Communicating Across Cultures by E-mail: Advice for Consultants 
E-mail styles and preferences can vary from country to country, presenting a possible challenge to effective communication. Read on for how to add a personal touch to your messages so that e-mail becomes an asset to your business.
Lash, Becky. Intercom (2007). Articles>Business Communication>Correspondence>Email
Communication in Customer Service

Expounds on the ins and outs of customer service, specifically with regard to effective communication practices.
Wiley, Ann L. Intercom (2008). Articles>Business Communication
Communication in International Virtual Offices 
Advances in communication technologies mean that colleagues from different parts of the world can work together in the same online space. In some cases, that space is an e-mail exchange, text messaging, or a shared corporate intranet site; in other cases, it is an electronic bulletin board or chat room related to a project. These shared online work spaces—or international virtual offices (IVOs)—provide a level of interaction that can reduce production costs and shorten production cycles.
St. Amant, Kirk R. Intercom (2003). Careers>Telecommuting>Collaboration>Workplace
Conflict Styles and Technical Communicators 
More than most people, technical communicators are aware that if communication is not effective, conflicts can arise. Find out more about the Thomas-Kilmann conflict mode instrument (TKI) and how to identify your predominant conflict style.
Glick-Smith, Judith L. Intercom (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Methods
Consulting: Keeping Up in a Down Economy 
Barker explains how consultants can prepare for survival and long-term growth in the technical communication business, even in the midst of an economic downturn.
Barker, Thomas. Intercom (2003). Careers>Consulting
Content Management and the Need for Change in Technical Communication 
Many technical communicators find it difficult to manage all of the corporate content that their organizations create. Learn how CM can work for you by providing value to your organization as well as your customers and shareholders.
Abel, Scott. Intercom (2007). Articles>Content Management>Project Management
Perhaps the most overlooked teaching principle is the one stating that we learn by linking new material to known material. If we cannot connect what we must learn to what we already know, we can hardly anchor it in our mental schemata and thus make it our own, at least durably. Moreover, our motivation for learning would at best be extrinsic (some sort of obligation, perhaps): Why would we want to learn material to which we cannot relate? Even if we could learn the material without context—by memorization, for instance—we could not recognize situations where this unconnected knowledge applies. For all practical purposes, it would be useless.
Codone, Susan K. Intercom (2004). Articles>Education>Instructional Design
Continuing Education: The Key to Your Career 
Janicko offers suggestions for getting the most out of continuing education and argues that continual learning can bolster careers in technical communication.
Janicko, Raymond P. Intercom (2000). Careers>Education>Continuing
Contracting: Flat Fee or Hourly Rates? 
Recommends that technical writers working as independent contractors quote flat fees for projects instead of hourly rates. The article offers tips on preparing portfolios and conducting client interviews.
Frick responds to several common questions of novice independent contractors.
Frick, Elizabeth A. 'Betsy'. Intercom (2001). Careers>Freelance
Coping with Wordslaughter and the "Good Enough" Syndrome 
Connatser provides advice for technical editors who aren't granted enough time or money to perform extensive revisions on poorly written documents.
Connatser, Bradford R. Intercom (2004). Articles>Editing>Technical Editing
Corporate Blogging and the Technical Writer 
Corporate blogging is rapidly becoming another way for companies to communicate with their customers and increase internal communication. Learn about the advantages and future of blogging and how to get started.
Johnson, Tom H. Intercom (2006). Articles>Business Communication>Writing>Blogging
Cost Control for Online Help Localization 
Localizing a large online help system often represents the most expensive part of a localization project. However, when international customers or markets are a product’s lifelines, eliminating the online help translation is not an option, especially when customers have come to expect it. Managers of online help localization are left with a paradoxical mandate: Keep localizing, but quit spending (so much).
Kock, Benjamin C. Intercom (2003). Articles>Documentation>Localization>Language
Describes a college course on content editing--editing that focuses on clarifying content. Emphasizing career opportunity, the course touches on new technologies that have transformed editing, the editor-author relationship, and the editing of user manuals.
Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2000). Articles>Education>Editing
Drake discusses the three objectives of cover letters to work applications.
Drake, Cheryl S. Intercom (2002). Careers>Resumes>Cover Letters
Creating a Layoff Survival Kit 
Details how technical communicators can prepare themselves for the possibility of job loss.
Scanlan, Ann. Intercom (2004). Careers>Unemployment
Creating an SDK: Writing on the Edge 
Sarr presents guidelines for the challenging task of creating a software development kit (SDK). The purpose of SDKs, the author writes, is to 'provide developers with information and coding examples to enable them to develop applications that will work with a newly developed technology.'
Sarr, John T. Intercom (2001). Articles>Documentation>SDK
Creating Documentation that Shows 
Advocates using screen shots, text balloons, arrows, and scannable text to create picture-like documentation.
Eaton, Janet M.F. Intercom (2000). Design>Documentation>Technical Illustration>Screen Captures
Creating Documents in Another Language 
Del Papa discusses some of the challenges faced by technical communicators who are non-native speakers of English and who produce English-language documentation.
Del Papa, Lisa A. Intercom (2002). Articles>Writing>Translation>Localization
Creating Documents with Structural Markup 
Now we come to the point of actually producing documents using structural markup—either eXtensible Markup Language (XML) or Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). Our sequence of topics illustrates the recommended steps to follow when you first implement structural markup: Learn about it and convince yourself and your organization of its benefits, identify your specific goals and expectations, and spend plenty of time selecting or designing your document structures. Only then should you get down to the specifics of how to produce XML or SGML documents. If you simply try to drop in an XML editor to replace your current word processing application, you will be lucky to avoid total disaster.
Tyson, Paul H. Intercom (2004). Articles>Information Design>SGML>XML
Houser provides an overview of XML editors. He discusses in detail three of the most popular content-oriented editors: ArborText Epic, Adobe FrameMaker 7, and SoftQuad XMetaL.
Houser, Alan R. Intercom (2002). Design>Information Design>XML>Adobe FrameMaker
Presents 22 rules for considerate behavior in the workplace.
Smith, Gary M. Intercom (2000). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration
Cultivate Career Skills through Volunteering 
Describes how technical communicators can develop their skills and make themselves more marketable through volunteering.
Swindle-Troell, Elizabeth F. Intercom (2003). Careers>TC>Volunteering
The Culture of China's Internet

With China fast overtaking the United States as the world's largest online market, Rogers provides helpful information on how technical communicators can tailor their Web sites to appeal to Chinese visitors.
Rogers, Kevin. Intercom (2008). Articles>Web Design>Localization>China
Curing Publishing Woes with a Content Management System 
Mescan's article helps technical communication managers determine which content management solutions are best for their particular goals and problems.
Mescan, Suzanne. Intercom (2004). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing
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