#14273
There are enormous advantages and disadvantages to using the Internet as a source for research. The Internet can be a very convenient way of finding up-to-the-minute data quickly and easily; however, it can also present difficulties for researchers, as it is not edited (as newspapers and magazines are). Anyone with the knowledge and access to a server can publish anything. As a result, it’s difficult to know whether your sources are reliable. Ideally, of course, the Internet should be used in conjunction with more traditional resources like journals and newspapers. (You should generally use as many types of reliable sources as possible in your research.) For this exercise, you will be searching for information on the Internet (preferably about a topic you’re working on in this or another class) and reporting on the search and the results. Your purpose in reporting on your search will be to recommend to your audience, which should be another student or even a professor in your field, whether or not she or he should use the Internet as a source for research. If so, how can she or he use the Internet most effectively for researching in your field? If not, why not?
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Online
#25846
Classic information for Windows Help authors.
Carroll, John M. PC Users Group (1995). Resources>Documentation>Online>Help
#20975
Resources on E-Learning for Academic Courses
A comprehensive collection of links to e-learning resources online.
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Resources>Directories>Education>Online
#20976
Resources on E-Learning for Training and Performance Support
A comprehensive collection of links to e-learning resources online for workplace training.
Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Articles>Workplace>Education>Online
#14314
A collection of technical communication links.
Malik, Suman Lata. Technical Communications Group. Resources>Bibliographies>Online
#20551
Restructuring Online Documentation for the World Wide Web 
Technical communicators around the world are turning to the World Wide Web us their primary delivery agent for on-line documentation. The transition from older forms of on-line documentation to HTML-based documents pre - sents new challenges in every phase of the documentation process: document creation, layout, access, and especially hypermedia capability The constant development of new web tools presents an even greater challenge for an organization seeking to stay abreast of technology with an ever decreasing budget. This panel will outline the basic steps in migrating to the web while focusing on one organization’s solution to meeting the challenges of restructuring its on-line documentation for web migration.
Goode, Christina M., Jennifer Campbell and David Hale. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Web Design>Online
#18921
Rhetoric, Community, and Cyberspace
Traditional notions of the rhetorical community as the locus of shared beliefs and values have been challenged increasingly and from several directions--from radical and post-liberal democratic political theory, from cultural studies and cultural criticism, and, most recently, from the perspective of the ill-defined and elusive 'place' called cyberspace. At the heart of these challenges is the problem of the relationship of the community to those outside it or on its margins, an uneasy relationship that is variously characterized as a tension between communitarianism and liberalism, between ourselves and Others, between a culture and its marginalized individuals, and as a complex relationship between the One and the Many. Contemporary notions of the rhetorical community characterize this community less as the locus of shared beliefs and values than as a public space or forum within which diverse and sometimes conflicting beliefs and values can be articulated and negotiated. We believe that new computer-mediated communication environments have the potential to become contemporary rhetorical communities--public spaces or forums--within which limited or local communities and individuals can develop mutual respect and understanding via dialogue and discussion. We recently tested our belief in a colloquium at Diversity University MOO, an electronic 'place' or cyberspace where individuals can 'meet' and 'chat' in real time.2 Our colloquium revealed to us a kind of rhetoric and a kind of community that seems quite unlike anything that we have seen before--seventeen 'voices' from different places all 'speaking' at once in the same 'place' and 'speaking' in fragments rather than complete discourses.
Zappen, James P., Laura J. Gurak and Stephen Doheny-Farina. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Articles>Cyberculture>Rhetoric>Online
#21509
Current focus on creating a National Information Infrastructure by increasing the capacity of the Internet computer network will have direct implications for companies who produce technical products and services. More and more organizations are already using the Internet to talk with customers, assess user needs, and provide product information. Yet corporations may not be familiar with the communication style of computer networks. A protest in 1990 over a Lotus Development Corporation product illustrates how the traditional fact-driven corporate communication style might clash with the more emotional and informal style often assumed on computer networks.
Gurak, Laura J. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Technology>TC>Online
#15065
The Right Help in the Right Place
Originally submitted to Builder.com, this article is an overview of how to add effective help to Web-based applications. It was written for developers and others who are not technical communication professionals. Builder.com changed direction and decided not to publish the piece.
Deaton, Mary M. Builder.com (2003). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#28780
Rob Houser on Creating Nontraditional E-Learning
Rob explains how you can use Captivate to create nontraditional e-learning materials, such as on-the-job training, sales and marketing training, or even bird-watching training. You aren't just limited to technical how-to information in screen demos.
Houser, Rob. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>Interviews>Education>Online
#13665
Rock, Paper, Stone: The Biz Stone Guide to Independent Publishing
People have things to say. Maybe you're one of them, struggling to get a voice through the bottleneck that is big publishing. Maybe you're a talented individual who would write more if you had a forum. Maybe you're an expert in certain areas but all that insightful content stays trapped within you because you don't have an outlet. Oh, but you do. Today's Web is fertile soil for independent publishing. Not only is it easy to get your voice out there, but your voice is also heard, acknowledged, and in many cases responded to by interested, intelligent readers who have discovered your work because they sought it out and are happy to have found it. This low barrier to publishing gets you writing, and that's important.
Stone, Biz. Digital Web Magazine (2002). Articles>Publishing>Online
#10704
Role of Technical Writers in Developing eLearning
Many companies are starting to use eLearning to train their workers, managers, customers and suppliers. Some of those companies want to use their internal technical writers or communicators to not only write the content, but also to develop the CBT or WBT.
Kurtus, Ron. School for Champions. Articles>Education>Online>Technical Writing
#22262
RTFM Part II, Looking Beyond the Printed Page
Last month I went through some fairly atrocious documentation. The letters I received from frustrated geeks really drove home the point that bad docs can make what should be a simple, routine, and--dare I say--fun experience, dreadful.
Krasne, Alexandra. PC World (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#23092
Saving Paper: —It's Like Printing Money
Wofford demonstrates several methods for saving paper that can help technical communicators cut the costs of paper usage.
Wofford, Tracey Norden. Intercom (2004). Design>Publishing>Online
#14477
Scannable resumes are frequently requested. They are scanned into a database and pulled up through keyword searches. Use left justification for everything and use the dreaded ALL CAPS for headings. When you are done, pray that you can redeem yourself with a properly formatted resume at your interview.
Dunham, Paul. Newbie Tech Writer (1999). Careers>Resumes>Online
#22358
Scholarly Electronic Publishing Bibliography
This bibliography presents selected English-language articles, books, and other printed and electronic sources that are useful in understanding scholarly electronic publishing efforts on the Internet. Most sources have been published between 1990 and the present; however, a limited number of key sources published prior to 1990 are also included. Where possible, links are provided to sources that are freely available on the Internet.
Bailey, Charles W. Jr. University of Houston. Resources>Bibliographies>Publishing>Online
#29093
Scientific Articles in Internet Homepages: Assumptions Upon Lay Audiences 
This article studies a set of scientific/technical articles published in Internet homepages. Focusing upon current trends on genre theory and the functional approach deployed by Halliday and Martin [1], linguistic features and schematic structure are analyzed in relation to more standard genres. The structural analysis suggests that these kind of texts imaginatively realize and assume the standpoint and main tenets of a lay audience that just consumes specific genres, most being analogous to the persuasive, manipulative, amusement-oriented genres of TV news stories, tabloids, and commercials. It is pondered that much of the "technological utopianism" (term used by Kling [2] surrounding the ever increasingly standardized Internet discourse turns the Internet into a productive vehicle to sustain technoscience as modern myth by spreading and forging that utopian imagery into the audience's consciousness, and that scientists are taking fruitful advantage of the utopian, futurist, and often sensationalist accounts of the Internet as a formidable frame to advertise themselves and the deeds achieved in their laboratories.
Gonzalez-Pueyo, Isabel and Alicia Redrado. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2003). Articles>Research>Publishing>Online
#22422
Review: Scrolling Forward: Making Sense of Documents in the Digital Age
If you like to think about your work philosophically, or even if you don't, David M. Levy's book tackles some of the big questions in our profession: paper versus digital, reading versus viewing, libraries versus the Web, brick and mortar schools versus distance education. And the great thing about the book is that he thinks you don't have to choose between one or the other in each of these apparent dichotomies; in fact, what's needed is a balance between the two.
Crawley, Charles R. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Reviews>Publishing>Online
#14376
Searching for the Best Mix of Paper and Online Documentation: Two Case Studies
As online help has evolved from simple field descriptions to a fully capable hypertext medium designers of software documentation have been faced with determining the best mix of paper and online. Which information goes in which medium? How much, if any, should be repeated in both? This paper describes two case studies in which hcumentation teams addressed these issues while redesigning their information sets. By the end of both projects, the documentation was streamlined redundancy between pn”ntand online was reduce4 and the majority of the information was presented online.
Massa, Jack A. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Online
#10764
The Internet is a terrific resource. It contains hundreds of web sites dedicated to thousands of topics. With so many sites, it is easy to get lost. Knowing the types of search tools available and mastering some general search tips can make your search more profitable. Use caution when searching the web, though. Anybody with access to the Internet can post web sites about topics that interest them. These sites are not always accurate. Therefore, it also is a good idea to learn how to evaluate web sites. The Purdue University Library system's Core+ Tutorial provides helpful guidelines for evaluating sources.
Purdue University (1997). Resources>Tutorials>Online>Search
#15189
Selecting Web-Based Training Technology
Provides an overview of Web-based training (WBT) technology. Using a hypothetical training scenario, he suggests how WBT technology can improve training for several types of workers.
Magnan, Raymond. Intercom (2001). Articles>Education>Online
#30571
Seven (Plus or Minus Two) Things to Remember About Producing Online Documentation
Producing online documentation requires a new view of a technical communicator's roles, skills, and responsibilities.
Titta, Catherine M. and John E. Johnson. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Online>Usability
#24801
Seven Steps to Successful Online Help
How do you create an effective online help system and efficiently manage the project? This paper will cover some basics of practical online help design and project management. The presentation includes examples from a project we worked on.
Evans, Jeanette P. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#31219
We are living in a new media world where public conversations bring together people from all over the globe. Thanks to the Internet, individuals from every continent are able to create a buzz that can introduce new heroes or ruin an organization’s reputation in minutes.
Gallardo, Luis. Communication World Bulletin (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Public Relations>Online
#10829
Single Source Documentation for Today
What happens when the software firm you work for decides it will not deliver large printed manuals any more? Then the request comes to put everything online. Six months later, user profiles shift to the World Wide Web and you're asked to deliver HTML. In the future, a database of SGML information chunks may let us deliver anything, any which way.
Stieren, Carl. Simware (1997). Design>Documentation>Single Sourcing>Online
