Digital Video Design and Production Tips for Technical Communication  

Technical communicators can expect to see an expanding role of video in product documentation, training, and marketing presentations. This is largely due to three factors: (1) digital video lowers the technology and cost thresholds to bring video to the desktop, (2) video makes sense for conveying information involving movement, and (3) video is a popular consumer medium. To technical communicators, video is a new medium in which visual communication is key. Narration and text are subordinate. Technical videographers must learn and apply video design principles and good production practices to create effective video that communicates the information.

Robbins, David B. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Tutorials>Video

Digital Video in Technical Communication: Panel and Discussion  

Digital does not experience signal loss or degradation...what goes in, comes out.

Robbins, David B., Donald Van Erem and S. Martin 'Marty' Shelton. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Multimedia>Video

Dilbert™ Goes Corporate...or How to Navigate the Thorny Thickets of Corporate America without Selling Your Soul: Featuring Lockheed Martin's Acclaimed 'The Ethics Challenge'  

This unique and lively workshop is based on an ingenious board game developed by the Office of Ethics and Business Conduct for the Lockheed Martin Corporation, under a special copyright agreement with Scott Adams. It uses the famous characters in the cartoon strip, including celebrated ethicist Dogbert™, to inject a spirit of fun into the heavy debate that often swirls around the thorny ethical dilemmas we confront in the workplace. Here, teams of technical communicators will compete to see who can best balance ethical values with business realities and come out with practical, honest solutions. While the vehicle is rather lighthearted, the content is anything but. The case histories are carefully designed to cut to the moral chase. There are no right or wrong answers—only good, better, best, not so good, and Dogbert™. Yes, there's an answer key, but that, too, is controversial. What? No clear answers? Of course not. That's the whole point.

Voss, Daniel W. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Workplace>Ethics

Dirty Battles in the Trench: Is It Wise to Use Real Materials for Editing in a Technical Writing Class?  

The use of real materials in a technical writing class involves both advantages and drawbacks. Use of real materials makes the class relate well to the work environment, improves self-esteem, critical thinking, and student motivation. Drawbacks include the problem of finding materials, a lack of course continuity, a lessening of use of the class text, and legal implications. Overall, the use of real materials for classroom editing is recommended.

Stibravy, John A. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing

Discover Buried Treasure at Your Local STC Chapter Meetings  

You don't have to be an officer to benefit professionally from your local STC chapter meetings. Start attending your local chapter meetings and discover the many forms of buried treasure. These treasures will result in a new perspective of your writing, an increased library of professional resources, professional writers being hired at your workplace, and the chance to view the 'Best of Show' writing. You can reap rewards such as these with a small investment of personal time.

Lunemann, Rhonda S. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC

Discover Buried Treasure at Your Local STC Chapter Meetings  

You don’t have to be an officer to benefit professionally from your local STC chapter meetings. Start attending your local chapter meetings and discover the many forms of buried treasure. These treasures will result in a new perspective to your writing, an increased library of professional resources, professional writers being hired at your workplace, and the chance to view the “Best of Show” writing. You can reap rewards such as these with a small investment of personal time.

Lunemann, Rhonda S. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Community Building>STC

Discovering the Pedagogical Paradigm Shift in Technical Writing  

For my dissertation, I am analyzing technical writing textbooks from the early 1900s to the present to determine whether technical writing pedagogy has undergone or is undergoing a paradigm shift. When I began this study, my hypothesis was that technical writing pedagogy, like composition and rhetoric pedagogy, has shifted from the product orientation to the process orientation. Textbooks that are product oriented emphasize the study of examples or models, and textbooks that are process oriented emphasize the study of the writing process. Now that I have completed my study and am in the process of analyzing the results, my hypothesis is that technical writing pedagogy shifted from a product orientation to a combined product and process orientation.

Jeansonne, Jerold. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>Writing>Technical Writing

A Discussion and Annotated Bibliography of Research on the Use of Style Checkers in the Computer-Assisted Writing Classroom  

Style checkers are software programs designed as writing tools. Despite their popularity in both academic and industrial settings, the effectiveness and advisability of using the technology is still unproven. A main issue is the ability of users to determine whether the program's suggestions are useful and to ignore inappropriate advice. Freshmen composition students, beginning technical writing students, and advanced technical writing students were asked to mark all suggestions made by RightWriter 4.0 as 'useful,' 'wrong,' or 'ignored.' Results show that all students ignored approximately 50% of the suggestions; however, freshman writers perceived a larger percentage of the suggestions that they ignored to be wrong rather than just not useful.

Moosally, Michelle J. and Roland D. Nerd. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Research>Education>Software

The Distance Learning Experience: Developing, Transmitting and Participating in Courses Delivered at a Distance  

Distance education comes in all shapes and sizes. Videotaping led to satellite and videoconferencing. Today, web-based videostreaming is gaining popularity in many areas. Back in 1995, a team from Rensselaer and IBM met to discuss opportunities to deliver leading edge user interface design education via distance delivery methods. Join our panel discussion to hear how this program has progressed, and how Rensselaer’s Professional and Distance Education Program continues to work directly with its customers to deliver leading edge distance education.

Brauneis, David, Kim Scalzo and David Hans. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Education>Online>Videoconferencing

Distance Learning: One Student’s Perspective of an Online Course  

Taking a course online sounds easy and convenient--you can go to class whenever you want from the comfort of your own home. But you have to learn or know the software and tools necessary to navigate in this environment. Also, you give up the traditional classroom, perhaps never seeing your classmates or instructor. Distance learning is here to stay, but online courses may not be for everyone.

Deming, Lynn H. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Online

Distinguishing Characteristics of Medical Writing  

Medical writers and editors need to understand medicine as a discipline, its nature as a science, its humanitarian rather than commercial goal of alleviating pain and suffering, the sensitive nature of some subjects, and the reduced or distorted cognitive abilities of some patients. They need to understand medical terminology, the nature of truth, the scientific method, the primary research paper, numbers, probability, risk, statistical significance, and some specific language issues.

Zoll, Mary. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Distributed or Centralized: How to Maintain Quality When They Keep Reorganizing Your Organization  

Is there a 'best' way to organize technical publications? One central organization? Many small organizations per business unit? Communicators distributed through the development teams? Discuss the pros and cons of organizational structure and its relationship to quality.

Hackos, JoAnn T. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Quality>Technical Writing

Distributed Workgroups Employing Single-Sourcing Techniques Around the Globe  

Single sourcing, which is increasingly used at the technical writer's workplace, has now reached the classroom of Technical Communication programs. This paper examines the impact of working on an XML-based single-sourcing solution on a geographically diverse graduate student team whose partners were all singlesourcing novices. It shows that managing communication within the virtual team is superordinate to managing the publication process. The paper discusses best-practice strategies for transient start-up publication teams, which rely solely on online communication, pointing to the differences between teams in the classroom and in business organizations.

Kaempf, Charlotte. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Diversity in Technical Communication  

Diversity is multifaceted multilayered and addresses human uniqueness in all aspects. Diversity has become legally mandated and politically correct. We bring differences in thinking styles, gender, religion, age, and job function, as well as diversity of many other aspects of being and living to the workplace each day. To remain a viable workforce component in the 21st Century, technical communicators must promote diversity by actively recruiting people of color and integrating diversity issues within the curriculum.

Montgomery, Betty M. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>TC

Diversity in Technical Communication: A Work in Progress  

This paper documents the beginnings of an effort to increase the diversity of technical communicators in the Pacific Northwest. An ad hoc committee of technical communicators came together for this purpose because they believe that greater diversity will help technical communicators better understand and reach audiences from a wide variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds. The committee is using the STC International Student Technical Writing Competition as a tool for introducing technical communication as a career choice to people of color at the high school level.

Cheirrett, Peg A. and Bruce R. Gibbs. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>TC>Ethnic

Do A Presentation At The STC 42nd Annual Conference!  

Both old hands and newcomers can create a plan to do a presentation at the next STC Annual Conference. Simply follow this 5-step process: (1) Understand the call for proposals. (2) Discover possible topics to develop. (3) Identify gifts--something of value--to give your audience in your presentation and in your paper (if you do one). (4) Think of appealing gift wraps to attract your hearers and readers. (5) Prepare a thorough proposal for the Program Committee. This process works best in a workshop where the participants can form a critical mass for creative excitement, help one another generate ideas--and have fun!

Dean, Morris. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>TC>Research>STC

Do a Presentation for the 41st STC Annual Conference!  

Both old hands and newcomers can create a plan to do a presentation at the next STC Annual Conference. Simply follow this 5-step process: (1) Understand the call for papers. (2) Discover possible topics to develop. (3) Identify gifts—something of value—to give your audience in your presentation and in your paper (if you do one). (4) Think of interesting gift wraps to attract your hearers and readers. (5) Prepare a complete proposal for the Program Committee. This process works best in a workshop where the participants can form a critical muss for creative excitement, help one another generate ideas—and have fun!

Dean, Morris. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Presentations>STC

Do Students Really Feel Integrated With Computers?  

This paper reports the results of a survey of senior Business and Engineering majors conducted at the University of Cincinnati. The survey's goal was to examine whether or not students felt integrated with computers yet, since the technological trend is towards a human-computer interface.

Stibravy, John A. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>User Centered Design>Human Computer Interaction

Do the Right Project!  

Offers an approach to achieving 'Quality of Service' that emphasizes the importance of understanding your customer's business problems, soliciting active customer involvement, and employing prototyping techniques to create cost-effective solutions. A new definition of quality has also emerged.

Zwaska, Bob. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Quality

Do Users Use a User Guide?  

Technical writers make distinctions between the types of documents they create: user guides, reference manuals, tutorials. But do users really understand these document types? How do users look for different kinds of information--and how do we, as technical writers, make it clear to them what types of information are available? This paper presents results of usability evaluations of documentation for electronic design automation software, showing how a writing team tried to improve the categorization and presentation of document types.

Heninger, Barbara L. and Michael J. Miller. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design>Genre

Do We Really Speak the Same Language?

At least England and America speak mostly the same language. What happens when we translate foreign languages and add what we think are correct nuances or words? Sometimes even the best intentions can go a bit stale, as witnessed by some of these translation guffaws that prove we're not alone in our confusion or mistakes. Even the big guns can misfire. I've inserted by own comments at the end of each item.

Gleason, Ruthmeri. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Articles>Language>TC

Do-It-Yourself Style Guides for All Occasions  

A style guide is a formal set of editorial decisions for a specific set of documents. It can serve many functions, and can apply to many kinds of 'documents'. Whenever you have a number of similar documents to create or edit, a style guide can save time and energy (thus reducing costs), and improve the final product. The contents and structure of your guide can be form-fitted to meet your needs. If you start small and follow these suggestions, you can easily generate a style guide that will be welcomed and used.

Magyar, Miki D. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Style Guides

Doc, I've Been Looking at Some Web Sites--So What Should I Believe?  

Because anyone, from nationally renowned physicians to your next-door neighbor, can post health information online, readers need to be selective when taking advice from medical web sites. Several non-profit and government agencies have developed guidelines to help readers as they evaluate health and medical information online. Some researchers have also begun to study the ways that readers actually judge the credibility of web sites. Recommendations from heuristic guidelines and recent empirical research have been distilled into a list of guidelines for writers and editors.

Freeman, Krisandra S. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>Education>Biomedical>Online

Document Analysis, Modelling, and Markup  

Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is an ISO standard for document publishing. SGML allows you to port your documentation from one plagorm to another easily. Another benefit is that SGML lets you write the information one time and use it in many places. After planning your SGML implementation, the first step in your implementation is to create a Document Type Definition( DTD). In order to create a DTD, you must complete several steps: identify project parameters, analyze your documents, model your document, convert your model to DTD mark up, and test your DTD.

Dimick, Sharlyn A. and Lori A. Stertzbach. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Information Design>SGML

Document Design: A Brief Primer  

Today's documentation must be designed with information retrieval as its key objective. When information is organized and mapped into a consistent, logical structure that uses retrievability aids such as labels that facilitate scanning, blocks of information, advance organizers for the information, keywords, meaningful indexes, and a hierarchical organization, readers can quickly locate and use the information that they need.

Flanders, Melanie G. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Document Design>User Centered Design