Is There a Place for Technical Communication in the Public Sphere?  

Programs in technical communication have, at least in their recent history, emphasized the preparation of students for corporate positions. We claim the ubiquity and relevance of our work to all areas of life, and indeed it is easy enough to find examples of 'technical communication' everywhere. But this observation is not the same as observing that there is a role for technical communicators everywhere.

Rude, Carolyn D. CPTSC Proceedings (2002). Presentations>TC>Cultural Theory

ISO 9000 And Documentation  

The ISO 9000 series of standards require that organizations have documented and followed quality systems and processes. Organizations get certified to an ISO 9000 standard by a registrar. Organizations follow the standards in order to meet customer demand and to improve their own quality performance. The ISO 9001 standard for organizations that design, produce, and service products contains twenty sections pertaining to all aspects of a quality system. Documentation organizations can pursue certification as an organization and they can help write process documentation for their entire company.

Shnay, Mara. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Management>Policies and Procedures>ISO 9001

ISO 9000:2000; What Does It Mean to Technical Communicators?  

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) has been working on the revision of the ISO 9000 series of Quality Management Standards over the past few years, and a draft document is currently being reviewed by interested parties around the world.

Robinson, Ralph E. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Workplace>Statistics>ISO 9000

It's about the Community Plumbing: The Social Aspects of Content Management Systems  

In the summer of 2003, we worked on creating a general description of Drupal--an open source content management system (CMS)--for the "About Drupal" page on drupal.org. While Drupal is clearly within the class of applications known as content management systems, we felt that to describe it with that term alone would not present a clear picture of the breadth and range of Drupal's capabilities. Thus, the final description ended up describing Drupal with a total of four characteristics, although notably not distinct content management; weblog; discussion-based community software; and collaboration. Why is it then that the term CMS alone would not suffice? The word "content" places much emphasis on the product over process; it fails to emphasize the social use of CMSes, a mislabeling which places too much emphasis on the content itself at the expense of the communication and collaboration the better of these systems implement. In order to better understand how CMSes are being influenced by the precepts of social software and their role in creating social networks online, this presentation will: explore Drupal's social software features, narrate its genesis as software serving a community; and explain the influence of the community itself on Drupal development and the software's influence on the community that creates and uses it. In composing this text, we draw on the coauthors' unique perspectives. One of us is the founder and lead developer of Drupal, and the other a researcher in Computers and Writing and a participant in the Drupal community.

Lowe, Charles and Dries Buytaert. Kairosnews (2005). Presentations>Content Management>Community Building>Collaboration

An Iterative Approach to Better Working Relationships

Discover creative solutions to inter-personal problems in the workplace using an iterative approach: observation of moment-to-moment interactions to assess the effectiveness of our responses. We will present six options for resolving conflicts, clarifying when and how to use each through case studies, work in small groups, and simulations.

Ziff, Joel D. Usability Professionals Association (2004). Presentations>Collaboration

Keep It Simple

An IBM Ease of Use poster with the message Keep it Simple.

IBM (1999). Design>Presentations>Posters>Minimalism

Keeping Users Stuck to Your Site

Discusses the effect of drop-off and how usability initiatives reduced drop-off at Staples.com by 73%. This discussion begins with a definition of drop-off and moves into an explanation of the value of drop-off data. Then we delve into the correlation between drop-off and return on investment. Finally, we highlight two examples of Staples.com initiatives that were focused on reducing drop-off by using a systematic process of customer research and redesign.

Hynes, Colin. Human Factors International (2006). Presentations>Web Design>Usability

The Key for Effective Documentation: Answer the User’'s Real Question  

To successfully communicate to users, documentation must do more than meet the user’s information needs, it must present the information in the same way the user processes the information. The design of sofhYare and its accompanying documentation must be reconceived so that the design is done porn the problem-solver’s pornt of view. Effectively designing documentation requires the writer to: start with the user, answer the user’s rest questions, optimize all documentation as a smgle umt, allowfor user mistakes, and consider how you present the information.

Albers, Michael J. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Help

Knowledge By Design  

Knowledge by design (KBD) is an instructional paradigm for the emerging digital technologies. This nascent paradigm entails an integrated, triarchic informationmedia-interactivity model of a robust, learner-centered experience. High-performance computer platforms, inexpensive mass storage, and high bandwidth data transfer from fiber optics and orbiting satellites—are converging with the global Internet to transform the nature of the 'infosphere.' At the same time, powerful off-the-shelf multimedia tools are widely available and affordable to courseware developers and communication designers. Approaching knowledge as a design discipline may facilitate the thoughtful development of a postmodern pedagogy that can more closely realize both the technological and human potential of the next millenium.

Lasnik, Vincent E. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Education>Online>Multimedia

Learnability in Information Design    

Design of information used for technical communication of complex products should consider how learnable that information is, and strive to deliver materials that are inherently learnable.The speed of information interchange and the demands of the workplace and school curricula require increasingly minimalist approaches to the material that is made available. People are frustrated by long learning times, and new users of software tools demand rapid absorption of tool capabilities. In addition, many readers of technical information are people for whom English is not their native language.Methods and practices that worked in the period when people were willing to commit to hours of study to understand a topic, or days of practice to master a tool, no longer work in a world based on ?internet time.? To assist our understanding of these trends in learning, this paper addresses three key areas related to learnability: proposing a definition of learnability, showing where learnability and usability intersect, and providing a basis for learnability based on some attributes of human beings.

Haramundanis, Kathy. ACM SIGDOC (2001). Presentations>User Centered Design>Usability>Cognitive Psychology

Learning to Listen  

We have been given two ears and but a single mouth in order that we may hear more and talk less - Zeno of Citium, ancient philosopher. Listening is our most used communication skill, yet it is the skill that is taught the least. This paper discusses why people don’t listen and how we view those who don’t listen. The paper also covers how to actively listen and the benefits of effective listening.

Scroggs, Debbie L. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Collaboration>Communication

Leaving your Comfort Zone

Quite often I hear people make the comment 'I just can't get up in front of a group to speak; it bothers me too much!' Of course, the problem is more intense for some than for others, but remember that our attitudes, mannerisms, body language, and the voice that we use in private all go with us into public settings. Unless we speak up, persuade and convince, unless we have the power of speech, and unless we have a say in what goes on, we are not in control of our lives. That's an awesome thought, isn't it? Yet, the fear of public speaking is still the number one phobia in America today!

Laurent, J. Suzanna. STC Central Iowa (2001). Articles>Presentations

Lies, Damned Lies, and Web Statistics  

Interpreting web statistics has been described as “trying to nail Jell-o to the wall.” Web log files trackfile accesses on the server. They do not track users; they do not track interest levels, they do not track success or failure communicating information. Caches “hide” site accesses from the server log and “hits” provide a poor mea sure of interest in particular content. Some people argue that there is really no meaning to server logs other than a measure of server load. However, even with all their flaws, some find web statistics useful in identifying how best to allocate resources in web site development.

Mazur, Beth. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Web Design>Statistics>Log Analysis

Links, Lives, Logs: Presentation in the Dutch Blogosphere

Few native English weblogs link to non-English weblogs in their blogroll and those English language weblogs that do link to non-English weblogs are usually written by non-native English speakers. The Internet may be transnational but many communities remain bound by barriers of language.

Schaap, Frank. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Presentations>Community Building>Blogging

Living and Working in China: Understanding Communication Requirements  

Technical communicators living and working in China need to be familiar with more than the principles of their craft. They should also understand the requirements of proper forms of address, what makes correspondence “official,” Chinese learning and communicating styles, and other cultural influences on communication, such as the importance of slogans, the rule of silence and the habit of non-specificity. Such understandings lead to cultural sensitivity and increased ability to respond to the challenges of working in the Chinese environment. names is a sign of friendliness. The best practice in China, however, is to address people in the generally accepted Chinese way.

Coggin, William O., Betty F. Coggin and Xiaoli Li. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>TC>Regional>China

Living Through Layoffs: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Meets The Corporate World  

Corporate 'downsizing' is effecting a large worker population: and not just those workers being laid off. The pervasiveness and breadth of layoffs at this time is changing workers’ trust in the future and ability to plan for tomorrow. The loyalty to firm is changing also. As one woman said 'the company used to be my family. This was my community, my network, like my parents’ hometown was to them. Its been bombed.' Trust in the future as it was known is shattered. Belief in the 'do a good job and you’ll be rewarded' is low. The effect of the economy on the workplace is grieving and distrust, and shattered selves.

Patton, Jill. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>TC>Workplace

Looking Beyond the Technology: Supporting the University Community’s Use of Information Technology  

The distributed nature of information technology services poses considerable challenges to the technical writer handling policy interpretation, dissemination, and education. Our unit endeavors to stay abreast of new technology and anticipate new issues. No sooner did I arrive on my job than MP3 music sites became the main topic among students. By their downloading of music from the Internet, some students were potentially violating copyrights.

Young, Kathleen A. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Technology

Looking to Cinema for Direction: Incorporating Motion into On-screen Presentations of Technical Information    

To help technical communicators become better informed producers of interactive new media productions, this article examines how motion can be used properly to create effective interactive information systems for the computer screen. This article provides a brief analysis of how cinema works and then demonstrates how a number of cinema techniques influence new media production. The article then concludes by offering suggestions for how to effectively apply a few basic cinema techniques directly to technical communication practice.

Gillette, David. Technical Communication Online (2005). Articles>Presentations>Multimedia

Low-Cost, Flat-File XML for the Masses  

When you hear about XML publishing, you mostly hear about databases, workflow tools, and content management systems. These are typically costly systems aimed towards the information management needs of larger enterprises, where the sheer volume of information pumped through these systems provides a fairly rapid return on investment. This fosters the perception that you need one of these complex, expensive, enterprise solutions to use take advantage of the modularity and flexibility of authoring in XML. That is simply not true. You can realize the benefits of publishing from modularized XML, without the expense of an enterprise publishing system, by implementing the authoring environment on top of nothing more than your operating system's file system. Although this environment is not adequate for enterprise publishing needs, it is more than adequate for the needs small writing teams, businesses with a limited number of related products, proof-of-concept demonstrations, and even home users. The AIC documentation group at Cisco Systems has implemented such an authoring environment. We have been able to reuse and re-purpose modular, XML-based information without implementing a database back end. By examining how the AIC team implemented XML in a flat-file environment, you will see: * the decisions you need to make before implementing a flat-file XML system * the trade-offs, drawbacks, and pitfalls of implementing a flat-file environment (as compared to a database publishing environment) * the benefits of XML that are still available, even without the database * a migration path to a more traditional publishing environment

Willebeek-LeMair, Jason. IDEAlliance (2001). Presentations>Publishing>XML>Writing

Low-End Online Documentation Viewing Systems: Why and How  

Online documentation is now widely accepted for its convenience and cost savings. However, some small, non-Windows shops find very few offerings in the market place for online documentation software.

Sonnenberg, Beth Apple. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Help>Online

Machine Translation: An Objective Look and Primer  

Machine Translation is a wonderful technology partner for the technical communicator, saving, under the right circumstances, time and money. As with any partnership, roles, responsibilities, and accountability must be clearly defined. In this human-machine partnership, the technical communicator shoulders most of the responsibility. There are many translation systems available, and the one that is best for you can be identified by considering, among other things, the purpose of the translation, its audience, the document’s size, and the desired quality. Despite the sophistication of the systems currently on the market, a human translator is a requirement for most post-translation editing!

Luttrell, Carol. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Language>Localization>Machine Translation

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Fundamentals

Macromedia Dreamweaver MX Fundamentals is the first in a series of tutorials from Virtual Training Company for Dreamweaver MX. The author of this series, Mark Fletcher, is a member of Team Macromedia for Dreamweaver. Tap into his extensive knowledge as he takes you step-by-step through the creation of a web site. He will show you how to add text and graphics, work with frames and framesets, apply cascading style sheets, and create re-usable content from library items. You will also learn how to insert and edit Flash objects, construct an HTML form, manage your page layout using both HTML tables and the Layout View, structure and maintain your web site using Dreamweaver MX's powerful site management tools, and create a dynamic web page using Macromedia's ColdFusion technology. To start learning, simply click one of the topics below.

Fletcher, Mark. Virtual Training Company (2003). Presentations>Tutorials>Streaming>Dreamweaver

Maintaining the Marketing Drumbeat in Print and E-Mail Formats  

Success in the marketplace depends on delivering the right messages to the target market. A regular, consistent “drumbeat” can be an extremely effective way to deliver messages. At the IBM® Network Computing Software Lab, I have developed a traditional newsletter and an email bulletin for delivering our marketing messages regularly and consistently. Though they share the same objective, these two instruments are very different in content and format – reflecting the fact that they are designed to maximize the opportunities and overcome the limitations of their respective media.

Kunz, Lawrence D. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Publishing>Online