http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/STC A listing of works published by STC in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/STC http://tc.eserver.org/35808.html http://tc.eserver.org/35808.html The Charlotte Regional chapter of STC serves primarily members in and nearby the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. http://tc.eserver.org/35831.html http://tc.eserver.org/35831.html Writers suggest people maintain or improve skills – or develop new skills – in some open-source type project where there is no pay, but plenty of opportunity to learn and, well, practice. This post is for sharing a few of those places of practice. http://tc.eserver.org/35639.html http://tc.eserver.org/35639.html Not all companies understand why it's important for them to have technical editor(s). In fact, many technical editors must justify their existence on a regular basis. http://tc.eserver.org/35427.html http://tc.eserver.org/35427.html Branding encompasses everything you do. If you participate in your STC chapter, for example, how does that promote your brand? If you write for a SIG or chapter newsletter or website, or some similar outlet--or give a presentation to one of those groups--how do these activities promote your brand? http://tc.eserver.org/35429.html http://tc.eserver.org/35429.html The official voice of the Society for Technical Communication and a blog to enable the tech comm community. http://tc.eserver.org/35120.html http://tc.eserver.org/35120.html An organized kit of technical-writing exercises, guidelines, activities, and strategies refined and tested in real high-school classes, with notes and comparisons to help teachers borrow and adapt them. Also used for teacher professional development at the Edward Teller Education Center. http://tc.eserver.org/35121.html http://tc.eserver.org/35121.html The value of learning effective nonfiction nonnarrative writing ("technical writing") for middle- and high-school students has been cited repeatedly in official and unofficial academic standards starting in the early 1990s. http://tc.eserver.org/35082.html http://tc.eserver.org/35082.html Usability is the combination of effectiveness, efficiency, and satisfaction with which the users accomplish defined goals in a given environment. User-centered documentation matches the users' mental model, thereby helping the users find information they want quickly and easily in their hour of need. The list of documentation usability criteria is fairly subjective at this time, and various opinionated discussion groups have contributed to this. Usable documentation is based on a deep understanding of the users' tasks, and this understanding can only be gained through interviewing representative users. Applying information architecture techniques, the content within documentation should be properly chunked so that the users can assimilate the information properly. Procedural guides should have a well-defined and searchable index that enables users to connect key application terms to their correct context. User-friendly documentation is always succinct, but never at the expense of omitting critical/useful information. It should be developed using a structured process so that it starts with the big picture and gradually adds lower level of details, addressing the needs of every unique group of users. Finally, the documentation must be tested among a representative group of users, and their feedback should be incorporated to make sure that it has met all of the major usability criteria. http://tc.eserver.org/35028.html http://tc.eserver.org/35028.html Take the definite article. Please. The editors at SAS continue to struggle with the question of which SAS product names require the definite article and which require the zero article (linguist-speak for no article at all). http://tc.eserver.org/35005.html http://tc.eserver.org/35005.html With the flurry of HTML5 tweets this past month, I felt it was somewhat easier to park some of them in a blog post. Retweeting was adding to the confusion for a non-HTML5 person like me. http://tc.eserver.org/34598.html http://tc.eserver.org/34598.html Over the past two years my team conducted an extensive review of translation process and costs, and we found a lot of ways to reduce translation time and costs. This including exploring use of machine translation. In the end, we found that machine translation created more hassles than it fixed. It was hard to explain to upper management, but the concept that helped most was explaining that translators aren't translating word for word, they're translating thought for thought. http://tc.eserver.org/34599.html http://tc.eserver.org/34599.html When the cost for translation on support documentation for a foreign sold machine continues to go up, what can be done to minimize the cost of this EU mandated requirement? http://tc.eserver.org/34600.html http://tc.eserver.org/34600.html Have you ever wished you could remember everything you've written over the past few years, and reuse it whenever needed? Now that would be a valuable, timesaving tool. In the same vein, it would be worth a great deal if a translator could recall every sentence translated for a client, and recycle it wherever appropriate. Today there are tools that help translators do exactly that. These tools are programs, called translation memory software, which allow translators to store and retrieve text. Using this software saves time and money and contributes to a better translation. http://tc.eserver.org/34601.html http://tc.eserver.org/34601.html The suggestions that follow are culled from 10 years of experimentation and note-taking by a client in the translation game. I have tried to arrange them in logical groupings, but real coherence is difficult to achieve when it involves such a compilation. Although the company I work for has found it advantageous to move away from dependence on translation agencies, complete hands-on management of translation projects is not for the neophyte. Easing into it one language at a time, however, may be attempted after becoming intimately familiar with the basic translation process. http://tc.eserver.org/34602.html http://tc.eserver.org/34602.html When you have materials that need to be translated into a foreign language, how do you decide where to send them? Your basic choice is between an agency that uses only freelance translators or one that has employee translators in-house. Your decision on which to use should depend on the type of final product you are looking for and the subject matter of the material to be translated. This article describes the two types of agencies in more detail, to help you make an informed decision regarding the type of agency that will work best for you. We have tried to maintain an impartial view of both types while making potential clients aware of the industry and its various practices and levels of quality. http://tc.eserver.org/34603.html http://tc.eserver.org/34603.html Just as developing an English document may take months as it crosses the desks of subject matter experts, sales and marketing managers, and editors, so does producing translations. Documents to be translated can go before a translator, editor, subject matter expert, proofreader, in-country reviewer, and client before a final version is ready for distribution. http://tc.eserver.org/34604.html http://tc.eserver.org/34604.html Internationalization is the basis for ease of localization and includes support of international character sets, separation of localizable features such as translatable character strings from the code, and provision for locale-specific features and functions. http://tc.eserver.org/34605.html http://tc.eserver.org/34605.html Don't turn down a project just because part of it requires work in another language. With a little forethought, you'll see that it's not "rocket science" after all, and that it's not so different from testing the original version of the product. In fact, the quality assurance team that works on the original version of the product is the one best suited to testing the localized versions. http://tc.eserver.org/34606.html http://tc.eserver.org/34606.html Through experience, I've discovered that foreign language typesetting can be very challenging--even when using the right software and platform, or having the help of a very experienced foreign typesetter. Through solving the problems encountered in the process, I also developed a new appreciation for simple, "internationalized" designs that are much easier to "localize" than others. Many problems can be avoided if the graphic designer keeps in mind that the document may be later translated into other languages. Sometimes, an attractive and very professional design in English can be a "nightmare" in other languages. http://tc.eserver.org/34607.html http://tc.eserver.org/34607.html Whether one is localizing documentation or translating Web sites into multiple foreign languages, managing updates is a major component of the localization process. Content development often involves constant updates. Therefore a localization methodology must have the infrastructure to manage change seamlessly, efficiently, and accurately. It must also offer complete flexibility to accommodate each project’s unique schedule, requirements and development cycle. http://tc.eserver.org/34588.html http://tc.eserver.org/34588.html Includes articles contributed by STC members, some of whom have worked with translators extensively. Other contributors are affiliated with translation agencies. http://tc.eserver.org/34589.html http://tc.eserver.org/34589.html Whether you are new at the translation business or a veteran of many globalization projects, a benchmarking study of your translation supplier(s) is a worthwhile endeavor. In benchmarking, you compare suppliers against one another based on specific criteria. The suppliers’ performance in the study can reassure you that your current relationship is a good one, or can lead to you a more compatible agency. http://tc.eserver.org/34590.html http://tc.eserver.org/34590.html There is no single factor that will determine your best choice of a translation agency. It should not be based on price alone, because as the old saying goes, “you get what you pay for”. Nor should it be based solely on the company’s size, number of employees, or any similar strictly objective measurement factor. Although such information may be important, and should be considered, it is just part of the total picture you need to adequately evaluate an agency. http://tc.eserver.org/34591.html http://tc.eserver.org/34591.html Your company's overseas personnel are important to its success. It's natural to want their input on translated documents. Including them in a review of the translation before it's published gives them a chance to contribute their knowledge. Understanding the purpose and structure of the review can help you avoid trouble down the road. Here are some details to consider in advance. http://tc.eserver.org/34592.html http://tc.eserver.org/34592.html Translation companies typically embrace innovations in methods for efficiently creating final formatted documents. About a year ago a client asked if we would be interested in testing and evaluating a content management system (CMS) and how it would relate to our translation process. http://tc.eserver.org/34593.html http://tc.eserver.org/34593.html Many methods and measures for evaluating machine translation (MT) systems have been developed over the years. The ISLE project, funded jointly by the European Union and the US National Science Foundation, is continuing the work started in the EU's EAGLES project on systematizing these methods and measures. http://tc.eserver.org/34594.html http://tc.eserver.org/34594.html As the global economy expands, American companies are translating large numbers of documents into multiple languages. As a technical writer, my job is to read documents in German, Italian, Danish, French, Spanish, Greek, and Polish among other languages. I also review documents in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean, but the process is harder and less productive. This article will provide a few practical tips for "proofing" translations of Western documents. http://tc.eserver.org/34595.html http://tc.eserver.org/34595.html If translators had a list of FAQ's, the number one question would undoubtedly be "What can we do to cut the cost of our translations?" There are a number of answers to this question, but the simplest is to reduce the number of words in your documents before translating. Translation is usually priced by the word; therefore the fewer words for translation, the less it costs. http://tc.eserver.org/34596.html http://tc.eserver.org/34596.html As Documentation Manager, I was recently responsible for selecting a subcontracting company to localize one of our applications and its related manuals into three European languages: French, German, and Spanish. Concomitantly, R & D hired quality control testers, with fluency in each of the three languages. http://tc.eserver.org/34553.html http://tc.eserver.org/34553.html A list of hiring opportunities in the Dallas/Fort Worth area of Texas. http://tc.eserver.org/34420.html http://tc.eserver.org/34420.html Online formats can be confusing—consider "WebHelp" vs. "Web Help." This session describes XML, XHTML, HTML Help, WebHelp, DotNet Help, AIR, and others—and how to select the appropriate one. http://tc.eserver.org/34421.html http://tc.eserver.org/34421.html DITA enters a new phase this year with version 1.2. We'll learn about the big new features, such as keyref, and see them used in the latest DITA Open Toolkit. Attendees will know how to make use of new DITA 1.2 features using the DITA Open Toolkit. Attendees will understand key aspects of the new DITA 1.2 standard. http://tc.eserver.org/34422.html http://tc.eserver.org/34422.html How do you mitigate the risk of a major technology change such as DITA? This presentation shares lessons learned in the first DITA pilot project at IBM Internet Security Systems. How to pick the right opportunity for a user assistance pilot project. How to specify appropriate proof-of-concept requirements. How to use a wiki and collaborative walkthroughs to transfer knowledge and set standards. http://tc.eserver.org/34423.html http://tc.eserver.org/34423.html In this session, attendees will learn how to use MadCap Flare to develop multiple documents and/or online help systems from a single project and how to share content across multiple projects. Learn how to create multiple online help systems and/or print documents from the same content. Learn how to reuse content developed in multiple applications. Learn how to reuse content in multiple topics and across multiple projects. http://tc.eserver.org/34424.html http://tc.eserver.org/34424.html Provide a glossary of terms specific to your product and/or industry. Consider other languages' space requirements and writing conventions (e.g., right‐to‐left). Provide context, especially for translating interfaces only. Provide original (Word, Excel, ...) documents rather than PDFs. http://tc.eserver.org/34409.html http://tc.eserver.org/34409.html The STC Chicago is an active local community, with frequent meetings and a collection of online articles and resources. http://tc.eserver.org/34410.html http://tc.eserver.org/34410.html A collection on links to online resources of use to technical communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/34411.html http://tc.eserver.org/34411.html None of the technologies mentioned so far support the production of content for purposes of producing technical documentation. Such a system is a specific type of content management that has specialized functions for technical communicators doing multi-channel publishing, yet it hasn't spun off its own specific acronym. http://tc.eserver.org/34337.html http://tc.eserver.org/34337.html Given how hard it is for students (and their programs) to afford the expensive tools in our profession, I thought it might help to pass along these alternatives to commercial products. I think anyone breaking into the field (or a new type of tool) would do very well to train up on these open source tools and create portfolio pieces with them. http://tc.eserver.org/34338.html http://tc.eserver.org/34338.html Lost your technical communicator job? Wondering what to do? Wondering where to go? Here are some key actions to take when you find out you don't have a job to return to the next day. http://tc.eserver.org/34282.html http://tc.eserver.org/34282.html The current economic downturn seems to have impacted almost every industry within the United States and many abroad. It has already had a direct impact on the employment status of an increasing number of individuals, including technical communicators. STC will assist with an economic recovery plan for those technical communicators who have already been laid off or expect to be soon. These only work for Internet Explorer users on Microsoft Windows computers. http://tc.eserver.org/34166.html http://tc.eserver.org/34166.html STC has meant a lot to my professional growth over the past 20+ years as a teacher and practitioner of technical communication, and I want to help STC expand its educational mission for all technical communicators. It is time our profession had a defined body of knowledge. Why? http://tc.eserver.org/33917.html http://tc.eserver.org/33917.html It is not often I’m contacted by a student to respond to an informational interview, so it was a pleasure when I was contacted early last week by a student in Eugene, Oregon USA to see if I would respond to his by email, and some great questions he had too. With the student’s permission, I’m posting the interview here in the event his questions reflect those of other students, whether in France or anywhere else. http://tc.eserver.org/33918.html http://tc.eserver.org/33918.html The France Chapter Job Bank has been providing a link between employers and technical communication professionals since 1992. The success of the Job Bank is made possible by employers submitting job announcements whenever they’re available. http://tc.eserver.org/33919.html http://tc.eserver.org/33919.html The STC France Chapter has conducted several salary surveys among its members and non-members living and working in France. The most recent STC France salary survey was conducted in 2006. While these surveys cannot be considered statistically representative of the technical communication job market in France, they may be useful in exploring the value of experience, responsibilities, and skills and their influence on pay scales across the industry. http://tc.eserver.org/33211.html http://tc.eserver.org/33211.html A community of hundreds of technical and professional writers, editors and illustrators from around Cleveland, Akron-Canton, Youngstown and Ashtabula who exchange ideas and feelings about their careers. http://tc.eserver.org/32993.html http://tc.eserver.org/32993.html User Centered-Design (UCD) is a philosophy and a process. It is a philosophy that places the person (as opposed to the 'thing') at the center; it is a process that focuses on cognitive factors (such as perception, memory, learning, problem-solving, etc.) as they come into play during peoples' interactions with things. UCD seeks to answer questions about users and their tasks and goals, then use the findings to drive development and design. http://tc.eserver.org/32808.html http://tc.eserver.org/32808.html A collection of links to technical communication resources online, maintained by the STC Eastern Ontario community. http://tc.eserver.org/32683.html http://tc.eserver.org/32683.html If you know API writing, there is greater demand for your skills, that is, there are more jobs to which you can apply. At the same time, there is a shortage of API writers. API writers tend to work more closely with development, instead of through product management or product definition or through specs. You are closer to those who design the product, privy to design decisions -- closer to the action. http://tc.eserver.org/32684.html http://tc.eserver.org/32684.html Indexing for environmental, safety, and health texts, you provide sure, quick access to critical information in times of need. http://tc.eserver.org/32685.html http://tc.eserver.org/32685.html Clearly, our path to certification has been neither fast nor steady. We've spent decades starting from first principles, and trying to construct the argument that we want to be certified. We put effort into trying to decide how to administer certification exams, which was never a good make-vs-buy decision. Our attempts to define a body of knowledge splintered into groups that were unique to certain industries, media, or tools, such as medical writers, Web designers, and FrameMaker experts. Certification was--and still is--an emotionally charged issue; people have felt their livelihoods were threatened. http://tc.eserver.org/32686.html http://tc.eserver.org/32686.html Conversation is a theme that flows through all the work we do as technical communicators. Every use of your web site is a conversation started by a busy site visitor. http://tc.eserver.org/32666.html http://tc.eserver.org/32666.html A directory of publications, tools, and organizations that can help you become a better technical communicator. This section is ever growing, with new Resources being added by Indiana Chapter members and by this site’s visitors all the time. Anyone can add a resource they think might be valuable to the Indiana technical communication community. http://tc.eserver.org/32667.html http://tc.eserver.org/32667.html Gives the Indiana technical communication community access to relevant, valuable career opportunities of interest to local technical communicators, and from all over North America. http://tc.eserver.org/32668.html http://tc.eserver.org/32668.html There is a lot of uncertainty swirling around these days about the economy. That’s why we are being bombarded with the 'sky is falling' message wherever we turn. But how much of this is reality and how much is hype? http://tc.eserver.org/32669.html http://tc.eserver.org/32669.html The Indiana Chapter of STC represents professional technical communicators in the state of Indiana. Our chapter meetings are held each month in Indianapolis, the state capital. Indiana STC also has a satellite group that meets each month in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. http://tc.eserver.org/32538.html http://tc.eserver.org/32538.html Telecommuting benefits companies: it lowers costs and saves space –no rental of your office space; it lowers absenteeism –You don’t have to take time off as much as the next worker; it increases productivity – fewer distractions. http://tc.eserver.org/32539.html http://tc.eserver.org/32539.html Stay flexible. Maintain vendor relationships. Avoid proprietary lock-ins. Maintain ratio of writers/engineers. Stay focused on deliverables. Shift job descriptions and work responsibilities. http://tc.eserver.org/32540.html http://tc.eserver.org/32540.html When initiating or expanding the role of user-centered design (UCD) in an organization, consider documenting UCD best practices as they fit within existing processes and the best practice of other areas. Such documentation communicates the role and value of UCD throughout the organization in terms familiar to your organization. Because what best practices means varies from company to company, there is no single way to do this. Here are some questions to consider. http://tc.eserver.org/32541.html http://tc.eserver.org/32541.html What do team members need? Purpose and goals defined. Roles defined. Best practice processes developed and shared early within the team development. Cross-functional relationships and collaboration fostered. Culture supporting structure and processes. Reward systems updated to reflect virtual structure. http://tc.eserver.org/32542.html http://tc.eserver.org/32542.html This session is designed to provide you with an overview of Thomas Gilbert's Behavioral Engineering Model (BEM) and alternatives to his model, and a review of Hersey and Chevalier's PROBE Model to assist you to identify elements that support and impact behavior within your organization. http://tc.eserver.org/32543.html http://tc.eserver.org/32543.html Most major producers of e-learning are not doing substantial usability testing. In fact, we don’t seem to even have a way to talk about usability in the context of e-learning. http://tc.eserver.org/32544.html http://tc.eserver.org/32544.html A PowerPoint of a presentation about podcasting, and the things to consider when planning to produce an audio podcast. http://tc.eserver.org/32545.html http://tc.eserver.org/32545.html Four technological or organizational barriers interfere with change, each leading to an implementation step. To overcome resistance to change, harness the energy of existing processes rather than trying to fight them. http://tc.eserver.org/32546.html http://tc.eserver.org/32546.html Mary wants to compare the average registration times between the two versions to see if the second version is faster than the first. The method typically used when comparing averages is called a t-test of independent means. http://tc.eserver.org/32547.html http://tc.eserver.org/32547.html Establish a company-wide team of writers and editors to process comments on the style guide. If applicable, aim for a geographically diverse group that represents all of your company's documentation groups. http://tc.eserver.org/32386.html http://tc.eserver.org/32386.html A draft site map to attempt to represent the field(s) of technical communication within a hierarchical tree diagram. http://tc.eserver.org/32376.html http://tc.eserver.org/32376.html Designing online Help for PDAs is a marked shift from designing for personal computers because the reduced memory capacity and display-unit size (a VGA screen of 300x240 pixels) of PDAs mandate Help formats optimized in ways not necessary with larger machines. Current Help files on PDAs are simple HTML files, but this format might prove inadequate for the complex Help files needed for more elaborate software applications. Thus it is necessary to explore strategies for online Help that work within the limitations of small-screen devices. http://tc.eserver.org/32177.html http://tc.eserver.org/32177.html This presentation will provide techniques technical communicators can use to sell themselves to prospective employers who don't understand what technical communicators can do for them. http://tc.eserver.org/32160.html http://tc.eserver.org/32160.html Drawing on data drawn from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Occupational Employment Statistics (OES), the Salary Database provides more reliable data collected at a much finer level of detail than was possible with STC’s old survey. http://tc.eserver.org/32132.html http://tc.eserver.org/32132.html For those of you who have decided to venture out on your own: congratulations. Now that the celebrations are over, it’s back to reality. Although you have crawled out from under the thumb of a boss, you’ve also given up that comfortable bi-weekly paycheck to become an independent contractor. Having taken this big step a few years ago, I offer a few words of advice on how to keep the clutches of the tax man from grabbing too much of your earnings. I’ll give it to you straight: no weasel words here. http://tc.eserver.org/32119.html http://tc.eserver.org/32119.html This is a list of jobs currently available in the San Antonio region, provided by the STC Alamo Chapter. http://tc.eserver.org/32124.html http://tc.eserver.org/32124.html Herding Chickens: Innovative Techniques for Project Management is a different take on managing people and projects. Although the authors do pay homage to The Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), published by the Project Management Institute, you will not in any way confuse their ideas and tips with the approach you find in the PMBOK. http://tc.eserver.org/32125.html http://tc.eserver.org/32125.html Since you pay taxes in the United States, keep in mind that STC dues are tax deductible. Please note, however, that dues must be deducted from the tax return filed for the year in which they were paid. In other words, dues paid in 2005 may be deducted only from 2005 tax returns. Therefore, if you paid your 2006 dues on or before December 31, 2005, these dues can be deducted only from your 2005 return. http://tc.eserver.org/32126.html http://tc.eserver.org/32126.html Like the pronouns I, he, she, we, and they, the pronoun who is used as the subject of a verb. http://tc.eserver.org/32127.html http://tc.eserver.org/32127.html Members often ask what advantages they receive for their membership dollars. The answer is so obvious we sometimes fail to see it. With apologies to the kind souls at MasterCard, a few thoughts on the value of your STC membership. http://tc.eserver.org/32128.html http://tc.eserver.org/32128.html Here are a few of my favorite Web sites (a baker’s dozen). What are some of your favorites? http://tc.eserver.org/32040.html http://tc.eserver.org/32040.html The STC web-based knowledge portal will make accessible both broad and deep information about the practice of technical communication. It is intended to be the first step in defining a body of knowledge (BOK) for technical communication. The draft site map displayed at the 2008 Summit as “the wall” is a way of organizing the domains of knowledge, skills, and concepts necessary for the practice. The final version of the map will be the initial framework for the knowledge portal. http://tc.eserver.org/31982.html http://tc.eserver.org/31982.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/31981.html http://tc.eserver.org/31981.html This bibliography was compiled through January 2004 by Don Lenk. Entries reviewed in STC publications, or about which someone provided a personal observation, are annotated. http://tc.eserver.org/31570.html http://tc.eserver.org/31570.html Who wrote the installation manual for your car stereo? Who created the brochure to market your cell phone? Who designed the help menu on your favorite word processor? Highly skilled professionals called "technical communicators" produce all of these items. What does a career in technical communication have to offer? Here are some things you can count on. http://tc.eserver.org/31207.html http://tc.eserver.org/31207.html The Body of Knowledge effort is currently being led by a team of experienced industry and academic STC members. This spring, you will be invited to look at the initial outline of a hierarchy of domains, skills, and knowledge levels. This BoK is yours to develop; the start-up team is simply trying to put together a straw site to start the collaborative effort. http://tc.eserver.org/31003.html http://tc.eserver.org/31003.html QuikScan is a set of summarizing and highlighting techniques that enable readers to quickly find information in documents. The foremost goal of the QuikScan Project is to improve the quality of business meetings by supporting attendees who must deliberate over documents they may not have carefully read. We envision QuikScan as a new career path for professional editors. http://tc.eserver.org/30644.html http://tc.eserver.org/30644.html Our STC chapter draws members from throughout the center of the Commonwealth of Virginia; from the upper and middle Shenandoah Valley to the Blue Ridge to the Piedmont to Tidewater. Our members are employees and independent contractors or consultants. http://tc.eserver.org/30645.html http://tc.eserver.org/30645.html A collection of links about technical communication resources available online. http://tc.eserver.org/30609.html http://tc.eserver.org/30609.html Virtual reality and game technology can be used in the technical communication classrooms and the workplace as well as the laboratory. Because our communication into the 21st century will take many "technical" forms, the technology, creativity, degree of interaction, and multimedia designs of virtual reality simulations should become part of our communication technology in the 1990s. Although hypertext, hypermedia, computer-aided design (CAD), and multimedia, multisensory training applications are becoming more common in the workplace, the concept of virtual reality has seldom been translated into practical applications that require business and technical communicators to have special skills. As well, advances in holographic information create exciting new educational designs for the future. http://tc.eserver.org/30610.html http://tc.eserver.org/30610.html The success of any technical document depends on the reliability of information presented in the document. A database can provide an informal mechanism for exchanging information about product development and support, The database system should have a user interface that is easy to use and does not require too many operations. Factors that must be addressed in the design, testing, and implementation of the database include the type of information, ownership, system maintenance, access control, and system development tools. Writers, who have special expertise in information gathering, can take the initiative and build support for the project. http://tc.eserver.org/30611.html http://tc.eserver.org/30611.html The very best of today’s public relations photography devises visual statements by carefully blending composition and lighting. Dramatic use of color has emerged as a strong graphic element over the past decade. Today’s inexpensive scanners and related image manipulation software provide new capabilities to manipulate B/W and color photos. http://tc.eserver.org/30612.html http://tc.eserver.org/30612.html The purpose of this workshop is to introduce attendees to Total Quality Management (TQM) techniques and practices. TQM offers common-sense guidance in the quest for quality. Using the example of an out-of-control technical review cycle, the workshop shows attendees how to better manage the technical review process, resulting in accurate, high-quality documents. http://tc.eserver.org/30613.html http://tc.eserver.org/30613.html Standard UNIX commands can be combined into scripts. Such scripts permit the automation of tasks that otherwise may take many hours of manual work. The paper shows how scripts can solve such problems as putting messages online and indexing texts. http://tc.eserver.org/30614.html http://tc.eserver.org/30614.html Effective visual design enhances the overall success of a manual as much as, if not more than, the other factors that go into its makeup. The presentation shows how we redesigned a 2-volume manual into a 6-volume manual and otherwise maximized the visual impact of the manual. The many examples of improved visual presentations show how important effective visual design is to the overall impact of the manual. While we also changed stylistic and organizational elements of the manual, we found the impact of the changes in the visual elements most powerful. http://tc.eserver.org/30615.html http://tc.eserver.org/30615.html Organizations can do many things to vitalize their people. The Information Development organization at the IBM Corporation in Cary, NC, uses a closed-loop process in which we evaluate employee satisfaction, identify problems, and attempt to correct the problems (then reevaluate and so on). Your organization too can use this process to improve your employees' participation, involvement in your quality program, and morale. http://tc.eserver.org/30616.html http://tc.eserver.org/30616.html Controversies characterize the study of artificial intelligence and expert systems. The varying opinions range from differences in defining these terms to arguments about their actual effectiveness when applied to practical problems. Technical communicators need to understand the different views on artificial intelligence, the types of expert systems currently available, and what the future impact of expert systems will be on technical communication in general, As a type of artificial intelligence, expert computer systems provide a technological solution to the problem of communicating specialized information and knowledge within business, technological, and scientific organizations. The computer can not only be a place to store large bodies of information, but it can also be programmed to interact with users as they attempt to apply this stored knowledge to specific problem-solving situations. http://tc.eserver.org/30617.html http://tc.eserver.org/30617.html I'm a firefighter. A user representative. A lobbyist for the little guys. A sort of expert on a fistful of word processing packages, desktop publishers, and graphics software. I can fix printers when they jam. Or hang for no apparent reason. I can change toner cartridges. I can spell words that people can't seem to find in the dictionary. I can rewrite sentences that don't make any sense so that they make more sense. When it comes right down to it, I'm the person people call to solve all sorts of problems. And I do Windows. Who am I? I'm a technical communicator. http://tc.eserver.org/30618.html http://tc.eserver.org/30618.html Computer manuals are produced by documentation engineering or some methodology. The organization, contents, and sequence of a manual developed in this way are usually universal. However, figures included in a computer manual tend to be all-inclusive, namely very comprehensive or complicated. It is probably due to the cultural preference, or one characteristic of the Japanese way of communication. The inductive thinking method may have caused the habit of presenting all related information on just one page at the time of information transmission. http://tc.eserver.org/30619.html http://tc.eserver.org/30619.html Wise computer users may not read documentation because they do not have time to read all the material that is shipped with software products and because the useful lifetime of documentation is so short. This proposition is supported by statistics for a sample of manuals for typical commercial software. http://tc.eserver.org/30620.html http://tc.eserver.org/30620.html How can writers enhance their visual literacy in order to create effective online documentation? By partnering multimedia production expertise with technical writing expertise, DVS Communications and Bell-Northern Research (BNR) have co-developed an introductory course 'Words into Pictures' that stimulates visual thinking capabilities. This paper describes the main components of the course and illustrates its contribution to the success of BNR's online information system CADHELP. http://tc.eserver.org/30621.html http://tc.eserver.org/30621.html As companies become more internationally orientated, joint projects among groups in different countries are becoming more common. These projects offer unique opportunities, including learning about another culture and the chance to travel. They also present obstacles, including difficulties in communication. Time differences allow a small window for phone calls. Periodic face-to-face meetings are essential, since they build under- standing and tolerance that carry over into communication by phone or electronic mail. Cultural and national differences in business practice further complicate the picture. It is important to work out all procedures, standards, and objectives in writing for the project to succeed. http://tc.eserver.org/30622.html http://tc.eserver.org/30622.html Faced with growing demand from customers for specific courses, addressing only their needs, in very short time-frames, we had to re-examine the way we worked. Patching together one-shot customized coursework was labor-intensive for a non-homogeneous and unsatisfactory result. Each new customer request required repetition of the same amount of effort. With reduced turnaround time and dwindling human resources, a solution had to be found. http://tc.eserver.org/30623.html http://tc.eserver.org/30623.html It's a classic chicken-and-egg struggle. Many information developers wait for management go-ahead before conducting usability studies. Management, on the otherhand, is sometimes reluctant to support usability work. http://tc.eserver.org/30624.html http://tc.eserver.org/30624.html After completing a short checklist to identify their career stage, participants break into groups with individuals in the same career stage. Participants then have the opportunity to examine multiple perspectives, share concerns, identify issues, obtain peer feedback and identify short- and long-term goals associated with their career stage. An understanding of one's current career state is the starting point for managing a career. Through self-assessment, peer interaction, and guided discussion, this interactive session will allow participants a chance to reflect on their career directions. http://tc.eserver.org/30589.html http://tc.eserver.org/30589.html SIGs exist to serve specialized needs within the greater organization. Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Professional Interest Committees (PICs) are a tool by which the local chapters can serve a diverse range of special interests, boosting chapter membership. The Lone Star Chapter (Dallas/Fort Worth) began hosting SIG meetings three years ago. Currently, with four active SIGs, we are hosting an additional 100 to 200 members per month. This is how we built our SIGs to promote membership in STC. In the spring of 1990, a group of disgruntled contractors began to meet formally to discuss dissatisfaction with insurance plans for independents available through the society. We had been meeting informally for many years, to discuss the job market, rates available, and generally to gossip. We call it networking. personal contact or the sudden ice storm we had that night attendance was down significantly. From that point, we have kept a mailing list updated from our sign-in sheets, and sent postcard reminders about each meeting. http://tc.eserver.org/30590.html http://tc.eserver.org/30590.html This presentation describes the present-day workplace for technical communicators at the United States Department of Energy's Hanford Site. Factors that are significantly affecting the Hanford Site workplace are identified, with emphasis on the effects of these factors on the workplace activities of Hanford Site technical communication professionals. http://tc.eserver.org/30591.html http://tc.eserver.org/30591.html It is important for us to gain knowledge about our audiences before we start developing our information packages. It is equally important for us to get feedback after we have produced our information so that we know how well it was received by our audiences. http://tc.eserver.org/30592.html http://tc.eserver.org/30592.html Listen to and talk with past and present STC chapter presidents about the positive side of lessons learned in running a chapter. Each panelist will initially address a specific issue that he or she faced as chapter president. Issues vary but will include tips on getting volunteers, learning more about your chapter members, and maybe most importantly, reaping the benefits and joys of chapter leadership. Join this informal discussion and take some new, exciting ideas back to your home chapter. http://tc.eserver.org/30593.html http://tc.eserver.org/30593.html The Mentoring Concept is a plan for training new writers quickly in a complex environment. A mentoring team uses checklists to plan for the training of new writers. The role of each member of the mentoring team is clearly defined. The key to the success of the mentoring relationship is the effective communication of responsibilities, requirements, and progress. http://tc.eserver.org/30594.html http://tc.eserver.org/30594.html Increasingly, technical communicators are being asked by their companies to participate in marketing efforts. While most of us have long considered user's manuals and other documentation an important ingredient in maintaining customer loyalty, we have accepted that generally our primary function is to instruct people on the use or repair of products. Our job is to make complex information understandable; if in doing so we also make friends of customers and prospective customers, then we are pleasantly surprised. http://tc.eserver.org/30595.html http://tc.eserver.org/30595.html There is a perception that off-the-shelf automated conversion software will accurately transfer documents from one system to another. In the author's experience pre-packaged software does not work well on any significant, large project. Large documentation libraries are developed over time by a variety of people to meet wide-ranging needs. The documentation set is never as structured as one would hope, and the costs of do-it-yourself solutions are underestimated. http://tc.eserver.org/30596.html http://tc.eserver.org/30596.html Writers of technical information need to be aware of their rhetorical stance and think of themselves as narrators, as people telling other people about something or how to do something or what they propose to do. Too often writers of technical information write in passive voice and third-person narrative perspective, disguising or blurring their involvement in the activities they describe and often blurring and dulling the information as well. Writing in active voice and, when appropriate, the first person, enlivens information, removing it from the realm of the stuffy and stale. http://tc.eserver.org/30597.html http://tc.eserver.org/30597.html Double agents on writing teams provide benefits to both product developers and technical writers with their unique skills and perspectives. You'll be more likely to get the information you need when you need it because your double agent has already set the stage for success. Learn the benefits of having a double agent working with technical writers as a part of the product development team. Discover valuable secrets never before divulged to the public that you can use to work with your product developers. Take out your magnifying glass and look for the clues. http://tc.eserver.org/30583.html http://tc.eserver.org/30583.html Structured document processors (SDPS) enable companies to make document production more efficient and accurate, while improving reliability of documents that must be updated frequently or written to very strict format standards. Achieving these goals requires elaborate and highly technical customization of the SDP. This paper emphasizes the importance of collaboration in customizing SDPS to particular document development processes. Three case histories illustrate the spectrum of ways industry is using SDPS for writing, showing three different approaches to customizing SDPS. http://tc.eserver.org/30584.html http://tc.eserver.org/30584.html The inner sanctum of any good piece of writing is a solid, logical core. To produce the logical core, a writer frequently has to synthesize complex information, which means understanding it well enough to transform often muddled and random detail to clear and easy to apprehend expression. Synthesis of new information, being one of the most difficult thinking skills, can require more of a writer than the writer has time for. An editor's job, from the first draft to the last, is to help build the writing around an appropriate logical core. In this workshop, participants will practice techniques that editors can use to make sure that they find, or help the writer find, the core - what users need to know, and the order in which they need to know it. Participants will form groups to scan a document, using a checklist of tips to spot problems in the document's structure. Each group will report its findings to the larger group. http://tc.eserver.org/30585.html http://tc.eserver.org/30585.html This workshop teaches technical communicators what to include in internal documentation, how to interview and work with technical people, and basics of how to 'read' and evaluate code. http://tc.eserver.org/30586.html http://tc.eserver.org/30586.html With its enormous storage capacity, cost-effectiveness, and convenience, the CD-ROM is quickly becoming a significant research and business tool. To retrieve data from the CD-ROM, users access a search program that helps them select a subset of data from the entire database. Because the selection includes a series of complex tasks that most users are unfamiliar with, user interfaces must be task-oriented as well as intuitive and interactive. Even with a variety of interfaces, users wanted more paper documentation. When users have little experience or familiarity with the concepts and the tasks, written documentation is a better information source than computer-based information. http://tc.eserver.org/30587.html http://tc.eserver.org/30587.html Most companies want to be recognized for producing usable products, for the quality of products must be high if they are to be accepted into today's competitive market. However, usability planning relies on interaction with other departments and their members. In other words, the most successful way to ensure product usability is to set up a test team consisting of representatives from various departments. This paper details the members of that test team and discusses their overall responsibilities in the testing process. http://tc.eserver.org/30588.html http://tc.eserver.org/30588.html A video camera is an excellent tool for preparing technical illustrations and procedures. A video tape of a procedure provides chronological information. It provides visual images that can be used as the basis for technical illustrations. Visual images and details are recorded permenantly so that they are not forgotten. The research information can be passed on to another author. A case study illustrates how a video tape can be used to document a procedure and produce electronic illustrations. http://tc.eserver.org/30600.html http://tc.eserver.org/30600.html During this workshop, To Be or Not To Be, the workshop presenters demonstrate how getting rid of the verb 'to be' increases accuracy, clarity and effectiveness in verbal communication. E-Prime originated in the field of general semantics; it consists of the English language, but excludes all forms of the verb 'to be.' Practitioners in the field of general semantics have developed a number of techniques that promote clear understanding of communication in the world around us. The workshop presenters strive to create an environment for participants to learn the philosophical background and practical application of the English language subset known as E-Prime. http://tc.eserver.org/30601.html http://tc.eserver.org/30601.html The techniques of film language areas important to video and multimedia presentations as the techniques of written language are to technical documentation. Film language consists of such components as shot content, frame composition, camera movement, color (or shade), lighting, and film transitions. Film transitions are the way in which shots and sequences are connected and carry specific semantic weight for the viewer. However for many technical video-makers, the meanings of film transitions are overlooked in favor of flashy presentations or are abused to cover a problem. In developing videos for training or informational purposes, we should respect and understand the significance of film transitions and other aspects of film language. http://tc.eserver.org/30602.html http://tc.eserver.org/30602.html Different types of usability tests can be performed at different phases in the product development cycle for different reasons. Writers can plan and implement a usability test and then incorporate recommendations into their documentation, thereby improving its usability. You can improve the usability of your documentation by performing one or more types of usability tests, no matter the size of the product or the time frame involved. http://tc.eserver.org/30598.html http://tc.eserver.org/30598.html Technical writing may be seen as a marginal activity without clear economic benefit to an organization. Yet writing and editing can be tied to an organization's bottom line. Writers can use training and other interventions to demonstrate their own effectiveness. Such interventions can raise the efficiency with which their organizations produce documents and improve the quality of the documents themselves. Customer-oriented organizations will be most receptive to these interventions, but even unreceptive organizations can change their practices. Successful interventions require working with others and will mean added responsibilities for the writer. http://tc.eserver.org/30599.html http://tc.eserver.org/30599.html Writers of marketing materials seem to be stepchildren at best in the family of technical communication. Yet one cannot engage in writing effective marketing materials about technical products or services without being a technical communicator. And the more "typical" technical writer--such as an author of documentation--will perform better when she understand-s the marketing component of her work. We will serve the marketing communicator and his technical writer counterpart well by breaking down the barrier that seems to exist between the disciplines. http://tc.eserver.org/30573.html http://tc.eserver.org/30573.html The design team for a major new product approached our publications group about ideas on developing an online manual and/or online help. Together, we developed a task-oriented, easy-to-use online help system, and continue to work together to evaluate it. Where do we best put the buttons that access the help for various subsystems? http://tc.eserver.org/30558.html http://tc.eserver.org/30558.html The world of technical communication continues to search for a reliable information metric that is easy to apply and widely accepted. Although that goal eludes us for the moment, we can make a choice among competing metrics based on an understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, and appropriateness for different audiences. Two kinds of metrics, ordinal scale metrics and surface feature metrics, seem to meet many of our needs. The differences between them lie in their choice of measurements and the methods of applying the measurements. http://tc.eserver.org/30559.html http://tc.eserver.org/30559.html ISO 9000 are quality assurance standards that allow companies to do business in Europe and ensure customers that quality processes are in place. As writers, we are very involved in quality standards-both in assisting our companies in recording their quality policies, procedures and instructions and in making sure our own departments follow quality procedures. We can do this through needs analyses, documentation plans, documentation design standards, status reports, usability reviews, editing by someone other than the writer, and usability testing. http://tc.eserver.org/30560.html http://tc.eserver.org/30560.html ISO is a quality system that all companies interested in global competition must subscribe to. ISO certification includes hidden benefits for the technical writing area, which will improve the day-to-day operation of that area. Not only will these benefits help technical writing management in project and contingency planning, they will also help in performance appraisals. Most importantly, the final result is an overall definition of technical writing's role in the company. http://tc.eserver.org/30561.html http://tc.eserver.org/30561.html With more emphasis being placed on customer satisfaction, technical writers need to focus on information strategies that will lead to happier customers. The complexity of the information is one common complaint of customers. Writers need to understand what customers think is complex. Then, writers need to develop strategies to combat these complexities. http://tc.eserver.org/30562.html http://tc.eserver.org/30562.html This paper shows how you can improve the way your business receives, handles, updates, and views technical documentation. You will learn about softcopy books that can be viewed online, how they are created, and the advantages of having your documentation in Softcopy. http://tc.eserver.org/30563.html http://tc.eserver.org/30563.html It's always interesting looking back at the evolution of a profession. By reviewing the past, you can gain new and important insight for the future. how to plan for multinational considerations, from document translation to user interfaces.