http://tc.eserver.org/publisher/STC_Proceedings A listing of works published by STC Proceedings 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_Proceedings 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/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/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/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/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/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. http://tc.eserver.org/30564.html http://tc.eserver.org/30564.html If we've been asked by a peer to review his or her work before it is sent out to be scrutinized by the world, our job is to neither edit nor rewrite the information. Our job is to give helpful, specific feedback about where the information communicates well and where it needs work. The more we understand about how to review a peer's work effectively, and how doing this is different from editing, the better feedback we can provide. http://tc.eserver.org/30565.html http://tc.eserver.org/30565.html The need for timely and relevant computer documentation is a constant challenge. Sometimes there is a need to redesign such documentation to make it more useful. Rhetorical analysis is a useful aid for technical communicators in redesigning such documentation. Using Kenneth Burke’s notion of terministic screens, a quick reference aid for the users of a machine-aided translation system is examined from the perspective of graphic communication. Although rhetorical analysis cannot replace accepted principles of good design, it allows the technical communicator to examine design decisions from another perspective, giving one a very different set of questions to consider and some principles of explanation to justify design decisions. http://tc.eserver.org/30566.html http://tc.eserver.org/30566.html To run a successful STC Employment Information Committee, you need methods for matching job seekers and employers. You need to obtain information on the qualifications of job seekers, find available jobs, and inform employers and job seekers. You also need to advertise your job bank. The job bank for the Lone Star Chapter provides examples of the methods. http://tc.eserver.org/30567.html http://tc.eserver.org/30567.html SAPhelp is a proprietary authoring tool for documenting and translating on-line. It allows development, documentation, and translation to function concurrently. Its documentation structure lessens the need for redundant storage of texts. It provides version and authorization control and assigns work to authors and translators. http://tc.eserver.org/30568.html http://tc.eserver.org/30568.html If you are interested in scientific communications in any way, come meet others who write about science, discuss forming a Professional Interest Committee in Scientific Communications, contribute to a wish list, brainstorm options, accept part of the challenge, lend your support, or watch the process. http://tc.eserver.org/30569.html http://tc.eserver.org/30569.html In this all-day seminar we'll expand the knowledge we garnered in the basic seminar on script design for the information film and video or on our experience. We'll explore advanced concepts in the grammar of film and video and learn new filmic design techniques. Throughout the seminar we'll view and critique a number of films and videos to see how other producers have applied such filmic techniques to solving specific communication problems. http://tc.eserver.org/30570.html http://tc.eserver.org/30570.html To succeed in the next decade, technical communicators need to become more financially precise and need to increase their procedural impact. The ability to influence preparation procedures and awareness of financial issues are especially criticaI during preparation of new business proposals. This workshop focuses on techniques and tasks that increase a technical communicator’s ability to contribute to successful proposal preparation while reducing preparation costs. The techniques presented in this workshop have been successful in both commercial and government proposals. http://tc.eserver.org/30571.html http://tc.eserver.org/30571.html Producing online documentation requires a new view of a technical communicator's roles, skills, and responsibilities. http://tc.eserver.org/30572.html http://tc.eserver.org/30572.html Institutions of higher education often hire technical and business communicators on a part-time basis to teach professional and technical writing courses. This workshop prepares practitioners for teaching positions by offering practice planning syllabi for courses, developing and critiquing writing assignments, examining student writing and criticizing its strengths and weaknesses, testing and discussing strategies for handling the paper flow and effective time management, and consulting with two experienced professors who are also researchers in the field. Participants will work in small groups to examine real papers, real syllabi, and real problems. http://tc.eserver.org/30574.html http://tc.eserver.org/30574.html 'Know your user!' is the first thing every aspiring technical communicator learns. Everyone agrees that understanding the technical skills and needs of your audience is essential to producing high quality technical documentation. However, knowing exactly who your audience is and what they need from documentation is no longer an easy task. The increase in international markets, multiculturalism in America, end the number of people using software products for the first time all mean that the audience you knew so well a short time ago may not be the same audience using your documentation today. As technical communicators, we can no longer assume that our users' language and technical skills remain stable over a long period of time. How to assess and meet the needs of a changing audience is a challenge many technical communicators face today. http://tc.eserver.org/30575.html http://tc.eserver.org/30575.html This study examined changes in STC's overall and international membership between 1979 and 1991. Though the USA and Canada consistently comprised about 97% of the membership, significant changes occurred within the international membership. The Pacific Rim Countries experienced the greatest growth, with their membership increasing about twenty fold over the twelve year period, as compared to a five times increase in the overall international membership, and a three times increase in the entire membership. The disparity of the growth rates resulted in Japan replacing Israel as the residence for most international members, with Australia in second place. http://tc.eserver.org/30576.html http://tc.eserver.org/30576.html For technical communicators, storyboarding is a path to collaboration with team members and users. Collaboration and storyboarding help technical communicators get new ideas, find new structures, and discover new modes of expression. In this workshop, you will learn about storyboards and how to develop them. You will also participate in exercises on conducting and collaborating on a storyboard review and on writing a storyboard specification. You will discover how collaboration helps create the context, organization, and design of a document through the use of storyboards. http://tc.eserver.org/30530.html http://tc.eserver.org/30530.html Worldwide communication, international markets and growing needs of local customers today demand globally competitive software products that are able to satisfy multiple user requirements. This paper looks at the problems arising when software supporting local languages, conventions and cultures is designed. It then describes a new programming concept called 'internationalization' and finally leads into a discussion of possible influences on the documentation process. http://tc.eserver.org/30531.html http://tc.eserver.org/30531.html Maintaining documents after they are published (making technical corrections and clarifications, adding mussing information) is a large and important task - a task that is often pushed aside or overlooked entirely by writing departments. Our writing department was frequently behind in this maintenance work and wanted 10 improve our maintenance service to our customers. We needed to find a new, efficient way to handle the work -- quite a challenge given a shrinking work force and growing workloads. This paper describes the solution we devised, its early successes and its obstacles. http://tc.eserver.org/30532.html http://tc.eserver.org/30532.html Peer mentoring is a relationship between two individuals equal in abilities and qualifications that helps each develop or refine skills to navigate in the work environment. Peer mentoring is one of several different types of career development training including hierarchical mentoring, on-the-job training, and classroom instruction. Management can use peer mentor relationships to effectively and efficiently promote employee development and team-building. http://tc.eserver.org/30533.html http://tc.eserver.org/30533.html A publications needs assessment is a way to identify and analyze documentation and publishing needs for a project, group or company. The technical communicator can use these assessments to ensure that the proper documentation and publishing services are provided. This paper describes a four step approach to performing publications needs assessments. http://tc.eserver.org/30534.html http://tc.eserver.org/30534.html We consider the effects of personal values systems on codes of ethics and how community and professional standards of behavior may reinforce professional codes. We suggest that a professional code of ethics is strengthened and reinforced as it more closely follows this rich history. http://tc.eserver.org/30535.html http://tc.eserver.org/30535.html Technical communicators are skilled rhetoricians whose persuasive documents include letters, reports, and proposals, and with these documents, technical communicators persuade their audience to accept their ideas. Persuasion is the method of supplying new information about a subject to change people’s attitude about that subject. According to the Information-Integration Theory people form their initial attitude about a subject when they first learn about it. As people receive new information about that subject, they adjust their attitude in relation to the new information. http://tc.eserver.org/30536.html http://tc.eserver.org/30536.html For software products to succeed in the international marketplace, the documentation team needs to plan for translation from the beginning of product development. Experience shows that the following factors can contribute to the elusive goal of simultaneous release of software domestically and internationally: early freeze of the product interface, a well-thought-out translation plan, agreed-upon procedures and goals, standard tools for creating art and text files, and early editing. This paper gives practical tips for avoiding problems in translation. http://tc.eserver.org/30537.html http://tc.eserver.org/30537.html Most graduate students at the Air Force Institute of Technology's School of Logistics and Acquisition Management write their theses as a team project. However, the Institute has gathered no systematic information about how students manage their collaborative thesis-writing processes. This research gathers descriptive quantitative and qualitative data from 1992 graduates concerning how they composed the teem-authored thesis. In addition, this research extends the collective vocabulary concerning collaborative writing, particularly when applied in academic settings. http://tc.eserver.org/30538.html http://tc.eserver.org/30538.html Cooperative writing is a complex human dynamic process that must be well managed before it produces good proposal documents. Power storyboarding can help. It forces the proposal manager to take ownership and manage the writing process, gives writers the full context of their assignments before they write, preempts inconsistencies, and forces consensus. By preventing up to two weeks of non-productive effort, power storyboarding lets your team focus on real issues that can lead to winning proposals. http://tc.eserver.org/30539.html http://tc.eserver.org/30539.html Multimedia and hypertext are two of the hottest topics in technical communications today. Multimedia, in one form or another, has been around for decades—so has hypertext. Both have been of enormous interest to the technical communicator specifically, and the computer user in general. Lately, we have seen advancements in computer technology that can allow a computer user to produce presentations of considerable quality. Just as the advent of the Macintosh ushered in the era of desktop publishing, the rapidly falling prices of digital video cards and image editing software are about to pave the way for another revolution in desktop computing. http://tc.eserver.org/30540.html http://tc.eserver.org/30540.html Three research projects provide a foundation for ten tips for authors aspiring to publish in technical communication journals. The research indicates that cognitive dissonance stimulates successful topics. Collaboration facilitates the research and writing processes. Responses of authors published in six technical communication journals in 1990 provide a positive view of publishing opportunities for authors who polish their prose and follow up on their submissions. http://tc.eserver.org/30541.html http://tc.eserver.org/30541.html Writers of performance- and response-oriented documents, such as instructions, procedures, proposals, and grant applications, need to consider the interaction of human factors with conventional document design factors such as accessibility, readability, legibility, consistency, style, language, and suitability to audience. This session explores that relationship, based upon a summation and synthesis of previous Annual Conference presentations as modulated by this presenter's extensive technical communication experience. It will be of particular interest to newcomers to the profession who seek to broaden their grasp of its intricacies. http://tc.eserver.org/30542.html http://tc.eserver.org/30542.html Producing brochures for real clients teaches college-level technical writing students about constraints of cost, time, and the availability of materials. Brochure writing also provides opportunities for learning more about editing, collaborative work, document design, and the problems which may occur during the production of real documents. Brochures of good quality can be produced by a class in approximately three weeks, or nine classroom hours. Grading brochures is expedited through the use of a simple heuristic. http://tc.eserver.org/30543.html http://tc.eserver.org/30543.html The field of technical documentation is rapidly evolving from the production of printed manuals to online documentation. In the future, technical writers will become interface designers, as teams of writers and engineers produce user interfaces that require less documentation. The documentation, in fact, will become part of the software product. As we move in this direction, writers are attempting to produce online documentation that blends seamlessly with the software. http://tc.eserver.org/30544.html http://tc.eserver.org/30544.html PL is Product Liability -- the manufacturer's legal responsibility to provide a reasonably safe product, and to alert the customer to potentially dangerous uses of the product. PL covers three main areas -- personal injury, property damage, and economic loss. http://tc.eserver.org/30545.html http://tc.eserver.org/30545.html This discussion is intended for people who have recently assumed project management responsibilities (or want to). Project and quality management is about developing a plan, working the plan, and evaluating the results. http://tc.eserver.org/30546.html http://tc.eserver.org/30546.html Project management skills are part of every writer's life, in some form or another. However, the more you use these skills to manage your daily work, the more you will grow as a writer. Estimating, controlling scope, and tracking your progress are all part of delivering the product that your "customer" wants. Your primary tool is your documentation plan. In this workshop, we will discuss why these processes are important to you and how to implement them on your job. http://tc.eserver.org/30547.html http://tc.eserver.org/30547.html 'Flowcharts-- UGH!' That's a too-typical reader reaction when faced with the average flowchart. It underscores the author's challenge when trying to develop this potentially powerful tool. For conveying process, there is no better means. In proposals, however, where the flowchart must also serve as a sales tool, its optimum form is not always clear. This paper provides some guidelines, such as: Ensuring your flow is a process of merit. Letting goals dictate form. Organizing for readability. Focusing on action. Using simple, standard visuals. Illuminating features. And obviating responsiveness... To reap the winning rewards. http://tc.eserver.org/30548.html http://tc.eserver.org/30548.html With the growth of multimedia, design techniques to manage the contents and data structures for the media are becoming required We call this courseware in distinction from hardware or software, and we produce a production model by developing a uique technique not in imitation of the conventional ones using the following three points, layout, framework and linkage management. http://tc.eserver.org/30549.html http://tc.eserver.org/30549.html Traditional project management 'science' and generic tools rarely match the unique needs of publications projects. The high-degree of human interaction and creativity involved in publication projects makes managing them more and than a science. This discussion/demonstration focuses on the unique challenges involved in managing publications projects and common pitfalls to avoid. We explain why we at Comprose, Inc. created the Documentation Blueprint Project Management Toolkit for managing publications projects, and we demonstrate how technical communicators can use these Custom-designed tools to make any publication project run more smoothly -- whether your project involves just one person or twenty. http://tc.eserver.org/30483.html http://tc.eserver.org/30483.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/30484.html http://tc.eserver.org/30484.html Lead writing is a process that moves the information development cycle into the product development cycle. Writers and programmers work together from the beginning to produce both code design and supporting information. This process ensures that information developers can actively participate in design, and programmers can contribute to supporting documentation. Both groups gain an appreciation for each other's perspective, expertise, and skills, producing a more customer-oriented product. http://tc.eserver.org/30485.html http://tc.eserver.org/30485.html This paper discusses how the audiences and the experience of the application writers affect the editing time for a Malcolm Baldrige application. The mystery for this novice Baldrige editor -- Why did IBM want one full time editor for seven months to edit 75 pages? What was the catch? Was this job a boondoggle? As it turned out, the criteria for the Malcolm Baldrige application are rigorous and examiners forbid exceptions. The criteria led to a challenging editing job when combined with the diverse background of the audience and the practice of using subject matter experts as writers rather than people who are trained as writers. http://tc.eserver.org/30486.html http://tc.eserver.org/30486.html Editing the Baldrige award application requires unique plans for the writing, editing, reviewing, and publishing cycle. The editor’s role includes training nonwriters to write, establishing style guidelines, setting reasonable schedules, and editing each draft. http://tc.eserver.org/30487.html http://tc.eserver.org/30487.html Responding to the concerns and issues we face, the workshops, panels, papers, discussions, and demonstrations in the Education, Training, and Professional Development Stem share common experiences, uncommon insights, and bold forecasts for the future to enlighten our community of technical communicators. http://tc.eserver.org/30488.html http://tc.eserver.org/30488.html This presentation examines ineffective technical graphics with problems in simplicity, orientation, and scale. It identifies principles of effective graphic communication that could prevent such problems, and clarifies objectives and techniques in designing editing and preparing technical graphics for printed documents and briefing materials. Graphics principles illustrated by transparencies include avoiding clutter, orienting properly, controlling scales, checking the content, and avoiding extraneous graphics. message, and that the table title or figure caption focuses clearly on the subject of the graphic. http://tc.eserver.org/30489.html http://tc.eserver.org/30489.html Electronic imaging has enabled the desktop publisher to capture and manipulate images to produce documents that are both attractive and cost-effective. In addition to making basic corrections such as balancing colors and improving highlight and shadow detail, the desktop publisher can retouch photographs and other artwork to repair damaged areas, eliminate distracting elements, or alter composition. However, the ease of manipulation has, in some cases, overshadowed the many ethical issues that desktop publishers need to consider. Integrity of the image, ownership of artwork, and copyright laws are some of the issues that desktop publishers must confront. http://tc.eserver.org/30490.html http://tc.eserver.org/30490.html In today's dynamic business environment, management gurus claim that corporate survival depends upon visionary leadership. The visionary leadership term bandied about most frequently is empowerment. Seminars, courses, books, and corporate communications are educating managers in this concept. The managers return to their jobs charged up and ready to make changes. But how can managers translate abstract concepts into practice? This presentation explores empowerment form a technical communicator and a manager's perspective, giving concrete examples. http://tc.eserver.org/30491.html http://tc.eserver.org/30491.html From the customer's perspective, an important and visible part of a product or service is its documentation. Bellcore's Technical Publications (Tech Pubs) organization uses a Quality Assurance (QA) program that focuses on enhancing customer satisfaction through delivering high-quality documentation. This program emphasizes a 'network' approach to documentation development, whereby technical writers can most efficiently use the support network of QA reviewers and management available to them. The Tech Pubs QA program draws on the needs of clients and the expertise of technical writers to strive to achieve the highest level of quality possible in producing documentation. http://tc.eserver.org/30492.html http://tc.eserver.org/30492.html Conservative estimates suggest that the translation market is currently over $1 billion and growing at a rate of 15% annually. The impact of an increasingly global economy continues to be felt by many business people, not the least of whom are the technical communicators who are charged with the mission of writing with international audiences in mind. Producing culturally appropriate, quality translations requires an awareness of how documents intended for foreign markets should be written. The purpose of the proposed Technical Translation and Software Localization PIC is to increase awareness of localization issues and to provide a forum for discussion, information exchange and education for those technical communicators who are involved in international communication. http://tc.eserver.org/30493.html http://tc.eserver.org/30493.html Ethics within Technical Communication, as found in the literature, is discussed to determine whether a meaningful code of ethics exists or can exist within STC. Authorities are cited to support a tentative conclusion to this question. http://tc.eserver.org/30494.html http://tc.eserver.org/30494.html Copyright laws permit us to make fair use of copyrighted works. We can reproduce and use copyrighted works if our uses benefit the public and if they will not adversely affect potential markets for the works. Generally, we can use copyrighted works for purposes such as the following: criticism, comment, news reporting teaching scholarship, or research. However we cannot unfairly make a profit from the use. Further, we cannot use more than a small portion of an entire work. http://tc.eserver.org/30495.html http://tc.eserver.org/30495.html The Rochester Chapter developed a set of Procedure Guides for officers and managers. The project was generated by a need to describe management tasks in order to recruit members for chapter positions, and to aid officers and managers in doing their jobs. This session demonstrates how other chapters can benefit from the Rochester Chapter's experience and develop a set of customized leadership guides. http://tc.eserver.org/30496.html http://tc.eserver.org/30496.html Today's information developers are often confused by rapidly evolving technology and overwhelmed by the volumes of information they face each day. Although they might well feel that their mental faculties are taxed to the limit, research in cognitive psychology provides new strategies for coping in today's intellectually demanding environment. The purpose of this workshop is to give information developers insight into their intellectual strengths and to introduce strategies that can help them improve their intellectual performance. http://tc.eserver.org/30497.html http://tc.eserver.org/30497.html This paper provides guidelines for migrating to a CD-ROM publishing strategy. It presents migration issues for publishers both from their perspective and their users' perspective, and cost considerations. The desired features and functions of online viewing products, complementary technology to CD-ROM, are also examined. http://tc.eserver.org/30498.html http://tc.eserver.org/30498.html To improve your chapter meetings, begin by forming a vivid ideal of how you would like the meetings to be. You can realize your dream if you: (1) find out what chapter members want, (2) form an enthusiastic team to do the many tasks involved, (3) publicize meetings beyond your membership list, (4) ensure good presentations, (5) energize the audience for lively meetings, and (6) keep looking for ways to meet your members' wants. For advice and encouragement in doing these things, participate in a support group with leaders of other chapters. http://tc.eserver.org/30499.html http://tc.eserver.org/30499.html In the PC products market, customers insist on excellent support at rock-bottom prices. The traditional model of customer support, having a phone technician answer customer questions, is becoming too expensive. http://tc.eserver.org/30500.html http://tc.eserver.org/30500.html How can business address a local shortage of competent technical communicators? Identifying and educating resources available within the community provides one solution. The intent of this paper is to give a brief account of a project that was undertaken jointly by participating businesses and the Dallas Community College System to address a shortage of technical communicators in the immediate area. http://tc.eserver.org/30501.html http://tc.eserver.org/30501.html Advances in electronic media and computer systems have created a dilemma for technical communicators. Who knows enough about writing, illustration, animation, music, video, and interactivity to design hypermedia? Are we doomed to design by committees of specialists? Are word-only writers obsolescent? Fortunately the mental and social processes that underlie communication are few, simple, and universal. These principles apply to all media: audible and visual, verbal and iconic, passive and interactive, artistic and functional. Authors who understand these principles can apply what they have learned about one medium to the design of others. This workshop reveals and demonstrates these universal principles of communication and shows how to apply them now. http://tc.eserver.org/30502.html http://tc.eserver.org/30502.html Throughout the history of the computer, human-computer interaction has taken many forms; from gears and levers to electronic desktops and virtual reality. Development of the computer has been driven by advances in technology making the computer smaller, cheaper, more powerful, but not necessarily easier to use. Today, the computer is ready for an evolutionary change from a number cruncher to a true communications medium. Sound, voice, and video are the future of the computer and technical communicators will become important in making this technology easier and more practical to use. http://tc.eserver.org/30503.html http://tc.eserver.org/30503.html Hypertext is a novel approach to computer-based information management based on associative indexing. The concept in general and the characteristics of typical systems are briefly reviewed. Strategies for applying hypertext techniques to the process of writing a technical document are examined. The way in which hypertext documents are used is discussed, focusing on a commonly encountered problem -- user disorientation within the document. Hypertext-based technical documents are compared and contrasted against their paper-based antecedents. http://tc.eserver.org/30504.html http://tc.eserver.org/30504.html As a chapter leader, you work hard towards the goal of getting maximum interest and participation in chapter activities by the chapter membership. But are you on target? Probable accurate answers to this question are 'some times,' 'probably,' 'maybe,' etc. As any of us who have served in an STC chapter leadership role can attest, the fact is that the target is a moving one. What is on target today may not necessarily work tomorrow. And vice-versa. However, there are some 'tricks of the trade' which you can use to help you increase your on-target percentage. Come and interact with a panel of past and present chapter presidents as each shares specific ideas for increasing membership involvement and for tailoring activities to meet the needs of members and potential members. http://tc.eserver.org/30505.html http://tc.eserver.org/30505.html In an effort to improve the quality of our documentation, our Information Development department personally visited over 80 of our customers in 10 different locations across the United States. Our goal was to find out what we needed to do to create documentation that would satisfy our customers' needs. We came up with a process for planning our visits, gathering the information from our customers, implementing their requirements, and increasing communication with them. From the visits, we not only made changes that immediately satisfied our customers, but we created an environment for them to work with us as a team. http://tc.eserver.org/30506.html http://tc.eserver.org/30506.html It is important to recognize that because we all differ in our experience and background the learning process is different for each of us. Consequently, in our documentation we should by to put users on an equal footing by, for example, clearly and exactly defining terms we use and including a glossary. We can also put everyone on an equal footing by using 'bridges to understanding,' from analogies, examples, and metaphors to mnemonic strategies. For overall comprehension, we can employ 'frameworks,' from conceptual maps to road maps, that give patterns of meaning to what we say. http://tc.eserver.org/30507.html http://tc.eserver.org/30507.html Indexing a software manual is not very different from indexing any other manual. As a simple rule, make sure you index all of the software features: screens, windows, fields, options and commands. Index system errors and warnings if applicable. Use cross-references to direct the reader to the term used in the manual if it differs from the generally-used jargon. http://tc.eserver.org/30508.html http://tc.eserver.org/30508.html This paper provides reference information and complements the demonstration: 'Using Indexing Standards and Usability Tests' by Deborah Swain and Rebecca Oliver. Information covered in the paper includes historical background on indexing and on the ANSI Z39.4 standard for indexes. Questions about the effectiveness of standards are discussed. In addition, the paper describes one way to conduct a usability test on a back-of-the-book index: random analysis. (Three testing methods will be explained in the demonstration.) http://tc.eserver.org/30509.html http://tc.eserver.org/30509.html Creating an index for a technical manual requires an understanding of what constitutes a high-quality index and the indexing methodology. This workshop presents the methodologies and steps necessary to create such an index. http://tc.eserver.org/30510.html http://tc.eserver.org/30510.html Keeping information metrics for documentation projects gives managers the ability to more accurately estimate future projects. Publications departments can develop their own tools or they can use existing tools to track such things as page size, hours-per-page spent writing, illustrating, editing, and producing manuals; and the dependencies of each manual. This kind of information can help to determine development schedules, show how late changes affect the documentation process, and accurately determine what it will take to complete quality documentation on time and within budget. http://tc.eserver.org/30511.html http://tc.eserver.org/30511.html In creating computer software manuals, international users have become an important factor in design decisions. This paper discusses several issues and strategies useful in creating documentation with an international audience in mind. http://tc.eserver.org/30512.html http://tc.eserver.org/30512.html The ITCF (International Technical Communication Forum) is one of the activities of the STC Tokyo Chapter. Almost all of the Tokyo Chapter members are Japanese. But to take full advantage of this chapter of the STC, we have planned to hold English speaking meetings. These meeting helps us to learn not only the differences of viewpoints and cultures between both countries but also how unstable and diissatisfied native English speakers are. http://tc.eserver.org/30513.html http://tc.eserver.org/30513.html Knowledge Ware successfully transferred existing paper-based documentation to an online format for the latest release of its Application Development Workbench(R) (ADW(R)) software. The online documentation solution, which runs under IBM's OS/2 operating system, was created using a series of macros developed in Microsoft Word 5.0. Using this strategy enabled Knowledge Ware to develop quickly an online system that met customer needs for information support. The system also enabled their technical writers to create both paper-based and online documentation using the same set of word-processed files. http://tc.eserver.org/30514.html http://tc.eserver.org/30514.html This paper takes a look at what is being said in various disciplines (technical writing, journalism, education, psychology, user interface design, and visual arts) in an attempt to answer the question 'What is visual literacy?' A corollory is 'How will I know when I have achieved it?' A working definition of visual literacy has many implications for how we train technical writers in order to meet the professional challenges of the future.