Technical documents provide information that readers need to make decisions or complete tasks. Technical editing ensures that this information is presented in a way that facilitates the reader's understanding. Technical editors offer suggestions for improvement in design of both content and layout and therefore work with the document in both early and late stages.
#27356
In this class, students will learn how to edit technical documents, from proofreading for errors at the surface to ensuring that the document contains appropriate content, organization, and visuals for its audiences. Students will also learn how to use traditional editing marks, editing functions within word processors, and principles of layout and design. Finally, students will learn about the profession of editing and develop pieces to support their careers.
Eaton, Angela. Texas Tech University (2006). Academic>Courses>Technical Editing
#21702
A brief perspective on technical editing.
Rajan, D.V. STC India (2003). Presentations>Editing>Technical Editing
#14568
This course will prepare you for the substantive editing and design of complex documents such as technical manuals, proposals, and research reports. You will study the practice of editing as it applies to invention, arrangement, style, and delivery. You will examine strategies for document management and explore the theoretical justifications for your editing decisions.
Dragga, Sam. Texas Tech University (2001). Academic>Courses>Technical Editing
#14124
Principles and practices of editing technical and scientific documents. Overview of the editing process; defining the editor's rules and responsibilities, revising at structural and sentence levels, and addressing stylistic conventions of technical fields. Application to technical and scientific documents such as reports, proposals, and user manuals. Students will learn to recognize and articulate specific problem areas in technical documents. Students will practice identifying and discussing differences between strong and weak technical documents. Students will revise technical documents at macro- and micro- levels of editing. Students will gain strategies for communicating effective and constructive criticism.
Grossenbacher, Laura. University of Wisconsin. Academic>Courses>Undergraduate>Technical Editing
#14095
Gary Conroy's directory of resources for polishing up drafts and sorting out technical writers.
#15207
Provides tips for new technical editors on how to develop an effective editing process.
McNeill, Angie D. Intercom (2001). Articles>Editing
#13094
Technical Editing and Online Information: Features, Formatting and Friendliness 
Editing online information requires technical editors to modify their editing practices and become more involved in the information-design process.
Porter, Lynnette R. and William O. Coggin. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Editing>Online
#18155
Technical Editing and the Effective Communication of Scientific Results
The communication of scientific results--whether for professional journals, poster sessions, oral presentations, or the popular press--is an essential part of any scientific investigation. The technical editor plays an important role in ensuring that scientists express their results correctly and effectively. Technical editing comprises far more than simple proofreading. The editor's tasks may range from restructuring whole paragraphs and suggesting improved graphical aids to writing abstracts and preparing first drafts of proposals. The technical editor works closely with scientists to present complex ideas to different audiences, including fellow scientists, funding agencies, and the general public. New computer technology has also involved the technical editor not only with on-line editing but also with preparing CD ROMs and World Wide Web pages.
Pieper, Gail W. and Susan M. Picologlou. Argonne National Laboratory (1996). Articles>Scientific Communication>Editing
#14254
Technical Editing as Quality Assurance: Adding Value to Content 
Technical editing is sometimes perceived to be simply a matter of grammar checking and proofreading. Perhaps fast-paced development environments, which often leave little time for editing functions, contribute to this perception—or, more precisely, this misperception. The levels-of-edit systems have helped technical editors manage the editorial functions in these hectic environments by providing a 'framework within which editors can choose appropriate editorial tasks for a particular document'. Recently though, technical editors are focusing even more on content editing, collaborating closely with technical writers on developing high-quality information. Taking this progression one step further, technical editing is beginning to be viewed as a quality assurance activity.
Corbin Nichols, Michelle, Pat Moell and Mike Boyd. Technical Communication Online (2002). Articles>Editing>TC
#20511
These documents are suitable for take-home, graded assignments or in-class workshops. As whole documents created in the 'real world,' they complement the sentence- and paragraph-level editing tasks in the textbook Technical Editing.
Rude, Carolyn D. Allyn and Bacon (1998). Academic>Course Materials>Editing
#22188
Technical Editing: Discussion and Application Materials
Assignments to complement Carolyn Rude's Technical Editing textbook. Instructors can load the materials onto a server or student disks so that the students can respond at the computer.
Rude, Carolyn D. Allyn and Bacon (1998). Academic>Course Materials>Technical Editing
#13835
The Technical Editor and Document Databases: What the Future May Hold
Technical editors ensure a document communicates with the reader. With XML, active server pages, and dynamic document creation, Web pages are no longer simple hand-crafted text objects, but dynamic groupings of text assembled moments before the reader views the page. With dynamic documents, high-level editing tasks will be, at best, vaguely defined during text creation. To maximize the information content, future technical editors require tighter control over information consistency and content.
Albers, Michael J. Technical Communication Quarterly (2000). Articles>Editing>Single Sourcing>Technical Editing
#18276
The Technical Editor as Diplomat: Linguistic Strategies for Balancing Clarity and Politeness
An essential component of technical editors' work is to convey to writers how their documents would benefit from revision. This task is potentially sensitive, given writers' intellectual and emotional investment in the documents they have created. The sensitive nature of the editing process is clear in Rude's (2001) advice to students of technical editing: '[A]void words that suggest inappropriate editorial intervention, especially change ' (p. 43). Rude's advice suggests an awareness of the difficulty inherent in imposing oneself into the creative process of another person. Because of the defensiveness they might encounter in writers, editors must be cognizant of how they carry out their jobï¿the language they use to convey necessary changes to writers' documents. The language editors use can either facilitate good working relationships with writers or degrade those relationships.
Mackiewicz, Jo M. and Kathryn Riley. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Editing>Collaboration
#20751
Technical Editors: Are We Are Own Worst Enemies? Strategies For Working With Authors
The authors explore two studies of cognitive assessments, the Myers Briggs Type Indicator and Boundary Spanning of technical communicators, give readers an opportunity to score themselves, and then they argue that knowing the cognitive differences between technical communicators and the authors they edit can help them improve working relationships with authors. When copyediting, they suggest making suggestions rather than dictates; providing rationale for suggestions; basing suggested changes on style guides, standard references and communication research; and using a levels- of-edit approach.
Zimmerman, Donald E. and Charlotte Taylor. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing
#10041
The newsletter is intended for editors who are, or need to be, working electronically. Much of the material will be relevant to electronic editors in any field. Some of the material will be most relevant to editors in technical fields such as computing and engineering.
Weber, Jean Hollis. Technical Editors Eyrie. Journals>Editing>Regional>Australia
#22791
Technical Translation: Craft, Not Commodity
Describes the work of translators and suggests strategies buyers can use to find the best translator for their needs.
Cardillo, Louis M. Intercom (2004). Articles>Editing>Localization>Technical Writing
#14729
Bush clarifies the role of technical editors in light of the particular purposes of technical documents.
Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2001). Articles>Editing>TC
#31939
Technical Writing's Big Secret
The big secret in technical writing is that most of the harder documents aren't written by the technical writers at all. In fact, many "technical writers" never do any writing at all. Instead, the drafts are written by engineers or marketers. The technical writers perform editorial functions and provide publications services -- copy-editing, layout, review management, and so on.
Plamondon, Robert. High-Tech Technical Writing (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>Technical Editing
#21456
Technikredaktor möchte die Idee weiterverfolgen, Informationen zum Umfeld der technischen Dokumentation zu sammeln und einem breiteren Publikum zur Verfügung zu stellen.
Technikredaktor. (German) Resources>Editing>Technical Editing>Switzerland
#26967
Der Technische Redakteur erstellt und aktualisiert aussagefähige, umsetzbare, verständliche technische Dokumentationen aller Art.
#19569
Technology: A Blessing for Writers and Editors?
Computers have changed the way writers and editors work. But are we getting the most from the new tools?
Bodzin, Gene. Writer's Block (1996). Articles>Writing>Editing>Online
#22688
Ten More Errors in Technical Writing
So, well, here are 10 more errors. This time we will focus on grammar and punctuation. Most of these are simplistic and obvious. But then they are too common. As usual, I have slipped in some content for the advanced writers too. (This article is a follow-up to 'One Hundred Simple Tech Writing Errors .)
Kamath, Gurudutt R. IT People (2003). Articles>Editing>Grammar>Technical Writing
#14283
Probably the most common type of document testing in the workplace is text-based. Text-based testing is common because it’s cheap and easy—with current word processors, running a test is as simple as selecting “Grammar” from the “Tools” menu in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect (6.0 or later). Text-based testing is very efficient at catching spelling errors (although it doesn’t catch homonyms, like accidentally substituting “threw” for “through”) and some grammatical mistakes. However, such testing doesn’t take into account visuals, forecasting, design, or other elements that have a great deal to do with a document’s usability. For this exercise, you will explore the plusses and minuses of text-based testing by working with a small group of classmates to test and revise a short but complex document. You will then compare your improved document to that of other groups and discuss the value of text-based testing.
Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Academic>Course Materials>Editing>Assessment
#30287
The Art Of Editing: User's Guides Versus Technical Documents
While contemplating topic areas for a presentation at this year's conference, our biggest challenge was the fact that not all technical editors edit the same type of documents. Presentations at STC conferences are heavily concentrated toward user documentation and software instructional manuals. With that as our prime focus, we identified six common elements that we both consider as we edit a document. We then compared our methods of approaching these elements. One of us edits primarily user's guides and procedural manuals; the other edits scientific and technical documents.
Cluff, Susan C. and Sandra R. Marks. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Editing>Technical Editing
#14794
Bush describes the differing challenges of editing proposals, manuals, and professional papers.
Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2002). Articles>Editing
