#13247
Borders Are Not Barriers: Running a Multilingual Tech Pubs Competition 
This presentation is aimed at all those who would like to either participate in a Technical Publications Competition in a language other than English or organize multilingual Technical Publications in their chapter. And we hope you will! We briefly describe why and how we came to organize multilingual competition in the France Chapter. There is some practical information but feel free to ask us questions. We will do our best to answer you.
O'Neill, Jennifer and Patricia McClelland. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Language>Assessment
#14385
Breaking Up Is Hard to Do: Decentralizing a Doc Group
Re-engineering — a word that strikes fear into the hearts of middle-management. Our company was hit by reengineering fever in 1995–6, and word came down that we were to break up our comfortable little documentation group and distribute the writers among product development teams. We did it, and we did it right. In this paper, we · Review the thinking and planning that went into the conversion of a 30-person, centralized, corporatewide documentation group into a decentralized, loosely affiliated community of technical writers. · Describe the implementation of our plans and some of the pitfalls we encountered and overcame. · Share an evaluation of the success of the reorganization, and some tips that we learned along the way.
Kove, Jennifer and David Drexler. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Management>Collaboration
#14824
Bridges To Trust: Achieving Corporate Expectations within a Skeptical Environment
Explains some of the tough challenges, novel approaches and successful procedures implemented at Leybold Inficon--actions that worked there, and may also be helpful to you in building a more tightly-coordinated technical communication function within your company.
Inch, Richard. STC Central New York (1999). Presentations>Workplace>Assessment
#14386
Bridging Cultures: Working Overseas
Working in another country can be a rewarding, exciting experience. Preparing for an overseas job, however, involves more than sorting out visas, work permits, inoculations, and currency exchanges. You must also learn as much as possible about the host culture in order to avoid some of the more unpleasant “cultural pitfalls” discussed in this session. Once you are aware of these issues, you can reasonably assess whether an overseas project is right for you.
Guren, Leah. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>TC>International
#23990
Bridging the Gap Between Design and Engineering Cultures
Developers want details. They want information they can take back and talk about on their own. They want the space to decide, based on their own criteria, what is valuable and what is not. They make use of the divide between designers and developers to help maintain their boundaries.
Rodgers, Deborah. Cooper Interaction Design (2001). Articles>Presentations>Engineering
#14387
A Brief History of the Role of Technical Communication in Developing Environmental Literacy
This paper introduces a two-part grouping of papers on “Ecological Literacy and Advocacy through Technical Communication.” Both technical communication and environmental rhetoric have historical roots in the professionalization of science and government in the late 1800s. The association of technical communication with “patrons” in industry has limited the roles of technical communicators to purveying ecological literacy within the relatively tight constraints of “risk communication.” But with the blurring of contemporary communication genres and the growth of ecological consciousness, technical communicators may follow science writers into roles more closely associated with environmental advocacy.
Killingsworth, M. Jimmie and Jacqueline S. Palmer. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Scientific Communication>Environmental>Civic
#14563
Bright Words, Dull Words, and Snags: A Theory of Technical Writing 
While all words on the page should be necessary, not every word carries the same importance. Yet words compete for attention, and depending on what they mean to readers, one word may make a greater impression than another. As writers, we must express what’s important with bright words. We must tone down what’s not important and express them with dull words. We must avoid snags, words that distract, confuse, or interfere in any way with the smooth transfer of information.
Palkovic, Lawrence A. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Writing>Rhetoric
#26531
Bringing Practitioners into Programs
Four presentations about how to connect academic programs with workplace practitioners in technical communication.
Barker, Thomas, David Dayton, Elizabeth O. (Betsy) Smith and Tracy Bridgeford. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Collaboration>Workplace
#14357
Building a Dynamic Web Site: Separating Data From Display
The principles discussed here are part of a general technique we refer to as "'DIDDS" (Dynamic Information Data Delivery System). This approach is useful for organizations or groups who want Web pages that can be changed quickly, easily and consistently by individuals unfamiliar with HTML. The key to this strategy-keeping data separate from display-involves a suite of customized CGI programs whereby data requested by a client is passed through a "display jilter" that attaches the HTh4L tags and generates the page "on the fly."
Murphy, Daniel J. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Web Design
#14388
Building a SGML-based Documentation Environment
SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) became an ISO-approved standard and was adopted as a Japanese Industrial Standards. Recently, SGML has begun to be used more widely in Japan. We, the Corporate Design Center of Ricoh Company, Ltd., have completed development of the a single SGML module DTD (Document Type Definition), customization of a SGML editor, and the implementation of review system using the world wide web. In addition, we have developed an automatic DTP system based on SGML.
Mimura, Kaori. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Documentation>SGML
#13394
Building a Successful Acquisitions Program: One Publisher’s Story
The Books by Users program, SAS Institute’s acquisitions program, serves a twofold purpose: helping SAS software users with book ideas turn their ideas into high-quality books about the SAS System; Providing Users with books about SAS Software to supplement primary documentation produced by in-house writers. This paper gives an overview of the Books by Users program and examines its operations and growth over the past three years. It offers tips both for companies building acquisitions programs and for authors hoping to interest publishers in their book ideas.
Ginn, Jennifer M. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Writing>Publishing
#26225
Building Documentation into the Interface
As documentation is more and more built directly into the interface, and as technical communicators move into interface design and usability, it is important to have a theoretical framework within which to make decisions about what kind of information will be conveyed at any moment. We can build on basic principles of cognitive psychology to help us make these decisions. We start from a question: Why should users be aware of the difference between interface and documentation when all they want is to get something done?
Quesenbery, Whitney. STC Orange County (1998). Presentations>Documentation>Usability
#13690
Building Effective Relationships with Engineers
As the cycle times for developing new software technologies continue to shrink, the relationship between those who develop technology and those who write about it becomes ever more a factor in maintaining up-to-date, complete, and accurate documentation. Strong, positive working writerengineer relationships can relieve interdepartmental tensions and reduce the anxiety experienced by both writers and engineers at the end of a release cycle. Too often, differences in personality, communication style, and job requirements become barriers to building strong relationships. By examining our differences, we can explore strategies to improve the writer-engineer relationship.
Dwyer, Ginger K. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Collaboration
#26226
Building the Treasure House: Creating Knowledge Bases for the World Wide Web
What is a knowledge base? What are the components necessary to build one?
Massa, Jack A. STC Orange County (1998). Presentations>Documentation>Information Design>Databases
#24080
Watch your nonverbal communication and vaccinate against 'um' disease by submitting to videotaped coaching before media contact.
Yewman, Dave. Presenters University (2004). Articles>Presentations>Interviewing
#14389
Can’t Someone Tell Me How to Measure Quality?
Technical communication journals and conferences over the past decade have consistently covered the topic of quality, but much of this coverage has focused on defining quality in technical communication and describing models of quality for our field. Few have dared to declare a finite set of definitive metrics that could be used across our profession. This paper takes the bold (and yes, foolhardy) step of declaring a set of metrics that could be used universally to measure quality in technical documentation of commercial products. The author is fully aware that this will stir up controversy and dissent, but considers this her contribution to stimulating discussion of the area of specific quality metrics.
Fisher, Lori H. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Usability>Assessment
#26991
Information about how to use the Canon Elura 50 camcorders for technical communication multimedia.
Arnold, Jenni and Christina Kitson. Studio for New Media (2004). Presentations>Multimedia>Documentation>Video
#13479
The Career Survey Scope, Design, and Implications for Training and Education
How do technical writers develop professionally after they graduate from college? To find the answer we developed a technical communication career survey between March and July, 1992, and polled members of STC. This panel discusses career development theory, the results of our survey and the reactions of actual technical writers who completed the survey.
Philbin, Alice I. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>TC>Statistics
#13481
A Career Theory for Technical Communicators: How Career Theory Informs Training and Education
Career theory should inform any individual or corporate needs analysis for professional development. A useful career theory for technical communicators is one developed just for them. For this reason we designed the multi-phase study. This discussion focuses on the definition of career theory and how existing career theory can inform technical communication training theory. The research design used to create our survey has evolved from the relevant literature on career planning and career management. The literature on career planning and management contains no career theory specific to technical communicators. Traditionally, training personnel have assumed that professional development, training, and to some degree, post-graduate education are determined by the employer’s needs. This is true particularly in cases of tuition assistance for expensive technical or graduate training.
Marie, Ann Ryan. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Education
#13190
Careful Scientific Writing: A Guide for the Nitpicker, the Novice, and the Nervous
Writing scientific documentation has a unique set of caveats, pitfalls, and red flags that other types of writing do not have. The very nature of scientific writing demands the precise use of words and phrases, however, this precise usage is often discounted as being pedantic by many people. The reason for this precision is to communicate sometimes highly technical information to others who may, or may not, be as knowledgeable as the author, and who may, or may not, be a native speaker of the language in which the author is writing. To do this, accurate words and phrases must be used, especially in light of globalization and sciences that involve multiple disciplines.
Firestone, Elaine R. and Stanford B. Hooker. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Scientific Communication>Editing
#14390
Cascading Style Sheets Tutorial
The Cascading Style Sheets standard returns some control of style to web authors. HTML describes only the structure of information. CSS, though incompletely implemented as yet, adds a style sheet where an author can specify fonts, colors, margins, alignments, indentations and other elements for any HTML tag or class of tag. An introduction to CSS shows the status of the CSS standard and various browser implementations, how to generate HTML and style sheets, the use of CSS compared to PDF, and the role of style sheets in HTML Help.
Jackson, Ken and Sonya E. Keene. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Web Design>CSS
#18226
The Case for User-Centered Design
The need for user-centered design in this era of rapid technological change is reviewed, and key ingredients of a user-centered design process are described: (1) involvement of users, structured by rigorous user input and feedback methodologies, (2) multidisciplinary teamwork, from developing the initial concepts and approach to evaluating and refining the product after its introduction in the marketplace, and (3) focus on competitiveness, on state-of-theart user interfaces and technology. Data supporting the economic value of user-centered design processes is also reviewed.
Soderston, Candace and Thyra L. Rauch. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>User Centered Design>Usability
#14391
Cases in International Technical Communication
Solve complex and real cases in international technical communication with your peers. Have fun, learn a lot, and meet interesting people while you’re at it!
Hoft, Nancy L. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>TC>International
#26992
Introduces how to use a CD/DVD duplication tower to make a few copies of your CD, CD-ROM, DVD-video and DVD-ROM multimedia.
Johnson, Rachel and Codi Prachar. Studio for New Media (2006). Presentations>Multimedia>CD ROM
#26532
Challenges and Solutions for Program Administrators
A discussion of challenges and solutions for hiring professional and technical communication specialists at teaching-focused universities.
Adkins, Kaye, Molly Johnson and Bruce Maylath. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Recruiting>Interviewing
