Strategies and Roadblocks to the Inclusion of Community Expertise in Academic Research

This talk presents a case study which followed a graduate course in public policy. This course attempted to construct knowledge around a community based problem in collaboration with community members. The talk covers both the successes and difficulties of this research project.

Swan, Susan. EServer (2000). Presentations>Lectures>Streaming>Video

Strategies for Expanding Program Borders: Communication Modules in Engineering Technology  

To improve university-level presentations, students need rhetorical, design, and usability strategies and tools to create effective, professional presentations. By developing a series of three to five modules for science and technology students, Professional Writing faculty could polish materials for use as one-day professional development workshops in the workplace.

Johnson, Molly K. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Presentations>Education

Structuring Help for Re-Use  

Many teams are still laboring to transform poorly organized manuals into online help. But the biggest cllallege you face going from paper to online is not interface, but structure The better your structure, the easier your users will navigate.

Price, Jonathan R. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Documentation>Information Design

Strunk and White Were Wrong: In Speechwriting, Personality Should Not Remain in the Background

A speech generally needs personal language because it is delivered by a live human being whose words should not sound, as Wabash College Professor William Norwood Brigance put it, "like an essay standing on its hind legs."

Tarver, Jerry. Communication World Bulletin (2005). Articles>Presentations>Rhetoric>Minimalism

Students' Technological Difficulties in Using Web-Based Learning Environments  

To provide quality education as we seek to use emerging electronic technologies, TPC faculty must continually reconceptualize what constitutes a classroom and what characterizes our roles as effective teachers. To explore these issues, we focus on the technological difficulties students encounter when learning in a web-based environment that includes using websites for course content, email to interact and send attachments, instant messaging, and listservs or threaded discussions. How do students with little experience in using these types of computer technology learn to complete the tasks required by their courses successfully? How do faculty prevent them from becoming so frustrated with the technology that they give up or transfer that frustration to course content, creating a barrier to their learning?

Southard, Sherry and Philip Rubens. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Online

A Study on Collaborative Invention of Discourse among Disciplinary Experts: The Admiral Elmo R. Zumwalt, Jr. National Program for Countermeasures to Biological and Chemical Threats as an Activity System  

Few studies have addressed processes of collaborative invention of discourse among experts. Experts engaged in a collaborative process of invention will express ideas, thoughts, and attitudes that shape other contexts. These other contexts may include those that engage risk communication and policy formation. If this process contributes to discourse formation in other areas, then it becomes critical to study the interactions of these experts.

Gooch, John C. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Scientific Communication>Workflow

Style Guide Revision: Message and Medium - A Case Study  

Creating and revising a corporate style guide is a matter of convincing, as well as showing the users, that publishing documents in a consistent manner is cost-effective. The second edition of the Style Guide for the Savannah River Site reflects the many changes that occurred in the world and at this government site in the last six years. Because documents are processed by individuals using desktop publishing products, this style guide edition was created with input from and for the individual user Topics covered the same ground as the previous edition (i.e., procedures, papers, reports, manuals, correspondence), but one major change was placing the style guide on the site intranet to reduce paper distribution and providing information on electronic publishing.

Phillips, Amy G. and Cathie Witker. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Editing>Style Guides>Case Studies

Success With Self-Directed Teams  

Faced with workflow process bottlenecks, shrinking development cycles, and increasing customer expectations for quick access to problem-solving knowledge, one department didn’t hesitate to take responsibility for restructuring their workflow process and job functions. The result was a more efficient and responsive organization, producing increased numbers of higher quality solutions in a more compact development cycle. Their success hastened the creation of a successful knowledge portal for the company, and proved the importance of content development in product design.

McCarthy, Dennis M. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Management

Successfully Crossing the Language Translation Divide  

Going global is a familiar phrase in today’s competitive business environment. When we hear the phrase “going global” what comes to mind? Most of us think of products being sold in a foreign country. Providing documentation in your customer’s language gives your company the competitive advantage in the global marketplace. For those products to be sold successfully, a clear understanding and communication of the language is imperative. Language translation into each target language presents a host of challenges and choices that must be anticipated and resolved in the source language prior to translation.

Dilts, David W. ACM SIGDOC (2001). Presentations>Language>Localization

Survey Of Computer-Supported Writing Facility Use In Technical Communication Programs  

Just as the profession of technical communication is fundamentally linked with the use of computers, so technical communication education and computer labs go hand-in-hand to prepare students for the professional world. Because of the importance of computer instruction, we need to discover how technical communication (TC) programs are managing these expensive yet quickly outdated facilities. Described here are the results of a survey of TC program directors questioned about their computer-supported teaching facilities. A profile of a 'typical' computer lab in a technical communication program is offered.

Wharton, Kim Tresselt. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>Writing>Workplace>Macintosh

A Systematic Approach to Creating and Maintaining Software Documentation  

Problems with the current paradigm. - Difficult to write and hard to use. - Inconsistent between project revisions. - No assurance that effort will pay off for end users. - Not designed to provide high quality responses to queries.

Powell, Allison L., James C. French, John C. Knight. University of Virginia (1996). Presentations>Documentation>Software

Taming a Telecommuting Team  

“Telecommuting” includes situations where members of a group (department, team, other) are working in different locations, communicating with each other and with clients by phone, fax, and e-mail. The team may be dispersed through an urban area, nationally, or internationally. Telecommuting has advantages and disadvantages over the traditional centralized working group and presents new challenges to management and staff As a team leader of telecommuting technical writers on software development projects, I have dealt with many of these Issues. In this discussion I cover some of the advantages and disadvantages and some principles and rules of successful telecommuting teams.

Weber, Jean Hollis. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Management>Collaboration>Online

Tapping into Creativity  

Creativity is a form of energy starting from nothing and generating original and unique values.

Zace, Sokol. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>TC

Teaching and Learning in a Global Environment  

Much research in technical communication addresses issues of writing for other cultures. Language is understood within the context of culture, so communication is a cultural activity. Therefore, to successfully communicate with international audiences, we need to learn both what formal studies can offer and what individuals from other cultures reveal about our understanding of those studies.

Coggin, William O., Yevgeniy Borodkin, Su Suocai and Karen Skelton. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>International

Teaching Audience in Technical Communication  

Teaching technical writing students how to communicate with the different audiences of technical documents requires defining those audiences. Traditional division of audiences by educational level or job function fails to consider the readers’ familiarity with the subject and their interest in it. This paper sets up three categories of audience (lay, middle, and expert) and suggests how to communicate effectively with each, to help students prepare to create documents designed for different audiences.

Samson, Donald C., Jr. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Rhetoric>Writing

Teaching Teachers at the Institute in Technical Communication: A Special Report on Our Pilot Project  

In STC’s first special opportunity grant, seven STC-funded high school teachers attended the Institute in Technical Communication, held at Hinds Community College in Raymond, Mississippi in June, 1999. Originally developed for teachers at two-year colleges, the 19th Institute became a small experiment, combining high school teachers and 13 other teachers from community and technical colleges.

Chisnell, Dana E. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design

Teaching Technical People How to Think (About Graphical User Interface Design)  

Advances in technology have opened up new opportunities for technical communicators in the area of graphical user interface design. This paper describes our effort to take advantage of these opportunities. We have educated ourselves in the core issues of current research; we have leveraged our expertise in page layout and design; and we have participated in the development of standards for GUI design. Although progress has been slow, we are encouraged by early feedback from our management.

Janicko, Raymond P. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>User Interface>Instructional Design>Education

A Team Approach to Training  

The new hire training program for Technical Communication staff at Battelle, Pacific Northwest Laboratories (BNW) consists of a team approach where several individuals have defined roles and responsibilities for ensuring that all new hires receive the information and support required to be successful in their positions. This paper describes our training program.

Edler, Sandra K. STC Proceedings (1993). Presentations>Education>Instructional Design>Collaboration

Review: A Tech Writer Crosses Over to Marketing and Becomes a "Webinarian"  

Have you ever considered taking on marketing duties at your present job, or even transitioning to a new career as a 'marketeer'? Wistfully, you dream of sipping martinis with your attractive new coworkers under the department’s neon sign, 'Marketing—Two Drink Minimum,' before heading home empty-handed at 5 p.m. Oh, wait a minute—that was a Dilbert cartoon.

Janczy, Amy. STC Four Lakes (2002). Resources>Reviews>Presentations>Technical Writing

Technical and Scientific Illustrations: From Pen to Computer  

A brief look at the 19th Century David M. Greene collection of engineering textbooks at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute reveals how illustrations (1) conveyed messages to a specific audience, (2) addressed a subject, and (3) were designed for specific viewing contexts. The technology of computer-aided drawing has reestablished the importance of visual language in scientific documents.

Powley, William. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Graphic Design>History>Technical Illustration

Technical Communication

A description of the profession of scientific and technical communication.

Wright, Iain. ISTC. Presentations>TC

Technical Communication in Germany: Academic, Industrial, Professional  

Technical communication in Germany faces some unique problems arising from the nature of German culture and language. Typically, the German orientation to writing is writer-based, not reader-based. The development of the profession shows many characteristics similar to the development in the U.S. yet with many different focuses in education, in industrial practice, and in professional organizations. It is a profession 'on the way to recognition.'

Rainey, Kenneth T. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>TC>Regional>Germany

The Technical Communication Knowledge Portal

The STC web-based knowledge portal will make accessible both broad and deep information about the practice of technical communication. It is intended to be the first step in defining a body of knowledge (BOK) for technical communication. The draft site map displayed at the 2008 Summit as “the wall” is a way of organizing the domains of knowledge, skills, and concepts necessary for the practice. The final version of the map will be the initial framework for the knowledge portal.

Dayton, David, Hillary Hart, Michael A. Hughes and Janice C. 'Ginny' Redish. STC Proceedings (2008). Presentations>TC>Professionalism>Body of Knowledge

Technical Communication Research: A Call for Action

Argues for an increased emphasis on research in technical communication education.

Spilka, Rachel. CPTSC (2005). Presentations>Education>Research

Technical Communication Skills: Lecture Slides

There is more to the lectures than the basic points printed on these OHP slides. They are not a substitute for being present, paying attention, taking notes, and you know I'm right.

Whitby, Blay. University of Sussex (2000). Academic>Course Materials>Presentations