Clarifying Abstract Concepts Through Multimedia: Principles for Technical Communicators  

Multimedia can sometimes convey meaning in ways that text and graphics alone cannot. This paper offers two principles for understanding how multimedia can clarify abstract concepts. The first principle is that multimedia is excellent for conveying any kind of change, such as change in quantity, size, shape, or relationship. The second principle is that multimedia can help present complex concepts by providing information in both the visual and auditory modes simultaneously. These principles can guide technical communicators in evaluating whether multimedia is a cost-effective way to present their information.

Garb, Rachel and Claudia M. Hunter. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Multimedia>Visual Rhetoric

The Impact of the Internet and Digital Technologies on Teaching and Research in Technical Communication    

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.

Gurak, Laura J. and Ann Hill Duin. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>TC>Multimedia>Online

New Media for Technical Communicators

For more than forty years, the Society for Technical Communication (STC) has helped its members explore new ways to communicate. The theme of the STC's 41st annual conference held recently in Minneapolis, 'Explore Communication,' was therefore apt. Participants at the conference discussed new ideas for communication via computer, and charted the beginnings of STC's foray into Internet-based scholarship.

December, John A. Computer-Mediated Communication (1995). Articles>TC>Multimedia

Podcasting and Vidcasting: The Future of Tech Comm

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.

Agnew, Beth. Seneca College (2006). Articles>TC>Multimedia>Podcasting