to alert us to the benefits of a more varied approach that takes advantage of methods within empiricism to give our field credence and add validity to our research. In summary, I found a continuum of approaches. This continuum, however, is not evenly populated; it appears slanted towards more subjectivist theory and methodology and much more sparsely populated in the realm of empiricist theory. http://tc.eserver.org/33641.html http://tc.eserver.org/33641.html "Convergence Technical Communication" (CTC) is technical communication that provides information in several forms, including Web 2.0 delivery mechanisms, to improve the user experience. Most of the content is generated by technical communicators; a portion by users. Web 2.0 makes it possible to create additional deliverables that enhance the user experience several different ways. First, it engages the different learning styles of our audience. Second, it improves user satisfaction with your product by creating communities of practice that allow users to participate in the conversation. Finally, any feedback and suggestions obtained can be used to improve the core deliverable set. http://tc.eserver.org/33643.html http://tc.eserver.org/33643.html With the explosion of Web 2.0 come two new kinds of community events: BarCamps and BookSprints. Gentle and Swisher share their experiences with these unconferences. http://tc.eserver.org/33648.html http://tc.eserver.org/33648.html According to STC member and jazz musician Matso Limtiaco, there are many similarities between technical communication and musical composition. http://tc.eserver.org/33577.html http://tc.eserver.org/33577.html This work explores prediction of technical communication patterns within product development organizations. Our methodology involves first predicting the patterns of communication and then measuring the actual communications to see if the anticipated linkages are realized. We applied this methodology to a commercial product development project in the electronics industry. In this case study we found that: 81% of all coordination type communication linkages were predicted in advance; occurrences of frequent communications were more accurately predicted than infrequent communications; and two-way communication exchange was most often observed, even where oneway information transfer was predicted. For the management of product development projects, these results imply that certain aspects of organizational design can be planned by anticipating the technical communication linkages required for project execution. Finally, a critical analysis of our methodology suggests improvements for future work. http://tc.eserver.org/33578.html http://tc.eserver.org/33578.html The practice of technical communication, especially for professionals just entering the workplace, is rapidly changing. Companies have higher expectations for degrees in technical communication, a strong foundation in technology, and the ability to function on cross-disciplinary teams alongside technical experts in the design and development process. As the practice of technical communication shifts its focus, academics have the responsibility to be certain that technical communication degree programs have a strong component of such topics as engineering design, programming, human factors, usability, instructional design, and project management, in addition to traditional communication skills. Academic programs have lagged behind practice, largely due to the location of degree programs, departmental reward systems, faculty deficiencies in technology, little depth in fields beyond rhetoric, and lack of exposure to best industry practices. This paper addresses these issues and makes some practical recommendations for catching academe up to practice. http://tc.eserver.org/33579.html http://tc.eserver.org/33579.html Rhetorical categories can and should be developed by scholars of professional writing to identify how values held within professions constrain the ways discourse is interpreted in organizational settings. Empirical research (conducted by the author and others), discourse theory, and pedagogical practice in professional writing strongly suggest that at least three categories of professional writing exist: engineering, administrative, and technical/professional writing. The author demonstrates this claim and distinguishes the characteristics of these three categories. Engineering writing is shown to respond to professional values of scientific objectivity and professional judgment as well as to corporate interests. Administrative writing reflects the locus of decision-making authority and promotes institutional identity. Technical/professional writing aims to accommodate audience needs through complying with professional readability standards. Future research should focus on defining the characteristics of these varieties more precisely. Articulated definitions of these three varieties of professional writing can help scholars and practitioners better understand how discourse is framed and interpreted in organizational settings. http://tc.eserver.org/33580.html http://tc.eserver.org/33580.html To study the possible impact of feminist theory on technical communication, this article discusses six common characteristics of feminist theory: (a) celebration of difference, (b) impact on social change, (c) acknowledgment of scholars' backgrounds and values, (d) inclusion of women's experience, (e) study of gaps and silences in traditional scholarship, and (f) new female sources of knowledge. Three debates within feminist theory spring out of these common characteristics: whether to stress similarity or difference between the sexes, whether differences come from biological or social forces, and whether feminist scholars can avoid reinforcing binary opposition. The article then traces the impact of these characteristics of feminist theory and debates within feminist theory on the redefinition of technical communication in terms of the myth of scientific objectivity, the new interest in ethnographic studies of workplace communication, and the recent focus on collaborative writing. http://tc.eserver.org/33561.html http://tc.eserver.org/33561.html This article analyzes the location of “value” in technical communication contexts, arguing that current models of technical communication embrace an outdated, self-deprecating, industrial approach subordinating information to concrete technological products. By rethinking technical communication in terms of Reich's “symbolic-analytic work”, technical communicators and educators can move into a post-industrial model of work that prioritizes information and communication, with benefits to both technical communicators and users. http://tc.eserver.org/33562.html http://tc.eserver.org/33562.html Technical communication practices have been changed dramatically by the increasingly ubiquitous nature of digital technologies. Yet, while those who work in the profession have been living through this dramatic change, our academic discipline has been moving at a slower pace, at times appearing quite unsure about how to proceed. This article focuses on the following three areas of opportunity for change in our discipline in relation to digital technologies: access and expectations, scholarship and community building, and accountability and partnering. http://tc.eserver.org/33563.html http://tc.eserver.org/33563.html This article presents an argument for and offers illustrations of service learning in technical communication courses and curricula. Alongside traditional internships that prepare students as future employees, service learning provides students with an education in engaged citizenship. This article reviews service-learning literature, discussing specifically the advantages of projects to students, faculty, and the community. The authors also describe three projects in which instructors and students integrated service learning and technical communication in innovative ways. http://tc.eserver.org/33564.html http://tc.eserver.org/33564.html Despite claims for at least the past quarter century of mature professional status for the field of technical communication, studies in the history and sociology of the professions provide criteria that suggest we are not yet truly a profession. This article reviews economic, sociopolitical, and ideological factors that characterize the modern professions and argues that the technical communication field, at best, only partially meets the criteria. The prospects for professional status of technical communication might be improved by developing a critical consciousness of the processes of professionalization and concertedly acting in ways that facilitate those processes. http://tc.eserver.org/33566.html http://tc.eserver.org/33566.html Graduate education in technical communication should provide students with an expansive view of the field. Toward that end, we offer a three-dimensional framework that represents technical communication as a robust, diverse, complex whole. Although the framework aims towards coherence, it embraces contradiction. That is, the framework represents a totality but does not purport to be the only possible representation. Key to the framework is our belief that the gap between theory and practice can actually be productive. Almost all binaries encourage overly simplistic understandings. But we should not allow the goal of remediating the binary to close off the important tensions that can allow the field to advance. This very gap is actually one of the few sites in which new ideas and approaches can be forged. http://tc.eserver.org/33380.html http://tc.eserver.org/33380.html Tom Johnson has an interview the site's creator, Geoff Sauer, who explains some of the details behind the site. I found the discussion of their taxonomy particularly interesting, as it's a problem I've struggled with in my own site. http://tc.eserver.org/33323.html http://tc.eserver.org/33323.html The EServer TC Library dwarfs all other tech comm sites. Granted, EServer TC Library is a library, which people primarily use to browse content located elsewhere, so it’s perhaps not in the same category as the other sites. Still, the sheer amount of traffic is impressive. I caught up with Geoffrey Sauer, the creator of the EServer TC Library, and chatted with him over email. http://tc.eserver.org/33302.html http://tc.eserver.org/33302.html A profile of Stan Higgins, one of the first editors of STC's journal. Based on archival research and an interview with Higgins. Includes a table of journal titles (e.g., TWE Journal, STWE Review) and names of editors. http://tc.eserver.org/33077.html http://tc.eserver.org/33077.html The natural home of the intranet is in communications. However, intranet management requires particular skills that many traditional communications departments don’t have. http://tc.eserver.org/32786.html http://tc.eserver.org/32786.html Development and Implementation of a Technical Speaking Course in Mathematics, will give students an opportunity to cultivate technical, discipline-specific, verbal communication skills and experiences needed to be successful in their chosen disciplines. They will develop skills in assessing an audience’s technical sophistication and adapting their own communications to accommodate the audience. Mathematics will become a familiar “vehicle” for development of general and technical communication competencies. http://tc.eserver.org/32793.html http://tc.eserver.org/32793.html How will DITA conversion affect your work? Sigman shares what she's learned from her own survey of technical communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/32796.html http://tc.eserver.org/32796.html A proposal specialist must decide whether to pursue more information about a new coworker whom she has reason to suspect was dishonest during the hiring process. http://tc.eserver.org/32784.html http://tc.eserver.org/32784.html A chat with technical communicator and blogger Anne Gentle in which we discuss wikis, DITA, the XO Laptop, documenting Open Source software, and a lot more. http://tc.eserver.org/32764.html http://tc.eserver.org/32764.html A few months ago I posted seven reasons an organization needs technical communicators. This week, a program manager I work with provided a few more ways that technical writers provide value to organizations and projects, so I wanted to pass along his wisdom—with my own discussion, of course. Because I gave seven reasons before, I’ll start with number eight. http://tc.eserver.org/32765.html http://tc.eserver.org/32765.html If you're in the business of developing and selling products that are in any way technical in nature, you probably spend most of your time planning or implementing specifications, development and release schedules, budgets, and engineering strategies. Or you may be directly involved in the day-to-day development and testing of the product. Whatever your role, the product is the most important thing. http://tc.eserver.org/32739.html http://tc.eserver.org/32739.html Mike Unwalla reports on the presentations that he attended at the ISTC conference in Liverpool, UK, 2-4 October 2007. http://tc.eserver.org/32701.html http://tc.eserver.org/32701.html In addition to providing a welcoming atmosphere, SIN SIG offers newcomers a jump-start to networking. As a new member, Thuy Vu took advantage of SIN SIG for exactly that purpose. She says, "To have the support and resources of SIN SIG from day one was very valuable to me as a new member. SIN SIG made it much easier to connect with the group and to learn my way around." We've found that the casual SIN SIG meeting with its small group provides an avenue to get to know a few faces and learn about opportunities for involvement without intimidating new people. http://tc.eserver.org/32687.html http://tc.eserver.org/32687.html The virtues of certification cannot be ignored, but they are outweighed by the drawbacks: There’s no evidence that employers will value certification; it can be highly subjective; and it requires ongoing renewal, even for experienced practitioners, to avoid diluting its value. The more important task must be to demonstrate our value to employers. Only once they understand our value will certification provide a means to assure employers that they can expect to receive that value. http://tc.eserver.org/32688.html http://tc.eserver.org/32688.html I believe certification of technical communicators is unavoidable, given the current status of related professions and our technological environment. Either the STC develops a certification program, or someone else will do it. http://tc.eserver.org/32616.html http://tc.eserver.org/32616.html Pedagogical and scholarly representations of collaborative writing and knowledge construction in technical communication have traditionally recognized consensus as the logical outcome of collaborative work, even as scholars and teachers have acknowledged the value of conflict and "dissensus" in the process of collaborative knowledge building. However, the conflict-laden work product of a Denver task force charged with recommending changes to the city police department's use-of-force policy and proposing a process for police oversight retains the collaborative group's dissensus and in doing so, illustrates an alternative method of collaborative reporting that challenges convention. Such an approach demonstrates a dissensus-based method of reporting that has the potential to open new rhetorical spaces for collaborative stakeholders by gainfully extending collaborative conversations and creating new opportunities for ethos development, thus offering scholars, teachers, and practitioners a way of reimagining the trajectory and outcome of collaborative work. http://tc.eserver.org/32593.html http://tc.eserver.org/32593.html Psychologists and ethics researchers say we can take simple steps to align our Want and Should Selves over the three phases of decision making and help keep the Imp of the Perverse in check. http://tc.eserver.org/32386.html http://tc.eserver.org/32386.html A draft site map to attempt to represent the field(s) of technical communication within a hierarchical tree diagram. http://tc.eserver.org/32256.html http://tc.eserver.org/32256.html With an inundation of tools for technical communicators to choose from, what are the best ones for specific tasks? And what should be the focus of technical communication—content, design, style? http://tc.eserver.org/32257.html http://tc.eserver.org/32257.html Read about STC's new strategic goals and the direction in which the organization is heading. http://tc.eserver.org/32260.html http://tc.eserver.org/32260.html Carole Beaudin-Hayes thought her job as a technical writer would lead her to a life of sitting behind a desk. Little did she know that there was much more to the world of technical communication in the transportation field. http://tc.eserver.org/32261.html http://tc.eserver.org/32261.html Teaching students in academic settings can be very different than teaching technical communication to nonacademic students. Campbell gives tips on how to teach those in trades and technologies effectively. http://tc.eserver.org/32235.html http://tc.eserver.org/32235.html Technical communication can be viewed as both a discipline and a profession. As a discipline, it concerns itself with the pursuit of knowledge and the development of theory. As a profession, it attempts to meet the needs of the individuals it serves through the application of knowledge and theory. Research links the discipline and the profession and sustains both by providing the bases from which to develop new areas of inquiry and to find solutions to problems. http://tc.eserver.org/32236.html http://tc.eserver.org/32236.html There have been many attempts to assess the state of research in our field. This article is our attempt to both (1) synthesize recent analyses, opinions, and conclusions concerning the status of technical communication research and (2) propose an action plan aimed at redirecting our field's agenda for its research. We explore these questions: What are the recent research trends in our field? What is and is not promising about our recent approaches to research? Where do we need to go next? What are the critical components for a new agenda for our research? http://tc.eserver.org/32164.html http://tc.eserver.org/32164.html This study examines how a very light jet start-up, Eclipse Aviation, changed its ethos appeals in order to survive the loss of its principally declared innovation, a jet aircraft engine. Eclipse Aviation’s corporate transformation from a spin-off company to a convergence-of-innovation company hinged on modifying an early marketing strategy. To overcome the loss of the jet engine, employees had to radically modify earlier expert representations and adopt rhetorical appeals that more closely parallel what Miller described as "cyborg discourse." To understand how Eclipse Aviation survived the typically fatal loss of a stated primary innovation and to explore the implications that this particular start-up’s rupture has for technology transfer and technical marketing, this study centers its analysis on a Web site that marketers used to "ventilate" the company and prevent financial collapse. The transformation in the company’s marketing strategy illustrates how cyborg ethos appeals aggregate and discipline distributed stakeholder roles. http://tc.eserver.org/32172.html http://tc.eserver.org/32172.html I'm amazed with the Google project, because the lack of narrative seems like a basic omission from such a high profile project. http://tc.eserver.org/32174.html http://tc.eserver.org/32174.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/32196.html http://tc.eserver.org/32196.html When you think of the best manager you have ever worked for, you probably remember his/her ability to motivate you and your colleagues, his/her professional but personable demeanor, and the way his/her organizational skills matched the right person with the right responsibilities. In your management role, you strive to do all these things. However, to make the greatest impact, you must not only excel as a manager yourself, but also help the next generation of leaders develop their managerial skills. http://tc.eserver.org/32197.html http://tc.eserver.org/32197.html This year was an active one for the field of technical communication. New tools and technologies made their mark on our profession, while new pressures and business goals began to impact the way we see ourselves, our role in the organization, and our place in the communication spectrum. In this end-of-the-year report, Scott Abel, president of TheContentWrangler.com, takes a look at some of the year's most important developments in the field of technical communication and makes a few predictions of importance to documentation managers for 2007. http://tc.eserver.org/32198.html http://tc.eserver.org/32198.html As a retired teacher with many years of experience, I’m new to the world of technical writing. However, from what I’ve observed so far, all the world is not only a stage; all the world is also a classroom. http://tc.eserver.org/32158.html http://tc.eserver.org/32158.html To reinvigorate the chapter, former chapter president, Theresa Putkey suggested that the chapter move to a member-driven, online community. Instead of the eight volunteers currently pulling the chapter along, the chapter’s 250 members can set the pace, build momentum, and provide more value than a handful of volunteers are able to provide. http://tc.eserver.org/32159.html http://tc.eserver.org/32159.html As a former Board member, I was often buttonholed by members to discuss what the Board was doing and our plans for STC's future. One of the most common topics of discussion was, "What am I getting for my membership and why should I renew?" Why should you renew? Beats the heck outta me. But I can tell you why I renew, year after year after year. http://tc.eserver.org/32155.html http://tc.eserver.org/32155.html Technical communication has accumulated its share of mythical rules of thumb, but the good news about our profession's myths is that they too contain grains of truth and insights into things that are truly important to us. (This work is a reprint of <a href="http://tc.eserver.org/10500.html">http://tc.eserver.org/10500.html</a>, but not locked for STC members only.) http://tc.eserver.org/32137.html http://tc.eserver.org/32137.html Technical communication must ultimately serve the reader - there must be something that the writer can do to clarify the information and make reading part of the process that makes the product usable. http://tc.eserver.org/32117.html http://tc.eserver.org/32117.html Technical communication is the process of conveying usable information through writing or speech about a specific domain to an intended audience. Information is usable if the intended audience is able to perform an action or make a decision based on its contents. Technical communicators often work collaboratively to create products (deliverables) for various media, including paper, video, and the Internet. Deliverables include online help user manuals, technical manuals, specifications, process and procedure manuals, reference cards, training, business papers and reports. http://tc.eserver.org/32127.html http://tc.eserver.org/32127.html Members often ask what advantages they receive for their membership dollars. The answer is so obvious we sometimes fail to see it. With apologies to the kind souls at MasterCard, a few thoughts on the value of your STC membership. http://tc.eserver.org/32088.html http://tc.eserver.org/32088.html I've long been an advocate that teaching technical communication without teaching tools is like teaching art students about painting without talking about brushes. http://tc.eserver.org/32099.html http://tc.eserver.org/32099.html Technical Communication (TC) has many facets but at the core of every effort, deliverable, meeting or other task is the challenge to solve a problem. Whether the task is to write or otherwise communicate an explanation of how to do or use something, convince a client to use your services, resolve an interpersonal conflict between yourself and someone else or between others, or determine the best content delivery medium for a specific scenario, you will always have two challenges: clearly identifying the problem and producing a satisfactory solution to it. http://tc.eserver.org/32011.html http://tc.eserver.org/32011.html Although tools seem to play a significant role in technical authoring, some people disagree. Embrace tool learning. Recognize that the 'best tool' is relative. Expose knowledge gaps. http://tc.eserver.org/31982.html http://tc.eserver.org/31982.html Wondering how you can assess the effectiveness and productivity of your work? Admittedly, it’s not easy and there are no simple approaches. But it can be done. As you develop a program, consider these issues, which arose from a review of literature on the metrics used to assess the productivity and effectiveness of software engineering, training, marketing communications, and technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/31983.html http://tc.eserver.org/31983.html This article is about better commenting practices for the purpose of—perhaps—helping some to better their programming practices. But before beginning, let me qualify the entire thing by saying that I am not a programmer—not the professional kind anyway. I have created small programs in the past for some of my employers, but that is not how I make my living. Therefore, I am not trying to teach principles of programming. I am only a writing teacher who happens to enjoy programming as a hobby. And while I cannot provide insight into better programming principles, I can offer guidance about writing those short pieces of text programmers always embed, but sometimes neglect. Helping students write better documents is, after all, my occupation; and believe it or not the principles I teach to write better papers are not that different from the principles needed to write better code. http://tc.eserver.org/31964.html http://tc.eserver.org/31964.html You don't have to spend hours making cold calls or squander money on invisible advertisements in order to find new clients. In fact, savvy businesspeople--technical writers included--know the best way to expand your client base is by leveraging the resources you already have. You might ask, "What resources?" Well, pull out your personal address book. This database of contacts--friends, relatives, and co-workers--is a gold mine when prospecting for business. By knowing how and who to ask, you can soon have as much business as you can handle! http://tc.eserver.org/31962.html http://tc.eserver.org/31962.html Advancing technology allows us to use the new technologies of podcasts (audio recordings delivered as .mp3 files) and vidcasts, or more properly, broadcast video to convey technical information. Effective audience analysis will determine whether multimedia is right for our users. We use the same correct rhetorical principles to communicate information aurally and visually as we do when creating text. http://tc.eserver.org/31882.html http://tc.eserver.org/31882.html Despite all the excitement in the technical communications community over Web 2.0 technologies like wikis and blogs, it looks like companies are still reluctant to tie the knot for a variety of reasons. http://tc.eserver.org/31885.html http://tc.eserver.org/31885.html An overview of how one technical communicator moved a Word document to a wiki, and some of the issues involved. http://tc.eserver.org/31883.html http://tc.eserver.org/31883.html User documentation is rarely, if ever, read like an ordinary book. Readers jump around, finding the information that they need to perform a particular task and pretty much ignore the rest. Until they need that information, of course. http://tc.eserver.org/31851.html http://tc.eserver.org/31851.html Once you prioritize time for involvement in STC activities, you have good opportunities to show your talents to your peers. Yes, it is scary. The technical communication community is a very difficult audience. But isn't that a fantastic learning opportunity? http://tc.eserver.org/31846.html http://tc.eserver.org/31846.html The ongoing discussion of certification continues with these concurrent articles, each arguing a different side of the coin. http://tc.eserver.org/31850.html http://tc.eserver.org/31850.html Using Constant Contact helped us distribute mass emails to (the former Region 4) STC members to promote a regional conference that we held in October 2007. This was a successful and professional-looking campaign. We signed up for a 60 day trial account to evaluate the Constant Contact service. The trial was so successful that our board voted to purchase an account for the NEO STC Community. http://tc.eserver.org/31834.html http://tc.eserver.org/31834.html Both technical communicators and usability professionals share an interest in how easily someone can use technical information. How efficiently does the writer help the reader glean the meaning of technical text? Is the experience of acquiring information satisfying or difficult? http://tc.eserver.org/31794.html http://tc.eserver.org/31794.html This blog post ponders whether or not technical communicators are sometimes too enamoured with the tools, and because of that lose sight of what's best for the reader. http://tc.eserver.org/31786.html http://tc.eserver.org/31786.html Some struggles for prestige in academic technical communication are self-defeating and wasteful because of the clash between the material (or positive-sum) economy of the workplace and the positional (or zero-sum) economy of the academy. Some professors of technical communication create disrespect for themselves and their specialities because they create degrading representations of working people and their artifacts, they promote impossible standards, and they advance discredited or misleading theories. More profitable approaches to gaining prestige for academic technical communication include recognizing that not everyone can be the top person in the positional economy, studying works on the economics of prestige, and promoting the genuinely good works that already exist in academic technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/31788.html http://tc.eserver.org/31788.html In this article, the author uses the critical vocabulary developed by Bruno Latour in his recent work Politics of Nature to offer an alternative way for technical and professional communicators to approach and articulate their work. Using the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters to explore Latour's vocabulary, the author argues that positioning technical and professional communication as more than transmitting and translating, but instead as the collecting of articulated propositions about the common world in service of the common good, thoroughly grounds its practice in rhetorical theory. Such a positioning also ascribes value to technical and professional communication without reinscribing the false dichotomy between science and politics. http://tc.eserver.org/31769.html http://tc.eserver.org/31769.html First of all, a profession cannot be recognized as a profession until it is defined as such. Engineers, for instance, have a body of knowledge they must master before they can practice as engineers, whether structural, electrical, or mechanical. Although technical communicators may not yet want such a highly codified and subdivided set of skills and practices, we do need an authoritative place to find answers to that eternal question: "What do technical communicators do, anyway?" http://tc.eserver.org/31770.html http://tc.eserver.org/31770.html Over the last few months as I've settled into my new employment arrangement and my STC administrative duties, I've occasionally reflected on my decision to join STC. I can easily see how much of an impact STC membership has had on my personal and professional life. Further, I can easily see how I will continue reaping the numerous rewards associated with membership in this organization. http://tc.eserver.org/31737.html http://tc.eserver.org/31737.html Heidi Hansen takes 15 minutes to discuss five books that she read over the past year and published book reviews for.