Authoring Content for Multi-Purpose Publishing  

This presentation reviews the process used to develop documentation for a new software product.

Dumba, Cheryl, Fedeliza Espiritu-Lopez and Pam Barg. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Content Management>Single Sourcing

Calculating RoI Using Industry Metrics  

Why prove our value; how value is measured; who decides what to measure.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Management

Designing for People: Human Factors for Technical Communicators  

What are human factors? Why do technical communicators care?

Ames, Andrea L. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Human Computer Interaction>TC>Asia

Designing FrameMaker Templates for Use with WebWorks Publisher Professional  

Plan your FrameMaker templates' look for both print and online.

Gallagher, Linda. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Design>Document Design>Single Sourcing>Adobe FrameMaker

Digital Print Production and Distribution  

A presentation about aspects of digital prepress every technical communicator should know.

Flaman, Tim and John Givens. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Publishing>Prepress

The Evolution of a Chart  

Knowledge to help prepare professional time elements.

Kubik, Rick. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Design>Information Design>Graphic Design>Charts and Graphs

Expanding the Words

Technical writers enhance their career development and move faster through career transitions when they expand beyond the writing of didactic text to publish in journals and magazines. Additional attempts to write and publish creative and nonfiction pieces further develop their careers in any genre of communications.

Ball, Valerie M. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Publishing>Research

The Four C's Leadership Model  

Hesitation stems from fear that no one will follow.

Milkovich, Anne. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Management

The Harder They Fall: Pitfalls of Online Team Writing Assignments  

Computer-mediated communication (CMC) has opened up new territories for teaching technical communication. But web-based courses can present steepchallenges for students working on team assignments as well as for teachers designing them. What conditions make it likelier that e-teams will fail? Whatconditions might better prepare instructors and student teams to deal not only with the technical, but also the interpersonal, challenges of learning from eachother in a CMC environment? First providing theoretical frameworks suggested by research into collaborative writing and the effects of CMC on learning andteamwork, I outline some difficulties facing students struggling to complete a technical writing team assignment. I then suggest strategies for instructors andstudents to help ensure that online teamwork is a productive and positive experience.

Goldrick-Jones, Amanda. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Education>Online

Information Engineering: Taking Technical Communication to the Next Level  

The technical communication community can no longer be satisfied to produce documentation that scores high in quality but low in effectiveness. We must use whatever means necessary to ensure our users reach their goals with as few obstacles and distractions as possible. This will require us to change the very nature of our work, from simply documenting complexity to designing collaborative systems. Our ultimate goal is not to write a better manual or online help system or web page, but to ensure that human beings and products can work together effectively to achieve common objectives.

Bowie, John S. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Articles>Documentation>Usability

An Introduction to Content Management  

CMS analysis and design; an implementation example.

Garrett, David and Mary Pitz. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Content Management

Issues in Information Modeling  

A brief overview of a unified content strategy.

Kostur, Pamela. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Information Design

Outsourced Technical Translations: Assuring Quality  

Technical communicators who serve international audiences must prepare for and manage translations, yet they cannot read the outsourced translation, may have no knowledge of the target culture, and rarely have access to resident linguists who can verify the quality of the work. As well, the time frame in which material is translated is usually short and associated funding is vulnerable. Still, practitioners are expected to maintain corporate standards of language style, grammar, and accuracy. This paper examines the fundamental challenges of outsourcing technical translation, and offers tools and techniques that can be used to assure quality, at arms’ length, in the absence of access to a native speaker of the target language.

Douglas, Gordon J. and Sarah E. Eaton. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>Language>Localization>Technical Translation

Redefining the Document Using Adobe Acrobat  

How content is combined from multiple sources quickly and easily.

Baker, Donna L. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Document Design>Software>Adobe Acrobat

Revealing Your Hidden Value  

How do we add value? How can we measure that value? How can we add more value?

Laurent, J. Suzanna. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Presentations>TC

Same Tools, New Ideas: A Real-Life Example of Information Sharing and Reuse  

Sharing information between writers in a team is a great way to maximize resources and minimize cost.

Kucbel-Saumier, Melissa. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Writing

Survival Skills for the Lone Writer  

What to expect as a lone writer.

Jackson, Celeste. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Careers>TC

Transforming Your Company to a Usability Culture  

Documentation is a finger in the eroding dam of an unusable product.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2002). Articles>Documentation>Usability>Workplace

XML and Single-Sourcing with FrameMaker, Word, InDesign, XMLSpy, and More!  

Getting software to cooperate reduces the amount of editing you need to do, and creates better documents.

Aschwanden, Bernard. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

You Talking to Me?: Usability for Global Audiences on a Shoestring Budget  

For inexpensive usability, plan for content adaptation, presentation, access and feedback.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. STC Region 7 Proceedings (2003). Articles>Usability