Creating Online Acrobat Documents with Word  

This demonstration illustrates approaches to designing and implementing tools and procedures that have been used successfully at Unisys Corporation to deliver documentation to customers on CD-ROM and the Web. These include release management and production tools, program suites to organize and restructure documents so that they can be accessed and displayed effectively online, and tools to integrate and access multiple document types. Will describe several special techniques to generate links and set parameters directly in Word. Will demonstrate linking from other file types into PDF documents and dynamically attaching updates to legacy documents.

Teague, Tommy K. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Writing>Software>Microsoft Word

Creating Online Help from FrameMaker Files Using WebWorks Publisher  

WebWorks Publisher from Quadralay lets you develop online help from FrameMaker files without dealing with the inefficiencies associated with help authoring tools (HATs). No longer do you have to convert the FrameMaker files to RTF for use in a HAT—and consequently lose all the formatting, which you must rebuild. You also do not have to maintain two sets of files.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating Online Help in a Multiplatform Environment  

With the explosion of online help authoring tools (primarily in the Windows® environment) companies are clamoring for the ability to produce online help on multiple platforms. This demonstration presents one solution to the problem of creating online help in a multiplatform environment. We will demonstrate the process of translating FrameMaker™ files from the Macintosh® to Windows NT®, and ultimately, to UNIX®.

Shelton, Jan D., Anne Navarro and Robbie Fontenot. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Documentation>Help>Adobe FrameMaker

Creating Online Newsletters Without Pain and Aggravation  

Online newsletters can be a surprisingly effective means of distributing information among engineers. The paper presents a tested low-anxiety method for creating newsletters to facilitate information transfer among engineers in a hi-tech environment.

Huntington, Don. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>Publishing>Online>Newsletters

Creating Online Tutorials and Demos  

An online tutorial or demo is a powerful way to pique interest and get users started on a new software program. Join a workshop that covers the how-to’s of creating your first project. (1) Make a plan. (2) Analyze audience needs and technical issues. (3) Form a team. (4) Write the script. (5) Design the interface. (6) Build it. (7) Test it.

Beren, Wendy G. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Multimedia>Documentation>Online

Creating Single-Sourced Information Products  

Until recently, single sourcing has been limited to the process of putting identical information into multiple information products. However, the results of a singlesourced approach need not be identical. You can customize the outputs to contain only the information that is appropriate for the specific situation. This presentation provides a high-level overview to the advantages of single sourcing and how to implement and maintain such a solution.

Stevens, Dawn M. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Creating the Out-of-the-Box Experience: A Case Study  

While producing a new deliverable to improve the out-of-the-box experience for a major software product, the team of writers, graphic designers, human factors engineers, and marketers responsible for the deliverable faced many challenges and overcame many obstacles. Anyone involved in the production of such a deliverable will learn from a discussion of the problems we faced and the approaches we took to solving them. This discussion will be particularly relevant for anyone creating such a deliverable for the first time.

Hogan, Tim. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>TC>User Experience>Collaboration

Creating the Vision: Developing Graphic Strategies  

Making documentation more visual is a two phase process. First comes the brainstorming, where ideas bubble up: the weird the funny, the wonderful, the breakthrough, the lame brain — no idea discriminated against, all equally enjoying the bright, spring air of the creative process. Once You begin to brainstorm you may find putting concepts into graphics is easier than you thought. Then comes the second phase: the hard realization that even if you throw out all the crazy ideas, you still have to pick and choose. You have to develop a strategy for graphic use, one that goes beyond the basic visual unity a good graphic designer can give a document. You have to see the graphics in light of the user's need.

Malone, Jacquelyn. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Visual Rhetoric

Creating Usable Forms  

A form is usable when it builds an effective communication bridge between your clients and your data entry staff. A usable form is readable, concise, and contains appropriate pictures and graphic elements. The steps in creating a usable form are the following: (1) Create a prototype. (2) Examine the extremes. (3) Produce the forms. (4) Fine tune the forms.

Archer, Susan. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>Document Design>Usability>Forms

Creative Low-Budget Usability Testing Methods  

Usability testing doesn't come cheap. You can however, follow test models that will help you improve the quality of your products, including websites. Usability professionals agree that some testing is better than none, and traditional formal usability testing can be adapted to fit your needs and your budget. This paper discusses how all four of these methods: low-cost usability testing, heuristic evaluations, expert reviews, and checkpoints in the development process were used to analyze subsites and applications at a federally funded public health website.

Reilly, Maggie T. and Cathy N. Hogan. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Usability>Testing>Methods

Creative Techniques for Modifying Images  

Images are an integral part of most page layouts. Documents such as brochures, newsletters or information flyers rely on images in many ways. Images can be manipulated to suit a particular design purpose. They can be used as backgrounds to anchor elements, frames to delineate regions or shapes to help balance the page. Images can also be used to add interest to a page by contributing shape, texture or color. To use images in a creative manner, it is necessary to realize that the image is not a static entity. Modifying images for a particular design purpose or to add interest to a page can result in a more creative design.

Birchman, Judith A. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing

Creative Ways to Reward Employees and Improve the Quality of their Deliverables  

This panel discussion shows how managers of small, medium, and large technical writing teams use rewards and recognition to: motivate teams to improve their work quality; recognize individuals as opposed to teams; recognize remote team members; retain employees; create a positive work culture.

Murphy, John, Barbara A. Giammona, Ilana Rosenshein, Patrick Reed-Reimer, Taryn Light and Gloria Reisman. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Management

Critical Elements in the Design of Help and Hypertext Systems  

The demand for help and hypertext systems has created a problem for many documentation departments, particularly those in smaller companies and inexperienced in creating these forms of online documentation. The scarcity of existing literature compounds this problem. This document provides writers in small companies with limited resources some suggestions to facilitate hypertext project management, planning, design, editing, and usability testing. Also discussed is how to select a hypertext package.

Wasserman, David C. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Hypertext>Help

A Critical Look at E-mail  

E-mail usage is so common and popular now that we hardly think about it. Because of its prevalence, many people have written critically about it, compelling us to look at our own usage.

Crawley, Charles R. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Communication>Online>Email

Cross-Cultural Considerations for Designing International Internet-Based Learning  

As increasing numbers of multinational corporations, consultants, universities, and instructional designers create Internet-based learning (IBL) courses or require courses to be taken via the Internet, not all are aware of the need to adjust their design expectations and assumptions due to cross-cultural considerations involved in such online courses. Eight critical considerations discussed in this paper include the following: language, culture, technical infrastructure, local/global perspective, learning styles, reasoning patterns, high/low context communication, and social context. Recommendations are listed for low-context designers to design with more cultural sensitivity for global learners and also for high- context learners who take low-context IBL courses.

Vawn Tinney, Mari, Joanne P. H. Bentley and Bing-Howe Chia. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Education>Online>International

Cross-Cultural Differences in Verbal And Visual Communication Have Implications for Interface Design for International Users: A Survey of International Students and Faculty at the University of Minnesota in Current Interfaces  

The purpose of this study is to find out how English speaking computers causes the inconvenience of the non- English speaking users, especially Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Because these oriental scripts are based on ancient Chinese ideographic characters. I want to explore the language and culture differences of the these countries which may be critical factors in determining how software tools can best accommodate different user groups at the U. of Minnesota. I hope, by conducting this research, I can gain insights into appropriateness of certain interaction technologies indifferent cultural environments.

McDowell, Earl E. and Pi-hai Sun. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>User Interface>Accessibility>International

Cross-Cultural Differences in Verbal And Visual Communication Have ImplicationsFor Interface Design for International Users: A Survey of International Studentsand Faculty at the University of Minnesota in Current Interfaces  

The purpose of this study is to find out how English speaking computers causes the inconvenience of non-English speaking users, especially Chinese, Japanese and Korean. Because these oriental scripts are based on ancient Chinese ideographic characters. I want to explore the language and culture differences of the these countries which may be critical factors in determining how software tools can best accommodate different user groups at the U. of Minnesota. I hope, by conducting this research, I can gain insights into appropriateness of certain interaction technologies indifferent cultural environments.

McDowell, Earl E. and Pi-hai Sun. STC Proceedings (1994). Design>User Interface>Accessibility>International

Cross-Platform Publishing  

Desktop publishing has evolved tremendously over the last 10 years, coming from manual paste-up and manual design to complete digital photo-editing and digital graphic design. The challenges and issues we face in the translation industry are directly related to the authoring methods and build-environments of today’s writers. One of the biggest issues to date is the use of more than one platform for the authoring and localization (translation) of texts, ads, publications and software. The two most prominent platforms used for publishing media are the PC platform (Win 95 & 98) and the Macintosh. When a document is created, it is often authored for the source language; in other words, the authoring is not done with translation in mind.

Knoerndel, Dan. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Publishing>Document Design

Crossing Borders: Tips For Preparing Your Writing For Subsequent Translation  

'Going Global' is more than a buzzword -- it is the way to do business. What you write may wind up being read by someone who does not speak English. To create documentation for an international audience, we must learn to overcome the challenges faced when communicating with people who speak languages other than our own.

Rimalower, George P. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Business Communication

Crossing Disciplinary Borders  

In a collaborative project that bridged professional cultures, 40 students from technical communication and computer science collaborated on a software development project. They worked in small groups developing subparts of a complex word processor. Questionnaires and project logs revealed that participants found the project generally appropriate and beneficial, but the cross-disciplinary collaboration was neither valued twr successful.

Allen, Nancy J. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Service Learning

Crossing the Chasm: The Quest to Bring the Best of Academia and Industry to the Technical Communication Profession  

Crossing the two worlds of academia and industry is a precarious, yet exhilarating, “communication odyssey.” This paper charts the channels that teachers in academia and technical communicators in industry can use to access these two worlds, and describes the challenges and rewards in making the journey. It relies on both primary sources (my personal experiences, and those shared by others) and secondary research in the technical communication profession’s trends. Such crossings are similar to the “foreign exchange” programs we advocate for students: the resulting insights and “cross pollination” from academia and the workplace will help our profession to flourish. industry can benefit both worlds through “crosspollination” and will help our profession to flourish.

Kryder, LeeAnne G. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Education

Current Research: An International Perspective  

Research provides the basis for technical communication practices. Such research, conducted in the United States, is readily available to STC members through the Proceedings, Technical Communication, and other technical communication journals. However, research being performed in other countries is not so readily available to those in this country who may need it.

Warren, Thomas L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Research>International

Current Research: STC's Research Program  

This interim report shows that the research program sponsored by STC in its publications is becoming more annecdotal each year, relying less and less on research for support of its generalizations.

Warren, Thomas L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Research>STC