Review: AcosHelp: Context Sensitive Online Help with PDF Files    

PRC AcosHelp is the World's first 'single source' Windows online help system that allows you to use Adobe Acrobat PDF files for context sensitive online help. AcosHelp is very useful for Document Management systems, where the documents are stored as PDF-files.

Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Reviews>Software>Help

Applying Common Sense to Technical Writing    

How can budding writers achieve a middle path in their approach to documentation? This no-model approach is an attempt at busting the myth that only a model-based approach works.

Chitkara, Promila. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>TC>Writing>Technical Writing

Automated Current Awareness Service Using RSS Web Feed    

Web feed is an automated web content syndication and surfing technique. It is a new eXtensible Markup Language (XML)-based mechanism that influences and enhances library functions and services. This paper briefly discusses web feed creation using RDF (Resource Description Framework) Site Summary (RSS) format, content syndication, and client software used to track and read the web feed contents. It also describes how libraries can use this technique to offer different Current Awareness Services (CAS)/Information Services libraries' to its subscribers.

Bhushan, Indu and P. Rajendiran. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Information Design>Standards>RSS

Automation Techniques in Documentation    

Data, which is readily available at the click of a mouse, is the buzzword in today’s world of rapid technological advancements. Looking at it for the first time, it may seem that the easy availability of data leaves no room for automation techniques, but as a matter of fact the process of documentation is clearly witnessing a sharp inclination towards automation. Though these automation techniques are already in place, it would take some time before they could be accepted by the masses.

Wadhwa, Vikas. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Documentation>EPSS

Review: The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation    

If you are still struggling to decode the complex jargon and structure of English grammar with a long list of reference books, relax. The long wait for a reader-friendly book on English grammar is over. With her straightforward and perfectly-logical approach, Jane Straus reveals the mysteries of grammar and punctuations in her book The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. The book is extremely well-organized, allowing readers to quickly locate the required topics. Concepts are described in clear and simple phrases, backed with examples from everyday language usage.

Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Reviews>Style Guides>Grammar

Review: Bridging the Gap between Cultural Studies Theory and the World of the Working Practitioner  

Cultural studies is an academic field that focuses on understanding the unchallenged assumptions that constrain and shape communication and related interactions among people. Although the field has made considerable progress in the last half-century, many practitioners have either never encountered the field, or have encountered it only through extremist advocates who do the field a great disservice. As a result, they have lost the ability to benefit from the insights provided by cultural studies. In this paper, I review the recent book Critical Power Tools to provide an update on the current thinking in the field, and to demonstrate how the modern form of the field has much to teach technical communications practitioners who are willing to listen to what the theoreticians have to say.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Reviews>TC>Cultural Theory

Review: Bridging the Gap between Cultural Studies Theory and the World of the Working Practitioner    

Cultural studies is an academic field that focuses on understanding the unchallenged assumptions that constrain and shape communication and related interactions among people. Although the field has made considerable progress in the last half-century, many practitioners have either never encountered the field, or have encountered it only through extremist advocates who do the field a great disservice. As a result, they have lost the ability to benefit from the insights provided by cultural studies. In this paper, I review the recent book Critical Power Tools to provide an update on the current thinking in the field, and to demonstrate how the modern form of the field has much to teach technical communications practitioners who are willing to listen to what the theoreticians have to say.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Reviews>Cultural Theory

Review: Coherence, Continuity, and Cohesion: Theoretical Foundations for Document Design by Kim Sydow Campbell    

A review of Kim Sydow Campbell's book Coherence, Continuity, and Cohesion: Theoretical Foundations for Document Design.

Kirloskar, Mukta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Reviews>Document Design

Commonwealth Fellowship on Education and Technology: A Program Supporting Sustainable Professional Development in the Open Access Era    

Commonwealth Scholarship Commission encourages mid-career professionals to update their knowledge in sectors regarded as making an important contribution to the development of Commonwealth countries. The programs are very intensive and challenging, and demand very hard work to complete successfully the varieties of activities within the time limit. This paper describes the program and activities of a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship (CPF) in the United Kingdom in education and technology and its contribution towards sustainable professional development undertaken between 1 November and 31 January 2006.

Ghosh, Maitrayee. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Education>Regional>United Kingdom

Communication Through Imagery    

The field of technical communication focuses on the ability of the author to gather information, interpret it, and then present the necessary items to the reader in a clear and concise manner. This article serves to briefly outline several of the key factors involved when deciding how to include imagery in technical materials.

Higgins, Phillip. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>TC>Graphic Design>Technical Illustration

Contribution of the Indian Medical Service to the Documentation of Materia Medica, Medicinal Plants and Medical Topography of India, 1750-1925    

India's medical tradition and knowledge base can be traced back to the Vedas (c.5000 BC), especially the Atharvaveda. The works of Charaka and Sushruta (c.2000 years ago) are well known. Parts of this ancient knowledge have been passed down generations by word of mouth and through the gurukula system. However, documentation about the incidence of diseases, the state of health of the people, medical practices and health care delivery in India during the period prior to the 18th century is meager, the sources being mainly the notes, memoirs and travelogues of visiting travelers. During the colonial period (c.1615-1930) western medical practices took roots in the country. The colonial powers recognizing that 'knowledge is power', commissioned surveys and studies about the terrain, fauna, flora, climate, environment, customs, and indigenous health practices, etc. in different parts of India. Officers of the Indian Medical Service (IMS) wrote over 1400 books, reports, tracts and papers covering a wide range of medical and health topics. Such sources together with the tacit knowledge of the officers involved contributed to the 'colonial knowledge base'. This paper discusses briefly this knowledge base and lists the writings of the IMS officers in the fields of (1) materia medica, (2) botanical studies including Indian medicinal plants, and (3) medical topography of India.

Neelameghan, Arashanipalai. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Biomedical>India

Developing and Assessing Oral Communication Competence

The importance of oral presentations in professional environments related to Computer Science is unquestionable. Therefore, oral and writing skills are included in the set of competences to be developed by students through the application of recent academic initiatives for Computer Science degrees in an international context. This article describes activities performed at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid aimed at the development of presentation skills in students. This initiative is based on the application of learning activities in combination with the delivery of different presentations that the students themselves evaluate. Results show a significant competence improvement and very satisfactory acceptance results from the students.

Garcia, Angel, Fernando Paniagua, Juan Miguel Gomez and Ricardo Colomo. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Education>Presentations>Assessment

Digital Libraries: Still a Long Way to Go    

Apart from implementing the right technology, libraries need a clear understanding of changing user requirements, the capabilities and limitations of emerging technologies, and the changing nature of scholarly communication.

Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Information Design>Databases

E-Communities, Community Knowledge, and Knowledge Management    

Collaboration and cooperation - real and virtual - among people with commonality of interests and practices have given rise to e-communities and web-based communities. This paper examines some intra- and inter-community communications and exchanges, other than scholarly and business communications, and the impact of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in this context. With particular reference to rural and marginalized communities, it considers positive aspects of ICT applications, such as acceleration of empowerment, creation of a more level playing field, facilitation of expression of and greater visibility to their needs and 'dreams', and utilization of the tacit 'community knowledge' for the greater welfare of society. It presents a few illustrative cases. It suggests that Knowledge Management (KM) ideas usually applied to enterprises can be extended to cover e-communities taking into consideration some additional parameters or dimensions.

Neelameghan, Arashanipalai. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Knowledge Management>Community Building

E-Journal Subscription Consortia    

The advent of e-publishing has brought a revolution in journal publication, subscription, access, and delivery. Print journals' publishing costs include high article processing costs, and high production and marketing costs. E-journal production and access costs are increasing due to the rising cost of infrastructure, customer support, IT savvy human resources, etc. While these costs form the base, other pricing factors include the number of nodes, multiple campuses, an access mode, training, perpetual access, etc. Dwindling library budgets and the growing number of journals force libraries to form consortia for accessing e-journals. The old concept of 'consortium' is a strategic alliance of institutions having common interests.

B.A., Rajeev and Jayaprakash S. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Publishing>Collaboration

The Emotive Value of Professional Communication and Use of Emotional Intelligence in Mangement

Now there is a growing body of science in the field of Emotional Intelligence (EI), indicating that the proper understanding and use of emotions can help us to be more effective professionals and better communicators for the overall development of a learning organization. This paper provides an overview of this topic and includes commentary from EI experts Daniel Goleman, Peter Salovey, and others to prove how one can effectively manipulate EI. This paper also highlights the components of EI and how they can be used to help employees create more productive working relationships inside and outside their organization. Through an analysis of various models of EI competencies available, this paper argues how they can be combined with other knowledge and technical capabilities to increase one’s overall effectiveness on the job.

Kumar Panda, Prasanta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Business Communication>Management>Emotions

Empathize with the Writer    

It is my firm belief that every technical writer is passionate about her work and would put in her best efforts to deliver high quality. If you are a manager or an editor and are shaking your head in disagreement, think again. Why would someone want to submit a work of poor quality?

Lawrence, Prema. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Writing>Project Management>Technical Writing

EMPI Digital Library National Convention - 2007

Established in 2005, KnowGenesis Online Library for Technical Communication (www.knowgenesis.org/tc) is India's first online repository dedicated to accelerate knowledge sharing and promote self-learning in the field of technical communication. The library is available free of cost and require one time free registration to access the available material. The popularity and success rate of the library can be determined by the fact that within a year of its launch, it not only attracted more than 24000 visitors and gained more than 1500 subscribers, but also increased the volume of the hosted content from few documents to more than 2000 important documents, presentations, tutorials and links. KnowGenesis library presents a unique case for repository designers to study the complex design and implementation process that contributed to the stability and overall success rate of the online library. This paper not only shares the designing and implementation challenges faced by the knowgenesis team, but also presents the approach used to match the user requirements with the library design. Based on the lessons learned during the process, the paper also presents specific set of guidelines and recommends methodologies that can provide critical assistance for developing and managing medium and large scale repositories

Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Presentations>Information Design>Knowledge Management>Technical Writing

Review: English for the Energy Industries: Oil, Gas, and Petrochemicals

Not only people preparing to work in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries, but also students of industrial chemistry and chemical engineering can immensely benefit from the material provided in this coursebook and supplementary CDs.

Kumar Panda, Prasanta. International Journal for Technical Communication (2008). Articles>Reviews>Business Communication>Engineering

Fluctuations in Document Accessibility: A Case Study of Five Search Engines    

This paper presents an empirical investigation of the stability of five search engines, namely Altavista, Google, Hotbot, Scirus and Bioweb, carried out over two different time periods with different search queries selected from 'LC List of Subject Headings' with a closer examination of the URLs and their contents. The three different fluctuations identified, one of them being significant, show that Hotbot is prone to result fluctuations while Scirus is inclined to indexing fluctuations, and Bioweb is the most stable.

Shafi, S.M. and Rafiq Ahmad Rather. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Web Design>Search

From Individualism to Holism: Paradigm Shift on the Indian Technical Writing Scene    

We are witnessing a paradigm shift towards establishing ourselves as a dynamic, progressive society, which knows its place and responsibilities within the international arena. While growing independently, we are not only paving the path for the creation of a new social order in which fresh and diverse values coexist, but are also constantly in the process of developing a harmonious relationship with each other through collaboration, rising above vested interests and conflicts.

Kudesia, Saurabh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>TC>Editorials>India

Growth of Science and Technology Journals in India    

This paper estimates the growth of Science and Technology (S&T) journals in post-independence India.

Shafi, Muzamil. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Publishing>Scientific Communication>Collaboration

The Impact of Web-Based Learning Supplements on Engineering Students in India: A Study with Audio-visual Aids    

The incorporation of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in the teaching-learning process of technical education programs in Indian universities is a relatively recent and gradual phenomenon. Most technical education colleges in the country still follow the traditional classroom and blackboard oriented teaching approach. This study, conducted on a group of engineering students at Agra, India, evaluated the impact of using web-based audio-visual study aids alongside (and as a supplement to) the traditional classroom teaching methodology and observed a substantial improvement in the students' academic performance.

Sinha, Madhulika. International Journal for Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Education>Engineering>Online

Imparting Values to the Peer Review Process    

Writing is popularly believed to be a spontaneous exercise. Often it is, but one cannot sustain oneself as a writer of merit, as a writer whose works will live on, without quality. Quality control--who could disagree with that? Whatever we write needs to be freed from both paper and its production costs, but not from peer review, whose 'invisible hand' is what maintains its quality. Peer review is educative, informative, enlightening. Peer review invests you with the confidence that eggs you on to keep writing. Peer review offers you the credibility you seek in the writing market, from editors, publishers, agents and readers. Peer review lends respect to your writing, and with time, to your by-line.

Aiyyangar, Ramesh. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Publishing>Online

Indexing with Open Source Tools    

The index can often be the most heavily used 'chapter' in any publication and helping the user find an answer is the key to fulfilling the technical document's mission, justifying the effort and expense for its creation. Yet, indexing facilities in open source packages for document creation remains largely unexplored, offering a marvelous opportunity to do it right! This article provides a generic specification (with reasons) to open source developers for creating useful indexing facilities in packages such as OpenOffice and Scribus. It also informs writers about what to look for and what to ask for in any indexing tool. Finally, the article demonstrates the need for software developers to work closely with practitioners and users.

Brown, Fred. International Journal for Technical Communication (2006). Articles>Indexing>Software>Open Source