Education: Issues within the STC Academic Community  

STC supports students through scholarships, the honor fraternities, and recognition of student chapter achievements. STC members provide a network for information and contacts for employment. The academic community can strengthen its ties to STC by encouraging students to apply for the awards and recognitions and to take advantage of the network of professionals.

Smith, Elizabeth Overman 'Betsy'. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Education>Community Building>STC

The Effect of Changes in Publishing Technologies on Labor and Documentation

Online publishing technologies is an ever-changing, morphing animal that cannot necessarily be predicted, but perhaps we can work to harness it. As publishing technologies change, so too will the style in which the readability of those documents change as they are shaped and designed to meet new formulas and needs. Likewise, as the readability and accessibility of documents change, so too must the interaction and intervention of the technical communicator change to ensure readable, articulate, navigable documentation, as well as preserve an author-reader relationship and also to preserve the role of the technical communicator.

Comstock, Jeanie. Orange Journal, The (2004). Articles>TC>Publishing>History

Effective Scannable Resumes

The Career Center: Writing a Resume Effective Scannable Resumes section contains information that can be helpful when you are preparing to write a resume. It discusses how many companies are using OCR scanning to pick keywords out of a resume and enter them into a database. This section can help you write your resume so it will allow for effective scanning.

Burnett, Rebecca E. Thomson (2001). Careers>Resumes>TC

Eight Issues to Consider When Developing Metrics for Your Technical Communication Group

Wondering how you can assess the effectiveness and productivity of your work? Admittedly, it’s not easy and there are no simple approaches. But it can be done. As you develop a program, consider these issues, which arose from a review of literature on the metrics used to assess the productivity and effectiveness of software engineering, training, marketing communications, and technical communication.

Carliner, Saul. STC Quality SIG (2003). Articles>TC>Quality>Assessment

Electronic Editing in Technical Communication: A Survey of Practices and Attitudes    

Presents results of a sample survey on why, how, and to what extent technical communicators use computers to edit. Suggests that electronic editing is becoming a common editing mode.

Dayton, David. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Editing>TC

Electronic Mentoring Benefits for Practicing Communicators  

Electronic mentoring establishes relationships that might not otherwise exist. You have the opportunity to participate in professional community service, remain current on communication issues, and develop a future employment pool.

Stertzbach, Lori A. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Mentoring>TC

Emerging Technologies: Observations of a SIG Manager  

Charles, the manager of STC's Emerging Technologies special interest group, predicts that refinement and consolidation of existing technologies will be a major trend in the technical communication industry in 2004. 'With products becoming increasingly sophisticated and complicated,' Charles writes, 'the demand for supporting documentation will grow.'

Charles, Dan. Intercom (2004). Careers>TC

Employment Abroad: The View from Holland  

On the basis of my experience moving from the Boston, Massachusetts, area to the Netherlands three years ago, I’d definitely encourage you to consider employment here, or any other place that truly beckons you.

Peltz, Donna. Intercom (2003). Careers>TC>Regional>Netherlands

Employment Trends for 2003  

Carliner predicts that 2003 will again be a difficult year for employment in technical communication, but also identifies possibilities for increased employment of technical communicators in several industries.

Carliner, Saul. Intercom (2003). Careers>TC

The Engineer As Document Designer: The New World Order  

The traditional technical publications world in engineering companies has been turned upside down with the advent of personal computers on every engineer’s desk. Engineers are now their own “tech pubs” and rarely call on technical writers and editors for assistance. This new environment is described and it’s implications for both engineers and technical publications personnel are explored. Engineering writing at the University of California at Santa Barbara is described and suggestions are made for a similar education—albeit less formal—for technical writers and editors.

Marsh, C. Hugh. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Engineering

English 5371 Reading List

These were the texts for English 5371, Fall 2000. Other readings came from our coursepack and are noted in the reading schedule below.

Baake, Ken. Texas Tech University (2000). Resources>Bibliographies>TC

Enhancing Our Image: Creating Good Public Relations  

Effective chapter public relations results in an increase in membership, more interested and active members, and an awareness of technical communication as a valid and an important profession. This workshop teaches general public relation skills, such as how to write effective press releases, how to get your chapter events treated as news, and how to create and then maintain a press list.

Braz, Lisa M., Susan L. Fowler, Alan Korwin, and Nancy Martin. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>TC>Marketing>Press Releases

EPD 397: Technical Communication

Communication for engineering, science, and technology; theory and practice in planning, preparing, and critiquing reports, proposals, instructions, and business correspondence; research strategies, collaborative work; oral presentations.

University of Wisconsin (2005). Academic>Courses>TC>Wisconsin

Errors and Omissions Insurance: Assuming the Risk of Professional Liability  

Like most other business owners, technical communicators may, from time to time, have legal exposure for their actions and mistakes. Errors and omissions insurance is one way to manage the risks the associated with operating a business and while it may not be the best solution for everyone, it's worth considering whether the benefits of this of insurance coverage outweighs the costs.

Juillet, Christopher. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>TC>Legal

Errors and Omissions Insurance: Assuming the Risk of Professional Liability  

Discusses the costs and benefits of errors and omissions insurance, a type of coverage normally obtained by independent technical communicators and consultants.

Juillet, Christopher. Intercom (2004). Careers>TC>Consulting

Escritura Cientifico Tecnica  

El objetivo de una comunicación técnica no divulgativa es transmitir ideas, información o descubrimientos de carácter técnico o científico dentro de un entorno homogéneo (interacción entre miembros de una misma comunidad, por ejemplo, la comunidad académica de profesores y alumnos). Incluye elementos tales como: Preguntas o dudas sobre una materia concreta a una autoridad competente. Por ejemplo: un mensaje de correo electrónico enviado a un profesor para consultar una duda sobre la organización del laboratorio o sobre una práctica; Informes sobre el análisis, diseño, implementación o pruebas de un determinado sistema o de un módulo de un sistema. Dentro de este apartado podemos incluir la memoria final de la práctica de laboratorios como el LSED o el LCEL; Informes sobre mediciones de laboratorio incluyendo su discusión. Forman parte de la memoria de LSED o LCEL.

Martinez, Juan Manuel Montero. Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (2001). (Spanish) Books>Scientific Communication>TC

Essential Works on Technical Communication    

Presents an annotated list of 115 essential works on technical communication compiled from a list of over 600 titles from a wide variety of print, Internet, and professional sources. Constitutes what might be called 'essential literacy' in technical communication.

Alred, Gerald J. Technical Communication Online (2003). Resources>Bibliographies>TC

Establishing Yourself in a Writerless World  

Establishing a presence in a department that hasn’t had the benefit of technical writers can pose many challenges. As a writer newly assigned to such a department, I worked closely with my manager to develop the technical writer’s role, presented the role to key staff and teams, and created initial procedures to support writers within the department. By performing these tasks and thinking creatively about handling projects with a limited amount of writers, we’ve been able to work constructively with teams in our department and produce effective documentation.

Caliendo, Corin J. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>TC

Ethical and Intercultural Challenges for Technical Communicators and Managers in a Shrinking Global Marketplace    

In today's shrinking global marketplace, many technical communicators face challenges related to intercultural communication. This article examines ethical issues in intercultural communication, beginning with a brief survey of classical ethical models, then focusing on the guidelines for ethical communication developed by Allen and Voss to provide a framework for discussion. Of Allen and Voss's 10 values for ethical communication, we focus on privacy, legality, teamwork, social responsibility, and cultural sensitivity. We offer specific suggestions for avoiding stereotyping, tokenism, and ethnocentrism in technical documentation, including before-and-after examples. We examine the risks involved in using graphics and icons and in attempting to translate idiomatic usages. The article concludes with guidelines for technical communicators preparing documentation for international audiences and with suggestions for managers who wish to give their employees guidance regarding ethical and effective intercultural communication.

Voss, Daniel W. and Madelyn Flammia. Technical Communication Online (2007). Careers>TC>Outsourcing>Offshoring

The Ethical Plight of the International Technical Communicator: A Search for Universals and Hypernorms  

Postmodernism is the recommended posture for technical writers working in international contexts. But should professional writers, adapting to local cultures, automatically adjust their most firmly held communication principles? O, are there technical or ethical criteria higher than the obligation to adapt.

Weiss, Edmond H. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Cultural Theory

Ethics and Technical Communication: The Past Quarter Century    

Ethics as a topic in technical communication has grown in interest in the past quarter century as the field itself has matured. We now understand technical communication as involved in communicating not only technical information but also values, ethics, and tacit assumptions represented in goals. It also is involved in accommodating the values and ethics of its many audiences. This understanding is linked to an awareness of the social nature of all discourse and the root interconnectedness of rhetoric and ethics. This article presents an introduction and annotated bibliography of articles from technical writing and communication journals over this period, arranged in categories of professional, academic, and systematic approaches. Ethics is broadly conceived to include not only particular theories but also systems of values and principles.

Dombrowski, Paul M. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2000). Articles>TC>Ethics>History

Ethics du Jour: A Model for Ethical Decision Making in Technical Communication  

The purpose of this presentation is to introduce general guidelines or rules that technical communicators can use to deal with their specific ethical situations.

Slaughter, George. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>TC>Ethics