E-Communities, Community Knowledge, and Knowledge Management    

Collaboration and cooperation - real and virtual - among people with commonality of interests and practices have given rise to e-communities and web-based communities. This paper examines some intra- and inter-community communications and exchanges, other than scholarly and business communications, and the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in this context. With particular reference to rural and marginalized communities, it considers positive aspects of ICT applications, such as acceleration of empowerment, creation of a more level playing field, facilitation of expression of and greater visibility to their needs and 'dreams', and utilization of the tacit 'community knowledge' for the greater welfare of society. It presents a few illustrative cases. It suggests that Knowledge Management (KM) ideas usually applied to enterprises can be extended to cover e-communities taking into consideration some additional parameters or dimensions.

Neelameghan, Arashanipalai. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Community Building

Earning Respect: How To Improve Your Department's Image  

Could your department's contributions be better understood and valued? This workshop will give you some ideas for improving your department's image. You'll learn some time-honored marketing techniques for finding out what your customers think of your efforts. You'll also find out how to use those techniques to change perceptions. You'll discover ways to prevent second-guessing of your document designs. And you'll find out how to promote your services to the rest of your organization.

Bolton, David. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Management>Collaboration

Easing Into Agile Modeling

Agile modeling started out fairly complex and it grew a bit into its current form.

Ambler, Scott W. Agile Modeling (2006). Articles>Project Management>Agile>Collaboration

Easy Tools for Documentation Management  

The use of three simple tools can assist the documentation manager, from start to finish, on any new project. A revamped pubs plan, a new concept with engineering worksheets, and a matrix of modularized information are all utilized with a slightly new twist. The Pubs Plan is redefined to help you launch your project with a team approach, identifying issues, and proposing solutions. The Engineering Worksheets list all the critical pieces of information your writers/illustrators need for each component of the product. These pieces of information are then tracked by completion date on an Information Matrix. These documents work together as complimentary management tools that can be easily developed and scaled to the complexity of any project.

Shumate, Chona E. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Project Management

Echoes from the Past: DITA, Help, Single-Sourcing Tools — Looking from the 60s to Today

The historian of technical communications, R. John Brockmann, researched efforts to document products going back centuries. He finds that some of today’s hottest new documentation ideas were present in the work of those creating, documenting, and selling the technology of manufacturing just after the revolutionary war.

Ng, Daniel. I'd Rather Be Writing (2008). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>History

An Ecological Approach to Design

This talk will explain how to use ecological design, which is an expansion of ethnography, to leverage both the rich local information from case studies, and a wider sociological perspective to take account of global realities.

Nardi, Bonnie A. Argus Center (2000). Presentations>Information Design>Knowledge Management

Educational Models and Open Source: Resisting the Proprietary University  

This paper presents an educational model derived from open source methods for computer programming. The article places this search for an alternative model within a framework of proprietary educational practices that are driven by a need for efficiency and rationalization. As an alternative model, the paper suggests that an open source derived educational process would emphasize collaborative problem based learning, working through drafts, risk taking, mentoring, user testing, releasing early and often. . . .

Faber, Brenton D. ACM SIGDOC (2002). Articles>Education>Knowledge Management>Open Source

Effective Control of Unanticipated On-Site Events: A Pragmatic, Human-Oriented Problem Solving Approach

Unanticipated events on building sites are inevitable. The frequency of unanticipated events is usually high due to the inherent complexity and dynamics of construction projects.

Magdic, Ales, Danijel Rebolj and Natasa Suman. ITcon (2005). Articles>Knowledge Management>User Centered Design

Effective Project Planning  

Our roles as technical communicators are often dictated to us by other people. Clients come to us after their product has already been developed, saying, 'I need a manual,' or 'I've written the necessary procedures--just make them look nice. ' It's easy to fall into the trap of just doing what we're told when we're told to do it.

Hansen, Lauren Y. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Project Management>Planning

Effective Use of Contract Communicators  

How to get the most from employing a contract technical writer -- common sense, but not necessarily common practice.

Info Action (2002). Articles>Management>Consulting

Egoless Writing: Improving Quality by Replacing Artistic Impulse With Engineering Discipline    

When technical communicators have a strong personal attachment to the publication they are preparing, this attachment may interfere with the design and testing of the publication itself. Documents developed by solo authors tend to be late, buggy, and exceedingly difficult for others to maintain. 'Ego-less' methods---collaborative and structured---break the proprietary connection between the writer and the book; in so doing they permit the most powerful tools of engineering and testing to be used. But they also reduce the satisfactions of the communicator's job.

Weiss, Edmond H. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Content Management>Documentation

Eleven Commandments for Conducting a Business Meeting  

In response to Gary M. Smith's article 'Eleven Commandments for Business Meeting Etiquette,' which focuses on the conduct of those attending meetings, Sullivan presents eleven rules for the organizers and speakers of meetings.

Sullivan, Christine A. Intercom (2000). Articles>Management>Collaboration

Eleven Usability Principles for CMS Products

The functionality of the content management system (CMS) is obviously a key deciding factor when purchasing a new product. Equally important is the usability of the CMS.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2007). Articles>Content Management>Usability

Eliminating the END GAME from Electronic Deliverables

While executive management may sometimes believe that anyone can write and that a technical writer's job is to "Just Publish It", it may be time for technical writers to look at what they can do to improve the "end game" process, which Porter describes as "All the steps needed to create the desired output format – HTML, PDF, online help system, etc. – from the source content." By taking a closer look at the publishing process, without regard to content, technical communicators may discover ways they can streamline the steps it takes to get content published and ready for the end consumer.

Porter, Alan J. Writing Assistance (2005). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Online

The Emotive Value of Professional Communication and Use of Emotional Intelligence in Mangement

Now there is a growing body of science in the field of Emotional Intelligence (EI), indicating that the proper understanding and use of emotions can help us to be more effective professionals and better communicators for the overall development of a learning organization. This paper provides an overview of this topic and includes commentary from EI experts Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey, and others to prove how one can effectively manipulate EI. This paper also highlights the components of EI and how they can be used to help employees create more productive working relationships inside and outside their organization. Through an analysis of various models of EI competencies available, this paper argues how they can be combined with other knowledge and technical capabilities to increase one’s overall effectiveness on the job.

Kumar Panda, Prasanta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Emotions

Empathize with the Writer    

It is my firm belief that every technical writer is passionate about her work and would put in her best efforts to deliver high quality. If you are a manager or an editor and are shaking your head in disagreement, think again. Why would someone want to submit a work of poor quality?

Lawrence, Prema. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Writing>Project Management>Technical Writing

Emphasizing Internal Technical Communication  

Internal communication activities frequently have a lower priority over external communication efforts because they do not directly support current and future customers. Many organizations do not realize that internal communication activities can be just as critical to delivering their products and services. The Research and Development Division at SAS has taken a unique approach to facilitating internal knowledge transfer by dedicating a department to this effort. We’ve found that we must frequently evaluate the needs of our internal audiences, and that we can successfully employ technologies and deliverables often used for external communication to support our user's needs.

Brown, Sandy, Lindsey Greene, Ronald A. Statt and Kathleen Walch. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Management>Workflow

Employees Want to be Led by Leaders Who Lead

Virtually every employee in an organization performs a discrete set of tasks. Only the leader sees the big picture -- unless the leader does a good job of conveying that big picture to his workforce. Of course, there's more to leadership than getting people to buy into your vision.

Holtz, Shel. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Management>Collaboration>Rhetoric

Empowerment: A Manager's and Professional's Perspective  

In today's dynamic business environment, management gurus claim that corporate survival depends upon visionary leadership. The visionary leadership term bandied about most frequently is empowerment. Seminars, courses, books, and corporate communications are educating managers in this concept. The managers return to their jobs charged up and ready to make changes. But how can managers translate abstract concepts into practice? This presentation explores empowerment form a technical communicator and a manager's perspective, giving concrete examples.

Scroggs, Debbie L. and M.L. Eschen. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Business Communication

Enabling Information Sharing Integrity

Most companies accept the rapid obsolescence of their documents as an unavoidable cost of doing business. Its not. When dynamic documents replace static documents, users can bring together disparate, distributed data and content and combine it in a single document that is always accurate and up-to-date.

Sorofman, Jake. Content Wrangler, The (2008). Articles>Content Management>XML>Collaboration

Enabling Language Translation with XML Tools and Standards  

Maintaining consistency between a source document and its translated counterparts can be complex and troublesome. Innumerable challenges can arise with character sets, version control, text in graphics, tables, expansion of text, updates, and so on. Using XML for translation can help overcome some of these challenges. In this article, I explain how XML tools and standards can help remedy tricky issues related to translation.

Schnabel, Bryan. ComTech Services (2003). Articles>Content Management>Localization>XML