Life-Long Computer Skills

Schools should teach deep, strategic computer insights that can't be learned from reading a manual.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Education>Technology

Look at the Underside First

In a recent issue of Nature magazine (8 April 1999), lithography rises again, in a new, ultra-high-tech guise!

Sterling, Bruce. Upper and lowercase Magazine (2000). Articles>Publishing>Technology

Making Meaning and Value for Edison’s Light and Power in the Human World: A Rhetorical Project  

Of all the early electrical inventors and manufacturers, Thomas Edison seemed particularly aware of the many meanings electrical light had to establish. It was attention to the successful representations of the light in many different communities and networks of communication, as much as his technical accomplishments, that led to Edison having a dominating role in the early electrical industry. He had to create valued stable meanings within each communication realm in each social network that would grant incandescent light and central power the necessary status to be accepted, supported, approved of, employed, or otherwise actively a part of each system brought together over communication.

Bazerman, Charles. Lore (2001). Articles>Communication>Technology

Managing Organizational Change that Results from Adopting New Technologies  

This workshop helps managers explore key issues involved in successfully adopting new technologies--identifying potential barriers, generating approaches to overcoming them, and developing implementation strategies using case study materials.

Huff, Claudia H. and Nancy E. Davis. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Technology

Managing Technology Transfer: Issues for Scientific Communicators  

Technology transfer is arguably one of the greatest communication opportunities of our day. In this panel presentation, we will define technology transfer terms and issues, identify technology transfer issues in private industry as well as in government R & D labs, and discus how today’s technical communicators can play a key role in technology transfer.

Cuba, Laurence L., Rich McGillick, Suzanne S. Roberts, Donna G. Roper and David Schuelke. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Scientific Communication>Technology>Technology Transfer

Marketing Technology in an Information Systems Environment  

As an Information Systems/Marketing department liaison, you are a 'translator' for two foreign lands: Techcom and Marcom. A skilled translator must juggle the IS department’s concern that information is factual and the marketing department’s need for information that sells the product. When you take into account the concerns of both departments, you can simplify your writing task by producing component-oriented material that you can reuse for technical and marketing purposes.

Hines Kurfman, Cindy. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Technology>Marketing

A Meta-Analysis of Journal Articles Intersecting Issues of Internet and Gender    

The propagation and mainstream acceptance of the Internet has become a hot topic addressed in media, business, and scholarly environments. The gender implications of technology are studied in various ways across the disciplines of communications, gender studies, and technology and society. This study overviews and summarizes articles dealing with gender implications of the Internet in journals in these fields. The analysis identified 132 articles during the period of 1995-2003 in 28 publications in which frequencies, trends, and potential gaps were assessed using quantitative and qualitative meta-analysis. Most of the research in this area is being done in technology publications (59.7% of articles). Women's usage of the Internet is the most frequently studied level of participation. Results indicates that the survey method was the most predominant, but various qualitative methods are often employed. Notable themes included those of equal access yet unequal participation, the existence of both negative and positive aspects of the Internet, and the dichotomy of online/offline activities. The purpose of this study was to encourage interest in performing continued research on this topic as women's Internet access meets and exceeds that of men.

Royal, Cindy. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Research>Technology>Gender

Mobile Devices Will Soon Be Useful

New mobile devices and services are more realistic and useful than last year's models, and will likely expand mobile device adoption. Design usability and simplicity are key, particularly for the automotive market where complexity can be dangerous.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Articles>Usability>Technology>PDA

Mobile Devices: One Generation From Useful

New mobile devices show a huge improvement over previous generations, but they're still not good enough to score a real win. To get there, we need both PC-integrated applications and specialized mobile services rather than repurposed website content.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2003). Articles>Usability>Technology>PDA

The Myth that Software Will Save the World  

There is a perception that off-the-shelf automated conversion software will accurately transfer documents from one system to another. In the author's experience pre-packaged software does not work well on any significant, large project. Large documentation libraries are developed over time by a variety of people to meet wide-ranging needs. The documentation set is never as structured as one would hope, and the costs of do-it-yourself solutions are underestimated.

Gross, Mark. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Software>Technology

Nanotechnology: Implications for Transforming Communication

The implications for transforming communication due to the development of nanotechnology is summarized.

Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Communication>Technology

The Need for Technical Communication in IT Departments

Although many would not believe such to be true, there is a vast amount of communication that must be done in the IT world. This is even truer when the IT organization is involved with a regulated industry (e.g., pharmaceutical). In general, procedures and practices that went into the development, installation, and use/maintenance of a system require documentation and the communication of outages to the user community are also important. Among the more specific areas are help documentation, user instructions, code comments, installation instructions, and maintenance procedures/schedules. When a problem arises, it is often necessary for the IT professional to explain exactly what happened and provide the resolution in a coherent, layman-termed method, whether it be verbal or written (or both). Unfortunately, not all IT professionals are capable of doing this.

Mardekian, Beth. MetroVoice (2004). Articles>TC>Technology>Collaboration

Neologisms, Part 1: Fun with Words

In our professional lives, business and technology are the main sources for many new words. In our personal lives, blame (I mean credit) goes to popular culture for new words. New words, or 'neologisms,' are defined in Merriam Webster as 'a new word, usage, or expression' and (and next is my preferred definition) as 'a meaningless word coined by a psychotic.'

Caldanaro, Regina M. Carolina Communique (1997). Articles>Language>Technology

Network Resource Planning

Building larger networks implies higher infrastructure and maintenance costs, and increased sophistication. Any additions or modifications to a large operational network necessitate a plan, which should be devised after understanding existing weaknesses and vulnerabilities, and identifying current and future needs. This article will introduce the fundamental concepts of network resource planning (NRP), a methodology used to design, upgrade, and expand computer communication networks, and will focus on how such a methodology can be applied in enterprise networks.

Acosta, Beatriz and Kostas Pentikousis. ACM Crossroads (2003). Articles>Technology>Planning

New Literacies and Old: A Dialogue  

Despite what some consider evidence to the contrary, the U.S.A. remains largely a nation of readers and writers.

Moulthrop, Stuart and Nancy Kaplan. Kairos (2004). Articles>Rhetoric>Technology

New Prompters Open New Presentation Opportunities

Using a prompting system is not something reserved for just Presidents and CEOs. Many people have avoided using prompting because they felt these systems were too ugly and distractive to have at a presentation or perhaps too heavy to take on the road. Whether in the field or on stage, many people objected to using prompters because they made the speaker's presentation style too constrained and contrived. The new generation of LCD (Liquid Crystal Display)-based prompting systems have changed all that!

Fink, Lorin. Presenters University (2002). Articles>Presentations>Technology

The Next Development Platform

Technology is not stable. It changes over time; it is a moving target. In contrast, humans are quite stable. Each human might not be stable, but as a whole, humans are very constant. Stability and predictability are good things. Therefore, development and design should be based on humans. Specifically, development should be based on a human platform not a technological platform. 

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Articles>Technology

On the Relationship Between Old and New Technologies  

The author argues for complicating current views of writing technology, specifically views of the relationship between old and new literacy technologies. Using a Vygotskian theory and a grounded theory methodology, the author explores the uses of old and new technologies of three contemporary work sites to ground claims that a) competing visions of what technology is and what it can do are operative in contemporary workplaces, b) multiple literacy technologies are copresent in the conduct of work, and c) more advanced literacy technologies are not necessarily the most powerful within work cultures. The case studies are also interpreted through the lens of Bijker's theory of sociotechnical change.

Haas, Christina. Computers and Composition (1999). Articles>Technology>Writing

Operating at the Edge of Technology    

This article was originally going to discuss design issues for online documentation and help to be displayed on handheld devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Web-enabled cell phones. The tiny screens and limited or nonexistent storage and processing would make design a challenge. However, by the time I began writing for this special section of Technical communication, the industry had changed so much that the original article was no longer relevant. Instead, I will look at those industry changes to examine the risk of operating at the edge of technology. Note that this article is a not a traditional journal article. Instead, it's a practitioner's commentary based on 4 years of working with handheld devices, giving presentations, and developing multiple WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) programming courses.

Perlin, Neil E. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Technology>TC

Review: PC Annoyances, Second Edition

It's impossible to have the answers to all the problems you encounter on a PC, but Bass touches on a bit of everything.

Evans, Meryl K. Meryl.net (2005). Articles>Reviews>Technology

Perfect vs. Good Enough: Writing Quality in the Online Age  

Perlin discusses how new technologies are changing the definition of quality in technical writing and suggests a response.

Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2002). Articles>Technology

Principle-Centered Leadership for IT

The IT revolution has been a much-needed boon for India. It has not only changed the fiscal reserves ($), ushered a new economy and created numerous job opportunities but also caused worldwide recognition of Indian talent. The revolution has been slow, but never a result of chance accidents. In earlier revolutions, Indians missed the bus and became followers, but the IT revolution is different as we have taken the lead and demonstrated our capabilities in the software sector to the world.

Pathak, A.K. Indus (2003). Articles>Management>Technology

Protecting Yourself Against Viruses and Hackers  

Discusses how business owners can protect themselves from computer viruses and hackers. The article includes a sidebar listing anti-virus resources.

Fugate, Alice E. Intercom (2002). Articles>Technology>Security>Viruses

Rating Electronic Mail Clients: Convenience or Security?  

Archee assesses the security of several e-mail clients.

Archee, Raymond K. Intercom (2002). Articles>Technology>Software>Email

Re-Negotiating with Technology: Training Towards More Sustainable Technical Communication    

Technical communicators have often defined their relationship with technology using a metaphor of 'technology as tool,' an outlook that reinforces perceptions of practitioners as 'tool jockeys,' threatens the sustainability of the field, and isolates academics and practitioners alike from design and business decision-making and from better intellectual connections with other fields. We suggest that one potential solution is a new approach to training; if technical communicators can conduct technology training in ways that shift this metaphorical focus, they can not only better connect academics with practitioners but also create new connections with other fields, outlooks, and theories, becoming the sort of profession that survives global economic shifts and succeeds in both academic departments and industry.

Clark, Dave and Rebekka Andersen. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Technology>Theory>Tropes