Basic Marketing Techniques  

Effective marketing is key to your success. Marketing is based on your image and message, both of which can be delivered in a myriad of methods.

Maggiani, Rich. STC Proceedings (2002). Articles>TC>Marketing

The Basics of Quality

Can elements of the ISO 9000 standard help us improve the quality of the documents we write?

STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Quality>Standards>ISO 9000

The Basics of Quality  

With constantly changing deadlines and last minute major revisions, how can technical writers ever hope to create quality documents? Members of the STC Quality Special Interest Group (SIG) will present some basic concepts that will provide insights into ways you can improve the quality of your documentation. They will look at what is meant by 'quality documentation', how documentation quality can be measured, how quality can be implemented in documentation processes, how ISO 9000 requirements can be adapted to help improve the documentation process, and how the relationship between developers and writers can impact documentation quality.

Rupel, Roberta A., Lori H. Fisher, Donald S. Lenk, Ralph E. Robinson and Richard Colvin. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Quality>Technical Writing

The Basics of Quality: Quality and the Writer-Developer Relationship

To bring high-quality communication to the process to improve the quality of the products we produce.

Colvin, Richard D. STC Proceedings (1999). Presentations>Quality

Be Able to Say, 'Been There! Done That!': Cultivate your Career Skills through Deliberate Volunteering  

To attain your career goals, you cannot simply go to work and perform the assigned projects, allowing your manager direct your professional path for you. You must treat your working life much like you treat a documentation project and be deliberate. Take charge of your progress by volunteering to complete projects that challenge and advance your capabilities. Plan and prepare for challenging opportunities that provide you with new work experiences; identify and execute tasks that advance your skills, knowledge, and abilities; and evaluate your career development, results, and your accomplishments with each enterprise you complete.

Swindle-Troell, Elizabeth F. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>TC>Planning>Volunteering

Be An Author, Not a Writer: Breaking Into Retail-Market Computer Book Publishing  

Many experienced technical communicators already have the skills and experience required to be successful authors of retail-market computer books. What they generally lack, however, is an understanding of the retail computer book publishing industry: the roles of the various players, options and techniques for landing that all-important first contract, navigating the ins and outs of money and contracts, developing book proposals, and working on their own. By learning more about the industry, technical communicators gain two things: an increased chance of becoming a first-time author and, more importantly, whether this is an appropriate career choice for them.

Benz, Christopher J. and Michelle Corbin Nichols. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Writing>Publishing

Becoming a Journal Author  

This session will help participants understand how to write and submit a manuscript for publication in Technical Communication. It covers the types of articles the journal publishes, its audience, and suggestions for choosing topics, doing research, and preparing a manuscript.

Hayhoe, George F. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Writing>Publishing

Becoming a Journal Author   

This session will help participants understand how to write and submit a manuscript for publication in Technical Communication. It covers the types of articles the journal publishes, its audience, and suggestions for choosing topics, doing research, and preparing a manuscript.

Hayhoe, George F. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Publishing

Becoming a Journal Peer Reviewer  

This session will help participants understand the process for reviewing manuscripts submitted to Technical Communication. It covers the types of articles the journal publishes, review procedures and criteria, and approaches to writing constructive evaluations.

Hayhoe, George F. STC Proceedings (1998). Presentations>Editing>Technical Editing

Becoming a Journal Peer Reviewer   

This session will help participants understand the process for reviewing manuscripts submitted to

Hayhoe, George F. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Publishing>Editing

A Beginner's Guide to HTML  

Answers to questions like: where do Web pages come from? What are all those brackets in the text, anyway? How much HTML do I have to learn? How can I get started quickly? What kinds of HTML authoring tools are available to me?

Quesenbery, Whitney. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Web Design>HTML

A Beginner's Guide to HTML and Web Design  

The best place to learn about HTML is on the Web itself. A few of the best resources for exploring HTML design are listed here.

Quesenbery, Whitney. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Web Design>Standards>HTML

A Beginner's Guide to Managing a Localization Project  

Managing a localization process utilizes and tests all the skills of good project management: planning, team-building, and scheduling. A successful localization project requires a commitment by management to allow time for the team to develop the necessary plans and processes to produce a quality product. For the publications manager, choosing the right translation service can be a project in itself. Comparing the core competencies of translation companies with the requirements of the documentation project is an important first step before selecting a translation service.

Packer, Phebe and Lelanie Hellmer. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Management>Localization

A Beginner's Guide to Project Management  

Presents the basics of developing a project plan, managing the project, troubleshooting the project, and evaluating the completed project.

Houston, Bill. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Project Management

Beginning to Edit Physics  

A physicist-turned-editor shows you the basics required for copyediting physics papers (physical quantities, symbols, units, scientific notation, the structure of mathematical expressions, the nature of graphs), and points the way to learning enough 'editorial physics' to begin substantive editing.

Murphy, Peter W. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Editing>Scientific Communication

Behavior-Based Performance Expectations  

Many organizations document job-oriented expectations for their employees and tend to leave behavior-based performance criteria to the individual managers. Or, they may lump so many different jobs into a single performance criteria definition that that definition becomes meaningless for any individual group. In this paper we will discuss the difference between job-oriented expectations and behavior-based performance expectations. We will describe the process we used to create our performance expectations and will show some examples.

Crawford, Vanadis, Angela Pitts, Rosalind Radcliffe and Leah Ann Seifert. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>TC>Case Studies

Benchmarking the Document Management Process  

The Bank of Canada manages the public debt as fiscal agent, for the Federal Government. As a public service organization, it is committed to deliver quality services to its clients in a cost effective and efficient manner. Recognizing that a fundamental role of documentation is to provide continuity within a changing environment, the Public Debt Department (POD) piloted best practices benchmarking of its internal documentation unit with partners identified as having best-in-class processes.

Edwards, Roy, James D. McGuire and Shirley A. Hancock. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Content Management>Assessment>Case Studies

Benchmarking: A Practical Guide  

Using benchmarking, a company compares its processes with another best-practice company to improve the way it does business. The panelists, who have participated in several benchmarking projects, explain the benchmarking process and offer practical, real-world advice on how to do successful benchmarking.

Caldanaro, Regina M., Barbara Isa, and Lawrence D. Kunz. STC Proceedings (1994). Careers>Management>Project Management

Benefits and Pitfalls of Coaching Employees  

Successful managers increasingly use coaching to help employees improve performance. Coaching is a better model than counseling because it presupposes that the employee is capable of making improvements. Coaching also helps maintain a good relationships between the manager and employees. However, coaching cannot be a 'pure' coaching relationship when the manager has supervisory responsibilities for the employee. Still, successful coaching can result in a win/win outcome for both the employee and the company, even in a problem situation.

Agnew, Beth. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Mentoring

The Benefits and Pitfalls of Mentoring  

A mentoring program encourages employees; can target potential managers and specific employees who need assistance; facilitates implementation of corporate strategies; requires a coordinator to administer the program, usually a person found within HR who spends no more than 1 day per week on mentoring activities.

Bailey, Elizabeth. STC Proceedings (2006). Careers>Mentoring>TC

Benefits and Pitfalls of Mentoring  

Choosing a mentor or mentee can be a powerful moment in your professional life. Making the mentoring relationship work is not always easy and requires time and dedication from both parties. This article will define and explore the mentoring relationship, listing key factors for success.

Mason, Catheryn L. and Elizabeth Bailey. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Mentoring

Better Products Through Collaboration: Technical Communicators and Usability Professionals Working Together  

Currently, “user-centered design” is the touted methodoloay for software development for many companies. To many of us, it’s merely a more global articulation of what we have always believed to be the preferred methodology. Technical communicators and HF professionals have critical roles to play as part of a multi-disciplinary user-centered design team. (1) This paper presents some viewpoints on how technical communicators and HF professionals can increase each other's effectiveness.

Rauch, Thyra L. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>User Centered Design>Collaboration

Better Reports: How to Communicate the Results of Usability Testing  

You've spent several days setting up a usability test, recruiting the participants and running it. Then you've pored over the data. What next? If you are doing usability testing as part of user-centred design within a business setting, then there are many ways that you can communicate the results. This paper looks at reports and then considers presentation and observation as alternatives to reports.

Jarrett, Caroline. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Usability>Testing>Reports

Beyond End-User Documentation: Opportunities for Technical Communicators  

A large number of people in the technical communication field create end user documentation; therefore, many people seem to believe that technical writing is synonymous with writing end user documentation. On the contrary, creating end user documentation is only one of many roles that a professional technical communicator can perform. In this paper, we will describe several roles for technical communicators.

Vaughn, Joan E. and Katie Walton. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>TC