The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is an international professional society for the advancement of the theory and practice of technical communication. It has hundreds of local chapters (also known as 'communities.'
#25638
Non-Traditional Roles: Case Studies
This is a collaborative article with a list of case studies of technical communicators who assume new roles beyond the traditional ones like writing and editing. When they do so, they add value to their clients and organizations — as well as making themselves more valuable. This is in connection with the presentation slides from the STC Annual Conference (May 8-11, 2005 in Seattle, WA). The editor hopes these case studies will provide inspiration and encouragement for technical communicators who are looking for ways to add value.
Kunz, Lawrence D. KeyContent.org (2005). Articles>TC>Case Studies
#14938
Nostradamus the Technical Writer
Sue Gallagher, a longtime technical writer, once posed the following riddle: 'How are science fiction writers like technical writers?' The answer, of course, is that both professions write about things we imagine will happen in the future, but that often don't--as anyone who's documented software or hardware for a startup company can confirm. With the new year arriving soon, I find my thoughts turning to a different form of science fiction: Eschatology, the art of predicting the future. It occurs to me that the role of technical writer as prognosticator has a proud history, and one that dates back to the days of Nostradamus the Prophet, one of the most famous eschatologists.
Hart, Geoffrey J.S. TECHWR-L (2003). Articles>TC
#15171
October 15, 2001, through January 15, 2002 
This report covers specifications, standards, and amendments received from October 15, 2001, through January 15, 2002.
Bach, Claudia. Intercom (2002). Articles>History>TC
#20771
What is offshoring? It's shorthand for offshore outsourcing, the practice of hiring employees, usually through an outsourcing service, in another country. Companies seeking to reduce their labor costs use offshoring to employ workers at costs substantially less than at home. Typically, companies headquartered in the United States contract for employees in India, and increasingly in China, Russia, Israel, or Ireland, for example. Why is offshoring in the news? Because staff and contract workers in the United States see their jobs in the high-tech industry disappear as their current or former employers use offshoring to reduce costs.
Sampson, Fred. STC Silicon Valley (2003). Careers>TC>Outsourcing>Offshoring
#20772
Offshoring of Tech Writing: A Roundtable Discussion 
We organized this Roundtable because we thought we could get technical publications managers together to talk about the threat of offshoring and come up with ideas and strategies to protect our jobs. However, we learned that offshoring is inevitable and technical writers need to adapt. The speakers offered possible strategies for adaptation.
Ramos, Andreas and Walt Keefe. National Writers Union (2003). Careers>TC>Outsourcing>Offshoring
#24265
Offshoring: What Does It Mean for Us?
Summarizes a discussion about offshoring held at the Philadelphia Metro chapter's annual conference during which panelists suggested ways that technical communicators based in the United States can make their positions more secure.
Rosenberg, Nad. Intercom (2004). Careers>TC>Outsourcing>Offshoring
#23417
All over the world professional organizations advertise the technical communication profession. My personal impression is this: Many of these activities address students of higher schools (which is basically fine), while others address professionals already working in the field (which only makes sense if the objective is to sell memberships or training). What I have not seen up to now are activities to address young people in the early process of planning their higher education and professional careers. The following thoughts contain some ideas for those trying to make our profession known to young people and to encourage them to consider a career in technical communication.
Schilliger, Reto. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>TC>Professionalism
#10426
This article contributes two arguments to the disciplinary conversation of technical communication with the aim of exploring leadership opportunities our field has in the field of information technology. The arguments assert that 1.) Writing is the core technology in any IT system, and all IT systems attempt to leverage the core strengths of writing to make these systems more valuable. 2.) Technical communicators have a central role to play in IT systems consonant with our core competencies: we attend to the balance of situated as opposed to generalized strategies and the balance of appeals to identity in writing about the practical use of technology, and we are well prepared to attend to these balances in other important arenas of IT discourse. Together, these two arguments are meant to begin or continue conversations—in workplace and academic contexts alike—that bring the issues of IT development and the future of technical communication closely together.
Hart-Davidson, William. Technical Communication Online (2001). Articles>TC>Writing>Technical Writing
#29122
An Online Approach to Teaching International Outsourcing in Technical Communication Classes 
The growth of international online access has given rise to a new production method--international outsourcing--that has important implications for technical communication practices. Successful interactions within international outsourcing require individuals to understand how cultural factors could affect online interactions. Today's technical communication students therefore need to understand how factors of culture and media could affect the success with which they operate in international outsourcing activities. This article provides technical communication instructors with a series of Web-based exercises they can use to familiarize students with different aspects that can affect intercultural online interactions. It also provides a series of online resources students can use to enhance their understanding of cross-cultural communication in cyberspace.
St. Amant, Kirk R. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>TC>Outsourcing>Education
#28767
Online Communities, Member Maps, Virtual Chats, Sparkpeople, Intercom, and More
In this podcast, Heidi and Tom talk about online communities, member maps, virtual chats, Sparkpeople, Intercom, and more.
Johnson, Tom H. and Heidi Hansen. Tech Writer Voices (2007). Articles>TC>Community Building>Online
#31358
Online Teaching Opportunities for Technical Communicators
Supplement your income and provide students with real-world knowledge and experience. Learn what kinds of online teaching opportunities are out there for technical communicators.
Petit, Angela. Intercom (2008). Articles>Education>TC>Online
#28576
Open Access Digital Repositories: An Indian Scenario
Open access digital repositories give barrier-free access to literature for study and research to users worldwide. They solve the pricing and permission crises for scholarly materials. This paper deals with open access digital repositories in India. The results of the study reveal that the repositories contain both published and unpublished documents, like seminar proceedings, conference papers, theses, dissertations, research reports, books, and so on. The results also point out that open access digital repositories in India are mostly subject specific and commonly use open source information repository software like DSpace, Greenstone Digital Library Software, and GNU EPrints. It is observed that generally the open access digital repositories use OAI-PMH (protocol for metadata harvesting), so that they can be accessed using search tools such as Web search engines, whereas a few don't use it but provide direct access to their documents through their websites.
Ahmed, Fayaz and Rafiq Rather. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>TC>Information Design>International
#18270
Operating at the Edge of Technology
This article was originally going to discuss design issues for online documentation and help to be displayed on handheld devices like personal digital assistants (PDAs) and Web-enabled cell phones. The tiny screens and limited or nonexistent storage and processing would make design a challenge. However, by the time I began writing for this special section of Technical communication, the industry had changed so much that the original article was no longer relevant. Instead, I will look at those industry changes to examine the risk of operating at the edge of technology. Note that this article is a not a traditional journal article. Instead, it's a practitioner's commentary based on 4 years of working with handheld devices, giving presentations, and developing multiple WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) programming courses.
Perlin, Neil E. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Technology>TC
#29729
This article, as well as our conference presentation, catalogues a year in the symbiotic relationship between the Orlando Chapter of STC, the University of Central Florida's technical writing program, and the student-run technical communication club, Future Technical Communicators (FTC)--and the ways in which this powerful partnership has helped sustain many of the chapter's varied and successful initiatives that led to its designation as a Chapter of Distinction in 2003. In this article, authors Bonnie Spivey and Dan Voss report on the UCF-STC legacy, the development of the chapter's new mentoring program, their contribution to educational outreach/ fundraising, and the numerous ways in which these institutions are working together.
Spivey, Bonnie and Daniel W. Voss. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Collaboration>Industry and Academy>STC
#10013
The Orange Journal is a graduate student journal of Technical Communication. It strives to foster critical thinking and discussion on a wide variety of topics and issues important to technical communicators.
#29694
The Orlando Chapter/University of Central Florida Partnership: A Win-Win-Win Scenario!
The twenty-year partnership between the Orlando Chapter and the technical writing program at the University of Central Florida (UCF) has reached new heights in the past two years. This paper reviews several highly successful programs that have either grown directly out of the UCF-Orlando Chapter partnership or which have benefited from and been improved by it: (1) an annual scholarship program; (2) student projects that benefit the chapter (or feature the chapter as client); (3) strong student support to the STC AccessAbility SIG; (4) an annual fund-raising initiative; (5) an educational outreach initiative to Central Florida high schools, and (6) a highly successful formal mentoring program pairing students with professionals.
Lippincott, Gail and Jennifer Selix. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Industry and Academy>STC
#24177
Technical communication flows across borders. Talking about 'international technical communication' makes about as much sense as talking about a 'flying airplane.'
Martin, Maurice. Intercom (2004). Articles>TC>International
#20268
Our Changing Environment: Alternative Work Schedules
Alternative work schedules provide a way to allow you to manage your time and effort as well as keep your 'foot-in-the-door' at one place and 'find new heights' at the other.
Ricks, Debra. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>TC
#30836
Technische communicatie omvat de communicatieve acties, middelen en systemen die mensen ondersteunen bij het uitvoeren van taken, vooral - maar niet uitsluitend - in een technische omgeving of als er technische producten in het geding zijn.
#24941
Overcoming Dilemmas in Technical Communication
Experience and common sense are not easily conveyed in textbooks. Discussing the following real-life scenarios provides an opportunity to learn from experienced communicators without risking a job or a deadline. Each presenter will offer one scenario and possible solutions.
Hurst, Robert G., Brenda Jameson, Laurie Modrey, and Emily A. Sopensky. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>TC
#23673
An Overview of the STC Transformation Initiative
because technical information is ever changing, we accept the fact that our work will be continually various, constantly in flux. It's just the nature of the beast. This is the essence of the purpose of the STC national organization's transformation initiative: Keeping up with the changing times.
MetroVoice (2004). Articles>TC>Planning>STC
#10450
An Overview of the Technical Communication Industry
The more you know about the field, the more effectively you can find employment, market your services, develop your skills, develop perspective, and perform meaningful work.
#23560
The Transformation Team consists of STC board members and a number of chapter and SIG leaders. The team was formed in response to concerns heard over the past several years from many of you. Some of these concerns have arisen from changes in the business world, such as globalization and the downturn in the economy.
Teich, Thea. STC Transformation (2004). Articles>TC>Planning>STC
#21226
Panel Discussion: STC-Sponsored Research in Progress
This panel discussion reports on technical communication research in progress that is being sponsored by the STC. The research topics include an assessment of intentional learning techniques applied in an online environment, rhetorical study of the writing of a 19th century woman scientist, and a survey of the teaching of research methods in technical communication graduate programs. The researchers use both quantitative and qualitative research methods.
Sanders, Scott P. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Research>TC
#19094
Technical Communication pedagogies that are informed by theories of Participatory Design offer new challenges and opportunities for both the assessment of student work and group projects, and in the evaluation of programmatic goals.
Moore, Michael R. CPTSC Proceedings (2000). Articles>Education>TC>Participatory Design
