#22109
Review: Mail and Internet Surveys: The Tailored Design Method 
If you're planning to conduct a survey, invest $70 USD in Dillman's book. It provides some of the finest methodological guidance available for conducting surveys.
Zimmerman, Donald E. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Usability>Surveys
#26389
Review: Making Digital Type Look Good
'Typography is entirely about the business of detailing,' writes Bob Gordon, and he practices what he preaches in this attractive and well-designed book.
Gordon, Bob. AIGA (2004). Articles>Reviews>Typography
#23834
Review: Making the Web Work: Designing Effective Web Applications
Those new to the field of user-centered design will find this book most useful; intermediate or advanced practitioners looking for in-depth information specific to web applications may want to look elsewhere.
Lash, Jeff. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Resources>Reviews>Information Design
#22223
Review: Managing Data Mining Technologies in Organizations: Techniques and Applications
Managing Data Mining Technologies in Organizations: Techniques and Applications is rich in information and should be of great interest to its intended audience of academics and professionals who are knowledgeable about data mining. The book's price and highly technical nature will likely keep those merely curious about data mining from actually purchasing it, but should you need facts on data mining for one of your documentation projects, a library copy may provide just the information you need.
Owens, David. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Information Design
#22453
Review: Managing Enterprise Contact 
By the time I finished reading Managing Enterprise Content, I was excited! For me, the book answered questions about a unified content strategy on two levels: Not only did it address unified content strategy as a strategic business objective; it also unified the strategic directions that the umbrella of technical communication and training professions have been moving towards over the past decade: single-sourcing, corporate branding implementation, critical involvement in software or system development life cycle (SDLC) methodologies, and even implementation of ISO9000 compliance.
Hannigan, Mark. TECHWR-L (2003). Articles>Reviews>Content Management>Content Strategy
#31034
Review: Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools
Review of 'Managing Virtual Teams: Getting the Most from Wikis, Blogs, and Other Collaborative Tools' by Kit Brown, Brenda Huettner, and Char James-Tanny.
Olson, Amy. Carolina Communique (2008). Articles>Reviews>Management>Online
#28138
Review: Managing your Documentation Projects 
Documentation projects require a significant amount of coordination and planning, and managers often find themselves faced with the challenge of successfully integrating a range of new elements including international legal requirements, new players, budgets and scheduling demands to make a product successful. Most often they look around for solutions to develop an effective strategy for their documentation projects that places control in their hands.
Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Reviews>Documentation>Project Management
#22062
Review: Mapping Websites: Digital Media Design
When we are trying to envision the structure of a Web site, we may sketch diagrams on white boards, create outlines, fill whole walls with yellow stickies. Kahn and Lenk offer many sophisticated ways of visualizing your site. If you are planning a new site or reorganizing an existing site, this book provides an historical context for your information architecture, in-depth studies of complex sites, and a wide range of inspiring diagrams and site maps.
Price, Jonathan R. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>Web Design
#22250
Review: Mastering HTML and XHTML
In this book, the Rays have put together most (if not everything) that you need to know to create HTML/XHTML documents. Although not groundbreaking, the information is presented in a straightforward style and arranged in an easily accessible manner. Basically, it's a 'one-stop' reference for prospective coders.
Staples, Jeff. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Web Design>HTML
#18471
Review: A Matter of Style: On Writing and Technique
Many editors and writers will find A Matter of Style useful, but as readers, most will find it frustrating. Matthew Clark, a professor of classical literature and a musician, addresses the book to editors and writers, both creative and non-fiction, and especially to academic writers. The book is not an introduction and Clark assumes that his readers “already have a good grounding in the basics of grammar and style” (p. iv). He skips quickly through a chapter called “A Few Points of Grammar” to get to his real target, “questions of artistry” (p. 1). So far, so good, but problems soon develop around many of these nodes. The level of audience assumed by the book frequently varies. The book functions in many passages as an introduction to various classical arcana of questionable utility. Even more than questions of artistry, Clark deals with “questions about style” that are “questions of taste” and so “do not have definitive answers.” As many critics before him, he claims that “taste can still be discussed” (p. 14). The question is, “How?”
Thurston, John. Writer's Block (2002). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides
#23689
Review: Medical Writing in Drug Development: A Practical Guide for Pharmaceutical Research
When I first saw this book, I was surprised that it was so slim. When you think of medical texts, you immediately imagine a volume of 600 pages or more. But Robert Bonk has been able to distill his information into a readable volume. All of the information is right there, easy to access, with no jargon cluttering the way.
Bonk, Robert J. MetroVoice (2003). Resources>Reviews>Scientific Communication>Biomedical
#22923
Review: The Metaphysics of Information Quality: Comments on Producing Quality Technical Information
The expressed promise in the title of Producing Quality Technical Information is that following its prescriptions will yield 'quality' technical information. This commentary asks what the term quality means here and whether the manual delivers on its promise. In other words, which of the several senses of quality is intended in the title, and the does the publication deliver as promised? That is, which of the major quality schemes corresponds to the rationale of the text: legalistic quality, in which quality is conformity to a long list of detailed regulations and specifications (as in ISO 9000); principle-based quality, in which quality is the result of working according to a small set of broad precepts; or mystical quality, in which quality is an indefinable property or spiritual construct, toward which virtuous people should aspire.
Weiss, Edmond H. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Reviews>Quality>Assessment
#26068
Review: Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
Microsoft is one of the largest software companies in the world. Thus, with their rich experience in documentation it is only natural that they share it with the rest of the IT industry. The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, Third Edition (MSTP) is the latest step in this direction and takes care of latest technologies and technical terms.
Sharma, Sangeet. Indus (2005). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Technical Writing
#25848
Review: Minimalism and Documentation
What is minimalism? Is minimalist documentation 'risky,' and if so, what can be done to mitgate the risk? Was the structure of Windows 95's Help based on John Carroll's Minimalist Model or was 'the result' more a Microsoft business decision -- or a bit of both?
Eiler, Mary Ann. Kairos (1997). Articles>Reviews>Documentation>Minimalism
#14233
Review: Nardi and O'Day's Information Ecologies: Using Technology with Heart
Information. The word has become ubiquitous with the computer and the so-called revolution that has occurred as a result of this electronic gizmo so many of us use on a daily basis. We have linked the word with many other terms to describe how information functions in this new electronically-driven world: information technology, information management, information superhighway. Nardi and O’Day (1999), however, have hitched information to another term—--ecology--—that provides us with another way to think through what it means to work, learn, and play with and through the computer-mediated medium. As with any descriptor that has metaphoric possibilities, inventive minds can conjure a seemingly infinite number of ways to probe the expanded meanings that a metaphor can provide.
Johnson, Robert R. Journal of Computer Documentation (2000). Articles>Reviews>User Centered Design>Tropes
#14023
Review: New Essays in Technical and Scientific Communication: Research, Theory, Practice
Anderson, Brockmann, and Miller have compiled an anthology of essays devoted to research in technical and scientific communication that should be read by any professional writing teacher who hopes to maintain a career in this field and by graduate students who are contemplating applied communication as an area of concentration. While the editors have not dealt with the pragmatic reasons for doing research (preferring to stress the scholarly motives), this anthology could well be subtitled “How to Write for Promotion and Tenure if You Teach Technical Writing in an English Department.” For technical writing teachers facing the publish or perish mandate in English departments, the essays exemplify the kinds of research that will help one survive amid literature-oriented colleagues who often think that technical writing teachers have nothing to publish or teach that has any depth or value. The essays, 12 in all, cover five currently popular main research areas in scientific and technical communication.
Tebeaux, Elizabeth. JAC (1983). Articles>Reviews>TC
#23774
#22927
Review: Our Little Help Machines and Their Invisibilities
This paper examines the four kinds of invisibility Johnson-Eilola associates with minimalist help systems: fast information access that reduces user reflection and questioning, impersonal writing style that assumes the Shannon-Weaver communication model, narrow scope that leads to training but not teaching, and interface designs that oversimplify user tasks. For each of the four, the paper questions Johnson-Eilola's conclusions. Ultimately, the problems with truncated online help systems may disappear, as help systems are increasingly linking to the web, where adequate conceptual information is often supplied and opportunities for a social context for help are available.
Farkas, David K. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Reviews>Documentation
#28694
Carolyn Snyder's Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces provides the only complete guide to paper prototyping. It teaches you everything you need to know to successfully do paper prototyping and offers many practical tips. However, only about a third of the book is actually about doing paper prototyping. The majority of the book's content comprises a basic reference on usability testing. While some of the information on usability testing describes how to test paper prototypes, most of it is applicable to any type of usability testing. If you're already an expert in usability testing, you may not find this information as useful, but Snyder has honed her approach to usability testing over her many years of experience as a usability professional and provides a wealth of practical information.
Gabriel-Petit, Pabini. UXmatters (2006). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>Methods
#23864
Review: Paper Prototyping: The Fast and Easy Way to Design and Refine User Interfaces
If you want to learn about paper prototyping from a renowned practitioner then I highly recommend Paper Prototyping by Carolyn Snyder. Snyder advocates paper prototyping because it’s easy to design (requires minimal drawing skills), cheap to create (needs only paper and markers), and offers and opportunity for developers and users to evaluate design concepts. If you wonder where the beginning of the design process starts, it begins when great minds meet and brainstorm ideas, and drawing is a natural approach to illustrate them.
Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2004). Resources>Reviews>Workflow
#25648
Review: PC Annoyances, Second Edition
It's impossible to have the answers to all the problems you encounter on a PC, but Bass touches on a bit of everything.
Evans, Meryl K. Meryl.net (2005). Articles>Reviews>Technology
#28584
Review: The Persona Lifecycle: Keeping People in Mind Throughout Product Design
The Persona Lifecycle describes the value of personas, and offers detailed techniques and tools to conceive, create, communicate, and use personas to create [great] product designs. John Pruitt and Tamara Adlin provide examples, samples, and illustrations for persona practitioners to imitate and model. It is important to emphasize that the use of personas is a method that compliments other user-centered design techniques, including user testing, scenario-based design, and cognitive walkthroughs.
Dick, David J. Usability Interface (2007). Articles>Reviews>User Centered Design>Personas
#21602
Review: PowerPoint, ¿Anatema o Bendición?
La mayoría de las presentaciones usan PowerPoint en su vertiente más fácil, muchas transparencias llenas de listas de puntos. Muchos ponentes, encima, se limitan a recitarlas. Pero con PowerPoint es posible también salirse del camino trillado y hacer presentaciones que consiguen su objetivo: comunicar claramente un mensaje.
Dursteler, Juan Carlos. InfoVis (2003). (Spanish) Articles>Reviews>Software>Microsoft PowerPoint
#22106
Review: Practitioner's Handbook for User Interface Design and Development
I was excited to receive my copy of Practitioner's Handbook for User Interface Design and Development, because I was in the middle of a new software development project and would be responsible for approving the look and feel of the user interface (UI). I was interested in learning more about evolving standards, the proper selection of interface controls based on users' tasks, the best way to decide on and create UI style sheets for use by the development staff, and the problem of quantifying that elusive quality called usability. I hoped this book would enlighten me with practical examples I could put to immediate use. Unfortunately, in that regard, Practitioner's Handbook for User Interface Design and Development was mostly a disappointment. It might have been better titled A Project Manager's Handbook, because the author's treatment of the topic is extremely broad but not very deep.
Anderson, Darrill. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Reviews>User Interface
#22225
Review: Preparing Learners for e-Learning
Finally, give this book to the CEO who blithely assumes that the corporation can simply replace classroom learning with e-learning without missing a beat. This book goes a long way toward dampening the hype surrounding online education by acknowledging that e-learning requires a shift in organizational priorities, teacher and learner attitudes, and ways of operating.
Kitalong, Karla Saari. Technical Communication Online (2004). Articles>Reviews>Education>Online
