Technical Documentation Goes Electronic: New Media Create New Problems for Technical Writers

It is not very helpful if we reject any responsibility, even if it would be covered by some laws dealing with product safety and product liability.

Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (1999). Design>Multimedia>Legal

Technical Writers Gain Control

In the field of technical writing the use of Controlled Language (CL) attracts more and more public interest. However, the merits of controlling language in the context of technical documentation are not uncontroversial.

Reuther, Ursula. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization>Technical Writing

Technical Writers of India: A Survey

Though the technical writing field in India is growing faster than ever before, no institution in the country imparts any kind of technical writing course or training. Some University courses include a paper in Technical Writing, but its scope is very limited. Also, no figures are available about the number of technical writers in India.

TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>India

Technical Writing in India

The reason for the relatively low number of technical writers in India is because India has been concentrating mainly on doing projects. It is only in recent years that many top multinationals have set up their development factories here. This has dramatically increased the technical writers' population in India. In some companies in Bangalore and Pune, one gets to hear of teams of 10 and 20 technical writers. Otherwise, India is no different to other countries: a large number of technical writers work alone in their companies. Today, all these technical writers have come together to share information and ideas through TWIN, the Technical Writers of India mailing list.

Kamath, Gurudutt R. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>TC>Regional>India

Technical Writing Taught Over the Internet

Is it possible? Can a writing course be delivered effectively from a distance, without interaction from an instructor? It’s not easy, but we think it can. In fact we are well into developing an online course which is entirely self-evaluated.

Moretto, Lisa A. TC-FORUM (2001). Articles>Education>Online

There Goes the Productivity...

The productivity factor is defined as the relation between the daily amount of working time spent on paid projects and the total amount of working hours. The difference is the nonproductivity in a technical writer’s life.

Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (1998). Careers>TC

Time-Consuming Email Communications

Our documentation and advertising bureau mails five emails with attachments on the average per day to different customers, partners and other service organisations. The sizes of the attachments vary roughly from 50 KB up to 2 MB. About 60% of our emails with attachments don't create any problems with the addressee. However, 40% need additional attention. This fraction causes communication problems.

Thiele, Ulrich. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Collaboration>Correspondence>Email

To Use or Not to Use Word

For long Word documents, I never use the main/sub document feature. It's unreliable. Instead I link the graphics without saving in the document. When the document is completed I change it to relative path (using a Find & Replace procedure) for reliable file transfer.

Ring, Peter. TC-FORUM (1997). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word

Transferability of Long File Names

If you use Win95, NT, Mac, or any other operating system that allows long file names, are you aware of the problems that can arise when files are transferred to Win 3.11 or DOS? The problems particularly affect files that have long file names in which the first eight characters are the same, e.g. 'minutes of 20 Sept meeting' and 'minutes of 14 Nov meeting'. The problem arises as soon as a file is opened in an operating system that allows only eight characters in the file name, suffix excluded.

Gärdegard, Karin. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Collaboration>Operating Systems>Microsoft Windows

Two Years Later: The Triumphs, Trials and Tribulations of Life

Looking at escalating costs and short deadlines for foreign-language documentation, we decided over two years ago that the time had come for a hands-on study of translation tools and their practical benefits. Machine-translation systems such as Systran and Logos were not an option; instead, we directed our attention toward Translation Memory tools.

Kreitmeier, Peter. TC-FORUM (1998). Articles>Language>Localization>Machine Translation

The Use of Capitals

The question to the list-subscribers was I am looking for studies dealing with the difference between small letters and capitals. Are small letters easier to read? In France, road signs are written in capitals but it is not the case in the US or Canada.

Gaviero-Villatte, Elisa. TC-FORUM (2000). Articles>Style Guides>Grammar

User Instruction Missing

A story about testing the stability of airplane windshields from collisions with birds.

TC-FORUM (2002). Humor>Documentation>Engineering

What a Technical Translator Can Do For You

I work with a small team of scientists, specializing in technical documentation and translation. In the following text I will look from a different angle on the work of a technical translator.

Zimmermann, Annegret. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization

Why You Should Create A Web Site

Everyone wants to be on the Web. But why should he or she? Having answered the question, how do you reach your goal? You might be interested in my experiences.

von Obert, Alexander. TC-FORUM (2001). Articles>Web Design

Word as HTML/XML/SGML Editor by Using the MarkupKit 1.1 of SCHEMA

Authors producing larger texts usually structure their documents by paragraph-styles and character-styles, which are analysed by the program. This enables the user to produce, through the configuration of the converter, syntactically correct and ‘clean’ HTML, XML and even SGML.

Freisler, Stefan. TC-FORUM (1999). Design>Information Design>SGML

Writer's View of Using a Controlled Language

While the benefits of using a controlled language are clear from a business perspective (reduced translation costs, standardized phrases, reduced potential for misinterpretation), applying it can be a challenge when writing even simple service procedures.

Muldoon, Donna. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Language>Localization>Controlled Vocabulary

Writing Translatable Texts Saves Time

'The 'part', could be called a 'piece', a 'section' or also a 'product' for a change', thinks the technical editor to himself, while writing the documentation for a new semi-automatic stamping and book binding machine. After all, everyone learns in school that you should write using a great variety of words. But how is the poor translator who gets to translate this documentation supposed to know that it always refers to one and the same item?

Vollmar, Gabriele. TC-FORUM (2001). Articles>Documentation>Localization