Electronic Documentation Basics

Below you can find a compilation of the most frequently asked questions about electronic catalogs. You will find answers to general as well as to technical questions.

ITEDO Software (2003). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: A Model of User-centered Technology Adoption    

This article connects the research into electronic editing reported by the author in two previous articles to a well-established theory of innovation adoption and diffusion. Everett M. Rogers's theory is first summarized, with emphasis on the perceived characteristics of innovations central to the innovation-decision process. The three most important of these categories for organizing personal judgments about an innovation are used to develop a model of the innovation-decision process with regard to electronic editing in technical communication. The central role of reinvention in the gradual, erratic diffusion of diverse e-editing practices in technical communication is discussed. The author explains and advocates a user-centered ethic of technology adoption, a perspective that values the agency of workplace communities in selectively adopting and reinventing innovations to support the work they do while preserving or enhancing their quality of life on the job.

Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: Different Strokes for Different Folks  

The author conducted a multi-modal study of electronic editing practices, impacts, and attitudes among technical communicators. Data were gathered from focus groups and face-to-face and telephone interviews, as well as from email discussions and responses to open-ended questions on a Web-based survey. Observations based on a preliminary analysis of this data will be presented and discussed.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: The Compelling Logics of Local Contexts    

Reports a qualitative study of e-editing practices and attitudes in specific workplace contexts. Sheds light on how specific workplace contexts influence perceptions and interpretations of e-editing's benefits and drawbacks.

Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Editing: Results of a Dual-Mode Survey  

The preliminary results from an STC-sponsored survey of electronic editing practices, impacts, and attitudes will be presented. In addition to a full-scale survey of a random sample of STC members, the research included a pilot survey administered on the World-Wide Web and a pretest using email software that automates the survey administration process. The potential advantages and problems associated with these innovative survey methods will be discussed.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Online

Electronic Information Kiosks: A New Online Genre for Technical Communicators  

Kiosk design is an inevitable extension of the development of online documentation. Technical communicators are now frequently being asked by their employers to create such forms of communication. They must learn about kiosks from the new perspectives of their evolving technologies, applications, audience reactions, social contexts, and information design. Finally, technical communicators must begin to view kiosks as an emerging new genre that requires both analysis and creativity.

Shirk, Henrietta Nickels. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online

The Electronic Job Search: Implications for Employers and Applicants  

Two different technologies seem to be colliding head-on as job seekers and employers attempt to improve their effectiveness in matching candidate with position. Job seekers dress up their resumes with different typefaces, type sizes, and other typographical treatments; and employers utilize scanning devices to enter resumes into huge corporate resume-management databases. But are today's scanners capable of reading all the font variations? And do the databases really achieve the results the employers are seeking?

Baker, William H., Kristen Bell DeTienne and Karl L. Smart. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Job Listings>Online

Electronic Journals: What Do Users Think of Them?

The present paper describes a variety of user attitudes and behaviour towards electronic journals. It draws on projects conducted between the early 1980s and the present day. In general, electronic journals still do not support the tasks which users perform and tend to be negatively perceived. Because journal publishers tend to be author-oriented, they have ignored the human factors literature and produced electronic journals for which there is little demand.

McKnight, Cliff. ISRDP in Digital Libraries (1997). Articles>Publishing>Online

Electronic Mentoring: Benefits and Rewards  

Electronic mentoring uses e-mail to bring the academic and business communities together without the boundaries of geography or time. Through an electronic mentoring program professionals gain insights into the academic realm from students and educators as well as give students advice based upon their experiences as communicators in business. This paper is part of the 'Expand Your Learning Community: Electronic Mentoring' panel; it focuses on the benefits to businesses. knowledge?

Dimick, Sharlyn A. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Mentoring>Online

Electronic Publishing  

A directory of online electronic publishing resources from the perspective of e-business.

Business 2.0 (2000). Resources>Publishing>Online

Electronic Support Systems for Technical Communication Teachers    

This presentation provided a rationale for electronic support systems and an overview of how such systems can be designed to meet the needs of technical communication teachers and programs.

Selber, Stuart A. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Online>EPSS

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

ELT on the NET: The Internet In English Language Teaching

Well before most us come to the end of our working lives use of the Internet and World Wide Web in education will be standard practice.

Hudson, Roger. Usability.com.au (1997). Articles>Education>Online>Australia

Embedded Help – Meeting the Needs of Your Users  

Designing and developing an embedded help solution involves several stages. A successful solution starts with identifying user wants and needs. As you sort through these needs, identify common threads and design a solution that addresses these common threads. Consistency, flexibility, and experimentation are keys to developing a successful solution. Your design should be intuitive to use, and should provide users with the options they need. As you design your solution, consider your develop and maintenance requirements. You want the time you invest in the first version of your solution to pay off for future releases.

Mueller, Paul. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

An Emerging Electronic Rhetoric of the Body: Arguing the Feminine in Cyberspace  

Some form of a body rhetoric has existed since classical times. If rhetoric can be loosely defined as a means of persuasion, then an electronic rhetoric of the body, for the purposes of this essay, can be defined as the ways in which the body is used to persuade, the ways it becomes the language of a culture for both genders. But what should we consider 'the electronic body' to consist of? The physical body? The mental body? And here is where the problem lies… But before an electronic rhetoric can be established, historical precedent must first be clarified.

Tulley, Ronald J. and Christine E. Tulley. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Online>Gender

The Emotional Potential of The Web

The Internet can connect people who are continents apart, in a way that is genuinely one-on-one and filled with emotion.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2002). Articles>Cyberculture>Online>Emotions

Empirical Studies Assessing the Quality of Health Information for Consumers on the World Wide Web: A Systematic Review

The quality of consumer health information on the World Wide Web is an important issue for medicine, but to date no systematic and comprehensive synthesis of the methods and evidence has been performed.

Eysenbach, Gunther, John Powell, Oliver Kuss and Eun-Ryoung Sa. JAMA (2002). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>Online

The End of E-Mail

It's supposed to make life easier, but e-mail has become a big pain. Enter the wiki, new software that could change the way you communicate.

Dahl, Darren. Inc. Magazine (2006). Articles>Collaboration>Online>Email

The Enterprise Information Portal and eBusiness  

The rapid advance of the Internet, groupware, relational databases and search engines allows knowledge workers to come together and share ideas and information as never before.

KMworld (2001). Articles>Collaboration>Online

EPSScentral: Online Learning

Articles about emerging trends in online learning that may affect the design and development to electronic performance support systems.

EPSScentral. Articles>Education>Online>EPSS

Establishing a Presence on the World Wide Web: A Rhetorical Approach    

This article presents a framework--grounded in the classic rhetorical concept of ethos--for thinking about how technical communicators might examine the unique characteristics of the World Wide Web and the audiences it serves. The usefulness and increasing popularity of the Web is based on how well individuals and organizations use the technology as a means of establishing an online ethos. Technical communicators are already familiar with the obvious goal of establishing a professional ethos, but they might also consider some techniques for establishing sites having a more diverse and communal ethos. This ethos is expressed in 'special interest' Web sites constructed by individuals, and several commercially-oriented organizations have also successfully incorporated this ethos into their sites.

Hunt, Kevin. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Rhetoric>Online

Ethics of Online Information Design

The beginning ethical issue of information design is access, which occurs in a unique context for each learner.

Smith, Sue. University of Arizona. Articles>Information Design>Ethics>Online

Evaluating Distance Learning in Graduate Programs: Ensuring Rigorous, Rewarding Professional Education

Internet-based distance learning programs make it possible for technical communicators located anywhere in the world to participate in graduate courses in their field. But are these graduate programs as rigorous as those offered through traditional educational venues? Do they provide opportunities for participants to learn from professors and their fellow students that are as rewarding as those provided in traditional graduate seminars? This paper reports the responses of students in two such classes to a series of questions probing these issues, and offers conclusions and recommendations that may help others who plan such courses to structure them more effectively.

Hayhoe, George F. IEEE PCS (1998). Articles>Education>Instructional Design>Online