The Electronic Job Search: Implications for Employers and Applicants  

Two different technologies seem to be colliding head-on as job seekers and employers attempt to improve their effectiveness in matching candidate with position. Job seekers dress up their resumes with different typefaces, type sizes, and other typographical treatments; and employers utilize scanning devices to enter resumes into huge corporate resume-management databases. But are today's scanners capable of reading all the font variations? And do the databases really achieve the results the employers are seeking?

Baker, William H., Kristen Bell DeTienne and Karl L. Smart. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>Job Listings>Online

Electronic Mentoring Benefits for Practicing Communicators  

Electronic mentoring establishes relationships that might not otherwise exist. You have the opportunity to participate in professional community service, remain current on communication issues, and develop a future employment pool.

Stertzbach, Lori A. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Mentoring>TC

Electronic Mentoring: Benefits and Rewards  

Electronic mentoring uses e-mail to bring the academic and business communities together without the boundaries of geography or time. Through an electronic mentoring program professionals gain insights into the academic realm from students and educators as well as give students advice based upon their experiences as communicators in business. This paper is part of the 'Expand Your Learning Community: Electronic Mentoring' panel; it focuses on the benefits to businesses. knowledge?

Dimick, Sharlyn A. STC Proceedings (1996). Careers>Mentoring>Online

Electronic Resources and Aids for Writing, Editing, and Translation  

The popularity of online dictionaries is growing, so new criteria for evaluating these reference works should be established to help technical communicators evaluate their choices. These criteria could come from the following sources: (1) the criteria that have been used for the evaluation of printed dictionaries, (2) the criteria derived from the characteristics of the electronic form of the online dictionaries, and (3) the studies of the ways technical communicators use online dictionaries. This paper addresses all three of these issues.

Menagarishvili, Olga and William O. Coggin. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Language>Software>Assessment

Elements of Ethos in Web Design  

When designing a complex online system, thoughtful use of appropriate prose style, information architecture and interface design all play a part in establishing a useful link between the designers of an online environment and the users of that environment. To keep users interested and engaged with the information in an online system, creating an engaging ethos for the site is essential. To learn how to apply ethos not only in prose style, but also in overall design, we must look to how ethos has been put to use in the past with the written and spoken word.

Damron, V. Michele, David Gillette and Dan Jones. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Web Design

The Elves and the Shoemaker—We Don't Wear No Pointy Hats  

When technical communicators are part of a development team, we can do much more than write manuals. Our analysis and communications skills, user perspective can help launch a project team into productivity. We have a unique skill set which enhances the productivity and quality of the development process. By involving us early, we can assume technical communications tasks that developers otherwise perform. This exposure gives us a broader and deeper understanding of that which we communicate. Our involvement means better communication; with users and team members, and in deliverables and development processes.

Mazur, Sue and Jamie A. McCanless. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Writing>Technical Writing

Embedded Help – Meeting the Needs of Your Users  

Designing and developing an embedded help solution involves several stages. A successful solution starts with identifying user wants and needs. As you sort through these needs, identify common threads and design a solution that addresses these common threads. Consistency, flexibility, and experimentation are keys to developing a successful solution. Your design should be intuitive to use, and should provide users with the options they need. As you design your solution, consider your develop and maintenance requirements. You want the time you invest in the first version of your solution to pay off for future releases.

Mueller, Paul. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Embedded Indexing in FrameMaker   

Embedded indexing is the process of creating index entries electronically in a document’s files. Although desktop publishing packages are not the best tools for indexing, they can be used to create effective embedded indexes. For technical documents that will be updated frequently or will go online, technical communicators can create embedded indexes that will help their audience find information quickly and efficiently.

Mauer, Peg. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Document Design>Indexing>Adobe FrameMaker

The Emergence and Evolution of a Research Project  

Research never goes exactly according to plan; nor should we expect it to because research is a rhetorically situated activity. This paper illustrates this truism by providing a brief summary of the author’s experiences in designing, proposing, re-designing, and carrying out an investigation into electronic editing using both quantitative survey and qualitative methods.

Dayton, David. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Research>Rhetoric

An Emerging Electronic Rhetoric of the Body: Arguing the Feminine in Cyberspace  

Some form of a body rhetoric has existed since classical times. If rhetoric can be loosely defined as a means of persuasion, then an electronic rhetoric of the body, for the purposes of this essay, can be defined as the ways in which the body is used to persuade, the ways it becomes the language of a culture for both genders. But what should we consider 'the electronic body' to consist of? The physical body? The mental body? And here is where the problem lies… But before an electronic rhetoric can be established, historical precedent must first be clarified.

Tulley, Ronald J. and Christine E. Tulley. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Rhetoric>Online>Gender

The Emerging Role of the Translation Coordinator  

Career opportunities for technical communicators are expanding by leaps and bounds. Ask a roomful of technical writers to define their jobs and you receive a myriad of answers, with responsibilities ranging from the specific and focused to the broad and encompassing. As the business world goes global and multilingual, technical communicators are being brought into this trend as translation coordinators, creating new opportunities and challenges. We’ll explore these new roles and possibilities from both the macro and micro perspectives—that is, the larger trend within technical communication, and the specific skillsets, methodologies and case histories from several positions in the work flow.

Romano, James V., Carol Peterson, Lynda Shindley and Bogo Vatovec. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Language>Translation>Localization

Emphasizing Internal Technical Communication  

Internal communication activities frequently have a lower priority over external communication efforts because they do not directly support current and future customers. Many organizations do not realize that internal communication activities can be just as critical to delivering their products and services. The Research and Development Division at SAS has taken a unique approach to facilitating internal knowledge transfer by dedicating a department to this effort. We’ve found that we must frequently evaluate the needs of our internal audiences, and that we can successfully employ technologies and deliverables often used for external communication to support our user's needs.

Brown, Sandy, Lindsey Greene, Ronald A. Statt and Kathleen Walch. STC Proceedings (2003). Careers>Management>Workflow

Employee Communications in an Ever-Changing World  

Communications are continually changing in the business environment. Now more than ever, managers must be more culturally aware when communicating with the younger and older generations for all ethnicities. We, as employees, must also be aware of communicating with younger bosses and co-workers. Global communications, whether written or face-to- face, require different skills that each of us should aspire to understand in working with different groups. This paper covers the U.S. workforce statistics, seven communication principals, and cultural communications; provides you with a glimpse into discovering your communication style; and finally talks about how to communicate with younger bosses and co-workers.

Damrau, Jackie. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Business Communication>Discrimination

The Empowered User: A New Approach To Software Documentation  

User empowerment offers a strategy for addressing the software end user's needs. The definition of user empowerment emphasizes a user-driven, informationmanagement oriented approach in response to changes that have taken place in the modern workplace after computers and computer software arrived. Working with software requires a significant shift in thinking and learning, responding to increased abstraction, isolation, and information volumes. Computermediated work demands that users develop new skills and job roles, and that documentation writers develop new techniques for manuals.

Barker, Thomas. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>User Centered Design

Empowerment: A Manager's and Professional's Perspective  

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.

Scroggs, Debbie L. and M.L. Eschen. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Management>Business Communication

Encouraging Innovation in Your Organization  

In today's environment we often find ourselves drowning in our work. We don't take the time to stop and assess what we are doing. Are there better ways to do what we do? Are we making the biggest and best contribution we can make? Can you manage innovation? This paper will discuss the importance of innovation and one method we used to drive innovation.

Crawford, Vanadis, Angela Pitts, Rosalind Radcliffe and Leah Ann Seifert. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>Workplace>Project Management>Assessment

An End-to-End Multilingual Content Management System  

This article will not try to answer why there's no end-to-end content management solution that supports the whole process from single-source authoring to multilingual publishing. At least, it cannot be bought off-the-shelf. Only companies with the size of J.D.Edwards are able to integrate the various components. They will even find the resources and the necessary expertise to implement vital components that are not readily available on the market (e.g. multilingual terminology management system).

Vangilbergen, Ludo. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Language

An End-to-End Process for Creating and Validating Scenario-Driven Documentation  

This paper describes the end-to-end approach we used to create and validate scenario-driven information for a new product. This approach focuses as much on designing and testing information as it does on writing the information.

Newman-Collins, Ann and Linda Streitfeld. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Documentation>Assessment

The Engineer As Document Designer: The New World Order  

The traditional technical publications world in engineering companies has been turned upside down with the advent of personal computers on every engineer’s desk. Engineers are now their own “tech pubs” and rarely call on technical writers and editors for assistance. This new environment is described and it’s implications for both engineers and technical publications personnel are explored. Engineering writing at the University of California at Santa Barbara is described and suggestions are made for a similar education—albeit less formal—for technical writers and editors.

Marsh, C. Hugh. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>TC>Engineering

Engineering for the Disabled: Using RFPs and Producing Design Proposals for the Needs of the Physically Challenged  

By engaging the rhetorical and technical challenges of formal requests for proposals (RFPs), observation reports, and group work plans, first-year engineering students at UC Santa Barbara demonstrate that they are able to emulate the design strategies employed by professional engineers in the production of design proposals. Because the RFPs called for products that aided the disabled, the students also became practiced in the research and questioning skills that engineers need to employ when they are designing products for a population of consumers with special needs

Applen, J.D. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Grants>Proposals>Engineering

Engineers at Work Developing Communication Skills for Professional Practice  

The reviews of engineering education carried out in the USA, Canada and Australia have highlighted the importance of developing the communication skills of engineering students. An innovative curriculum has been developed at the University of Technology, Sydney (Australia) to prepare students for effective professional practice. The program has drawn on developments in writing studies and research into workplace practice. A core subject in Engineering Communication acts as a ‘hub’ for a Communication System which extends the development of communication abilities to staff, practitioners and self-directed learners.

McGregor, Helen. STC Proceedings (2000). Presentations>Education>Engineering

English in Technical Communication - Global Language, Global Culture?  

English is used in global communication even between people who do not speak English as their mother tongue. Even though we may feel there are world wide subcultures such as modern technology we should note how much culture affects communication from the surface level of language to the more deeper level of our 'mental programming'. Keeping this in mind we should ask who actually owns the English language, if those who have it as mother tongue talk with people who have different mental models and their own culture as the background for the communicative event.

Kuusto, Marjo. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Language>International

Enhancing Customer Satisfaction by Assuring Documentation Quality  

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.

Dolese, Cathy and Tara Durkin. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Quality>User Centered Design

Enhancing HTML Documents With ActiveX  

ActiveX is definitely a technology buzzword--but what is it, really? How does it work? Is it something that would benefit me as a writer? How can I utilize it? Technical writers are increasingly being called upon to combine new publishing technologies with writing skills. ActiveX technology provides new ways for writers to enhance their HTML documents with little or no actual programming involved. This workshop presents the various technologies associated with ActiveX, along with functional demonstrations. The goal of the workshop is to provide an overview of ActiveX that can serve as a starting point to further research and implement the technology.

Vincent, Bill. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Web Design>Programming>ActiveX

Enhancing Our Image: Creating Good Public Relations  

Effective chapter public relations results in an increase in membership, more interested and active members, and an awareness of technical communication as a valid and an important profession. This workshop teaches general public relation skills, such as how to write effective press releases, how to get your chapter events treated as news, and how to create and then maintain a press list.

Braz, Lisa M., Susan L. Fowler, Alan Korwin, and Nancy Martin. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>TC>Marketing>Press Releases