A SIG Transformation: Past, Present, and Future

A recent discussion about the STC's Technical Editing Special Interest Group (TE SIG) provided insights into the evolving role of communities of interest in the Society. At a meeting of the Carolina Chapter's local TE SIG, Diane Feldman, who is the manager of the Society-level SIG, provided members with an update on SIG activities.

Brautman, Heather. Carolina Communique (2005). Articles>TC>Technical Editing>STC

Squiggles

Thomas Mann described the writer as somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people. Nowhere is this truer than for comma use: while most folks float along blithely putting commas in or leaving them out at whim, we agonize over every squiggle. Why? Because we understand that the presence or absence of a comma can change the meaning of a sentence. In our line of work, unclear sentences can have dire consequences for our readers. So we worry.

Wenger, Andrea. Carolina Communique (2005). Articles>Writing>Grammar

Structured Authoring and XML: Part One

Implementing structured authoring with XML allows organizations to create better content. The addition of hierarchy and metadata to content improves reuse and content management. These benefits, however, must be weighed against the time and money required to implement a structured authoring approach. The business case is compelling for larger writing organizations; they will be the first to adopt structured authoring. Over time, improvements in available tools will reduce the cost of implementing structured authoring and make it affordable for smaller organizations.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part Three

Not every content-creation group will benefit from structured authoring and XML. Sometimes, the expense of implementation outweighs the benefits realized, especially in smaller groups with less total page count.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2004). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part Two

In a structured authoring environment, authors create documents by assembling elements and text in an order permitted by the structure definition document. You might think of structured authoring as being similar to template-based authoring with a strict template. Authors do not assign formatting; the formatting is automatically assigned based on the structure of the document. Formatting may differ for different output media.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Summer: A Time to Heat Up Your Career

The arrival of summer means hot weather. What are you doing this summer to help keep your professional skills hot and to nurture your career? Our chapter can help you by offering networking, mentoring, publishing and speaking opportunities, and ways to acquire new skills.

Blackwelder, Meredith. Carolina Communique (2004). Careers>TC

The Synergy between Human Factors and Technical Communication

The human factors specialist and the technical communicator find themselves making similar decisions or weighing similar issues. For example, often it is difficult to decide when to use symbols versus words. Sometimes you cannot shortcut and use pictures because pictures do not convey enough information.

Blackwelder, Meredith. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>TC>Human Computer Interaction

Taking Risks with a New Online Help Tool

Some might not think that converting FrameMaker content into online help and user documentation would involve taking risks. In this article, we tell our story of what risks were involved with one of my recent projects, how we overcame them, and what benefits we reaped by using state-of-the-art technology.

Grissino, Ann-Marie and Rebecca McMurry. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Documentation>Online>RoboHelp

Taking Risks with a New Online Help Tool

Some might not think that converting FrameMaker content into online help and user documentation would involve taking risks. In this article, we tell our story of what risks were involved with one of my recent projects, how we overcame them, and what benefits we reaped by using state-of-the-art technology.

Grissino, Ann-Marie and Rebecca McMurry. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Software>Help>Madcap Flare

The New Word Order: Or, the Awful English Language

Will the global interconnectedness of our conversations freeze the features of our languages in place? If so, farther into the future than anyone can foresee, much of the human race will be stuck with English as we now know it.

Garrison, Ronald W. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>Language>History>Writing

Toil and Trouble: HTML Help and NetHelp

Toil and trouble. That’s what this year’s online help crystal ball predicts. It shows two flavors of HTML-based help and to make matters worse, their names are confusing: HTML help (which is not the same as HTML-based help) and NetHelp. Oh, me nerves. Well, let’s try to calm ourselves and explore these new concepts.

Grissino, Ann-Marie. Carolina Communique (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Too Many Pieces

Do you ever think about how much time you spend tackling process issues and tools issues? The tools, as advanced and automated as they are, will not fix all our problems. But we have to work with what we have, and automate as much of the production and maintenance of our content as possible.

Albing, Bill. Carolina Communique (2006). Resources>Software>Tools>XML

Twenty-Five Years of Technical Communication

What hasn't changed in twenty-five years? There are a couple of things--things that aren't likely to change in the next twenty-five years either. Technical communicators will always have to prove the value of what they do. We'll discover new ways in which to contribute, but the need to prove our value will persist.

Kunz, Lawrence D. Carolina Communique (2004). Articles>TC>History

Usability Testing and Research

The more intuitive a product's interfaces and procedures become, the more usable it becomes. Thus, the less formal documentation it requires. To do our part, we can strive to reduce the number of words a customer needs to read. Focusing on clarity and concision, we can take pride that of the words that remain, every word will count. Working with usability experts, our fellow customer advocates, we can transmute unwieldy products into easily used ones. To me, that's a compelling reason to remain a technical communicator, regardless of why we became one.

Harvey, Michael. Carolina Communique (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing

Web Design for Small Companies: Pretend that You Have a Programmer

Now that the World Wide Web is an established means of business communication and the technology has evolved with it, site designs are looking slicker than ever. You may find that your own website--homegrown or corporate--could use a 'facelift.' But facelifts don't always have to involve the newest technology; sometimes the extra stuff that the techies love actually interferes with good design. Remember the animated Flash intros that so many sites pushed on you upon first visit? It's impressive the first time you see it... and really annoying after a couple of viewings, especially when all you wanted to do was get some information and get out.

Flint, Kim. Carolina Communique (2003). Design>Web Design>Planning

What Fiction Writing Taught Me about Technical Writing

How writing fiction can benefit technical writers.

Wenger, Andrea. Carolina Communique (2008). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing

Why Vote in STC Elections?

Every year, each STC member is given the opportunity to vote twice as a member, once for the next year's Society (international-level) leaders and once for the next year's chapter (local-level) leaders. The Society and its chapters expend much effort and expense each year to recruit candidates and develop and distribute ballots; however, only about 10% of STC's members ever return those ballots. If such a small portion of members participate in elections, why bother holding them? The most fundamental reason is that STC's bylaws and the bylaws of each chapter require a duly elected leadership.

Wing, Liz. Carolina Communique (2000). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC

The Wicked Which and Other Fairytales

Popular culture is filled with myths about grammar. Taught by generations of English teachers, these stories admonish little children to cling to the straight and narrow path, rather than venturing into the woods of creative communication. Some of these stories are usage guidelines rather than rules, but others are pure fantasy, the flight of some pedagogue's imagination.

Wenger, Andrea. Carolina Communique (2005). Articles>Writing>Grammar

Wield the Power of the Written Word

Technical writers can change their professional destiny and the destiny of the organization for which they work by choosing to write or not write a particular document. Too often, technical writers avoid or reject opportunities to influence their working environments positively because they look at their professional role too narrowly.

Uhl, Michael. Carolina Communique (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing

The Wonder of Words

There is much left to be done with words. I think the trend toward more graphical interfaces will continue, but so will the complexity of the technology we develop. So there will always be a need for communication experts to figure out the best wording for the details involved in that technology. Finding the best way to articulate ideas and communicate information for making decisions will continue to be our bread and butter. We will see who has the last word.

Albing, Bill. Carolina Communique (2005). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing

Write Right

When you scan job postings for technical communicators, you'll find prospective employers seeking candidates who have an understanding of current technology, working knowledge of publishing tools, and time management skills. A bullet may ask for 'excellent writing and editing skills,' but that bullet rarely appears at the top of the list. Not for me.

Harvey, Michael. Carolina Communique (2005). Articles>Writing>Grammar

Writers in the Classroom

What does it take to get a newsletter out each month? Well, I spend about 16-20 hours a month on the newsletter at home, which doesn't include copying.

Boykin, Terri. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Writing>Project Management

Writing an Effective Letter to the Editor

There are many reasons to write a letter to the editor of a newspaper. Whatever your motivation, this article helps you to write a letter that gets published.

Clark, Steve. Carolina Communique (2007). Articles>Writing>Correspondence

XML in Brief

XML is the acronym for the extensible markup language. According to the W3C, it is 'the universal format for structured documents and data on the Web'. The following list explains what XML is and what it is not.

Helo, Julia and Betsy Kent. Carolina Communique (1999). Design>Web Design>Standards>XML

The Hidden Cost of DITA

In the past few years, we have implemented both DITA-based and custom XML solutions for our customers. Given the right set of circumstances, DITA provides an excellent foundation for structured content. But I seem to be in significant disagreement with DITA advocates about how often the "right set of circumstances" is present.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2008). Articles>Documentation>XML>DITA