#30317
How Safe is the Data on Your Hard Disk?
As a technical writer with above average organizational skill, you likely already keep your files in nice little subdirectories in logical little groups -- User's Guide illustrations here, research notes there, stuff for the service manual over yonder. But what if, in an instant, your files were all taken out of their subdirectories and put in one big directory? Could you distinguish one file from the other without opening them up? You can only assume that files with identical names disappeared.
Varney, Gord. Boston Broadside (1991). Articles>Technology>Security
#20532
How Slides and Transparencies Stack Up to Micro and Ultraportables
Microportable and ultraportable projectors are changing how Corporate America presents information, sells products and trains employees and customers. Small enough to fit in a brief case, light enough to carry from appointment to appointment and easy enough to use without extensive training, these projectors deliver big, brilliant video, graphic and data images that are sure to grab and hold the attention of audiences.
Presenters University (2003). Articles>Presentations>Technology>Microsoft PowerPoint
#25079
How Usability and Audit Contribute to Product Design
It is almost impossible to do business without using information technology (IT) systems, whether or not they are developed in-house. Evaluating the quality of these systems is critical to an organization’s ability to do business using resources in an optimal way.
Manhaeve, Rik. Usability Interface (2004). Articles>Usability>Technology
#10551
There has been a lot of talk about technology and human experience. Many people believe that technology is bad in the sense that it is making us more and more detached from humanity. The web has much to do with technology. Take cinema for example: films were once genuinely hand crafted and dealt with humanity. Today many films are all technology and deal almost entirely with technology.
Fox, Justin. Digital Web Magazine (2000). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Technology
#29134
Electronic mail (email) has rapidly become one of the most prominent communication media, and a substantial amount of information is processed by it in the contemporary workplace. It is well known that digital technology produces a "digital divide." In addition, it is well examined that the digital divide produces cognitive differences (e.g., knowledge gaps) among users. Yet, little is known about affective disparities. In addition, few studies on the digital divide were undertaken in organizational setting. This study considers the human side of the digital divide in an organizational setting and investigates if the digital divide exists in the workplace by examining multiple dimensions of communication satisfaction. The data from 303 university employees indicates that email experience differentiates communication satisfaction with amount of email and email use for equivocal tasks.
Ishii, Kumi. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>Technology>Email>Workplace
#22264
I RTFM, But It's Still Greek to Me
You've heard it from your geeky friends: RTFM, politely translated as 'Read the Freaking Manual.' But what if the manual is unreadable? It's difficult enough to upgrade a motherboard or install new hardware, but it can become a disaster when the only help you've got is a poorly translated, barely legible photocopied manual loaded with vague definitions and unhelpful diagrams. And all too often, that's the way it is.
Krasne, Alexandra. PC World (2001). Articles>Documentation>Technology
#27971
I Wonder What This Button Does
We've all lost work to file overwrites and other minor disasters. There are remedies--and as Mike West explains, you don't have to have awe-inspiring technical skills to take advantage of them.
West, Mike. List Apart, A (2006). Articles>Project Management>Technology
#14658
IBM ViaVoice, Millenium Edition 
Schulter reviews the performance of IBMís latest speech recognition software.
Schulter, David. Intercom (2000). Articles>Technology>Software>Voice
#14553
Identifying Obstacles for New Writers in Industry
Technical writers can increase their value by having a technical base along with their communication skills. The technical base provides a way to recognize and appreciate d@erent perspectives in an industry collaboration. Misunderstanding or ignorance of differing perspectives can result in serious interpersonal and corporation issues that affect the final product. This presentation describes some of the obstacles encountered by a new technical writer on a software documentation teatn. These obstacles are examined in Iight of technical writing research in an effort to identify possible classroom strategies that might prevent or ease tensions that arise between collaborators with different backgrounds.
Seton, Julie A. STC Proceedings (1995). Presentations>Writing>Technology
#27114
Infoneering: Beauty and the Beast
As someone who has been working as a writer in the high-technology field for better than a dozen years now, I have been watching with interest and enthusiasm the slow convergence of the disciplines of writing, interface design, and engineering. In the design of integrated help systems particularly, the traditional boundaries for developing content, interfaces, and features have blurred—resulting in a collaborative enterprise that I refer to as infoneering.
Sesnovich, Bruce A. Boston Broadside (2001). Articles>Writing>Technology
#29048
Information Technology and Organizational Change 
The profession of technical communication is in transition. While a few might argue that we are in danger of being swallowed up by large, institutional realignments, it seems more likely that the future workplace (as characterized by Senge, among others) will put communication, culture, and collaboration at the center of work. However, in order for the profession to exploit these opportunities, we must understand the impact of integrated information technology (IT) on organizations. I summarize the interaction of corporate culture, leadership/management, human resources, and advanced networking and web-based applications (more commonly called an Intranet) for the successful integration of new IT products into an established and well-defined organization. Background research for this paper was conducted as part of an Army Summer Faculty Research and Engineering grant.
Carlson, Patricia A. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2001). Careers>Business Communication>Technology>Collaboration
#20386
Information Technology and the Emergence of a Worker-Centered Organization
Barbara Mirel's narrative highlights the interplay of profit, power, and personalities in a software engineering project. My response's purpose is to widen the perspective on the story. More specifically, I contend that information technology (IT) enables positive change in today's workplace. Rather than being techno-centric, the re-visions currently being brought about by IT will place the knowledge worker of the 21st century at the center of design and engineering considerations. I support my claim by identifying four trends in organizational management that will afford human factors and usability engineering a better seat at the table in the not too distant future. They are (1) requirements for next-generation IT applications, (2) improved understanding of culture and context in the workplace, (3) recognition of knowledge management and human capital, and (4) fostering strategic leadership beyond resource management.
Carlson, Patricia A. Journal of Computer Documentation (2000). Careers>Workplace>Technology
#30150
Integrating New Technology into Technical Communication Curricula
An increasing number of articles are appearing in communications journals calling for the need for instruction in new technology in the classroom. However, there are several obstacles in integrating new technology, such as Iack of teacher experience, lack of equipment, and adjusting the curriculum. To successfully integrate new technology into the curriculum, technical communication educators need to cooperate with other departments, make themselves available for training, and decide on which courses will integrate which technologies.
Campbell, Jennifer. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Technology
#20536
Interactive Digital Presentations
As we enter the millennium, more and more people are learning how to utilize technology in their presentations. We are no longer limited to a laptop, projector and screen. Digital whiteboards are becoming more widely used in a presentation environment and this course will explain how to utilize this technology.
Presenters University (2002). Articles>Presentations>Technology
#30511
International Considerations in Creating Computer Documentation
In creating computer software manuals, international users have become an important factor in design decisions. This paper discusses several issues and strategies useful in creating documentation with an international audience in mind.
Smart, Karl L. and Robert Bringhurst. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Technology>International
#29282
The exponential growth of the Internet has been phenomenal. Or has it? Perhaps it is only to be expected when the cumulative acts of creation culminate in the proliferation of Mankind's greatest achievement: the ability to communicate... Some 45 years ago the search for knowledge was no less insatiable but the storage, collation, selection and retrieval technologies were rudimentary and the expense enormous by today's standards....
Vincent Zegna. Search and Go (2005). Articles>Internet>Technology
#15147
Internet Technology and Intellectual Property
This article outlines the complex legal environment surrounding the Internet, copyright law, and intellectual property.
Le Vie, Donald S., Jr. Intercom (2000). Articles>Technology>Intellectual Property
#23668
The Issue of Archiving and Obsolescence
We can be almost certain that CDs will be obsolete in about five years. But what should we do about it?
Pinkham, Gordon. MetroVoice (2004). Articles>TC>Technology>Standards
#31794
It's Not the Tool, It's the Writer
This blog post ponders whether or not technical communicators are sometimes too enamoured with the tools, and because of that lose sight of what's best for the reader.
DMN Communications (2008). Articles>TC>Technical Writing>Technology
#26403
Just Kick It: Six Things You Can Do to Make Your Computer Run Faster
Are you frustrated by a computer that slows your productivity? Do you ever get the urge to kick it or throw it out the window? Before you hurt your toe or strain your back, there are a few simple things you can try to tune-up your computer and make it run faster.
Schurtz, Renee. Usability Interface (2005). Articles>Documentation>Technology
#10050
Kairos is a refereed online journal exploring the intersections of rhetoric, technology, and pedagogy. In Kairos, we publish 'webtexts,' which are texts authored specifically for publication on the World Wide Web. These webtexts include scholarly examinations of large-scale issues related to special topics, individual and collaborative reviews of books and media, news and announcements of interest, interactive exchanges about previous Kairos publications, and extended interviews with leading scholars. With Kairos, we seek to push boundaries in academic publishing at the same time we strive to bridge the gap between print and digital publishing cultures. We further seek to bring forward and support the voices of those too often marginalized in the academy, especially graduate students and adjunct and other part-time faculty.
#24946
Keeping Up with New Technologies: Professional Development for the Freelancer
Online documentation... usability testing... multimedia—new tools and processes to support these and other technologies flood the technical communications field. All technical communicators face the challenge of keeping up with these developments. Freelancers, however, face a special challenge: they must be prepared to use any technology and must provide their own training. In this panel, four experienced freelancers discuss proven solutions to the professional development challenge.
Hayhoe, George F., Barbara J. Philbrick, Lynnette R. Porter, and David M. Taylor. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>TC>Technology
#14788
Wallia introduces some of the attractive features of Word 2002 and discusses the relative merits of four best-selling books on how to use the software.
Wallia, C.J.S. Intercom (2002). Articles>Technology>Software>Microsoft Word
#29108
Is there a difference in the dominant leadership style between technical and non-technical superiors? Which leadership style of superiors will give their subordinates more freedom on the job? By using House's Path-Goal Model [1] in a study involving a survey of subordinates of 100 technical and 100 non-technical companies in Singapore, I found that technical superiors tend to adopt a supportive leadership style, while non-technical superiors adopt a more achievement-oriented one. This manifests in significant differences between the two kinds of superiors in the extent of the leader's position power (formal authority), the degree of autonomy subordinates want, and the extent subordinates control their goal achievements.
Poon Teng Fatt, James. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Careers>Management>Technology
#20500
A technical writer...hey aren't those like the guys who wrote the manual for the Quantum Leap Accelerator?
Tipple, Mark. InFrame. Humor>Writing>Technology>Technical Writing
