The Absence of Light  

If you ever create shadows in your designs or illustrations, check out these tips for making them richer and more realistic.

Campbell, J. Scott. Adobe Magazine (1997). Design>Graphic Design>Image Editing

Accentuate the Negative: Obtaining Effective Reviews Through Focused Questions    

How you ask a question strongly determines the type of answer that you will obtain. For effective documentation reviews, whether they are conducted internally or externally as part of usability testing, it's important to use precise questions that will provide concrete information on which to base revisions. This paper proposes an approach to obtaining useful feedback that emphasizes negative, 'what did we do wrong?' questions. This approach focuses limited resources on areas that need improvement rather than areas that already work well and that don't require immediate improvement.

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. Technical Communication Online (1997). Articles>Usability>Methods>Testing

Activity Theory: Basic Concepts and Applications

This tutorial introduces participants to Activity Theory, a conceptual approach that provides a broad framework for describing the structure, development, and context of computer-supported activities. The tutorial will consist of lectures, discussion and small group exercises. A Web community will be established so attendees will be able to continue to learn about and use activity theory.

Kaptelinin, Victor and Bonnie A. Nardi. ACM SIGCHI (1997). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Theory>Rhetoric

Add One Egg, a Cup of Milk, and Stir: Single Source Documentation for Today

What happens when the software firm you work for decides it will not deliver large printed manuals any more? Then the request comes to put everything online. Six months later, user profiles shift to the World Wide Web and you're asked to deliver HTML. In the future, a database of SGML information chunks may let us deliver anything, any which way. Today, we must devise a system that allows us to 'author once, publish many'. Such as system is crucial for software and hardware documentation. The method I chose was to go from FrameMaker to Acrobat .pdf files to HTML. I wrote in Adobe FrameMaker, then converted to .pdf files with Adobe Acrobat, and converted FrameMaker to HTML files with Quadralay WebWorks Publisher. But while we're waiting for the future, just learning SGML and diving deep into DTDs alone could be a mistake. SGML is a language which sets out structure, and most of us are concerned with content. Enter Information Mapping, or information types of your own devising. Identifying chunks of information such as a procedure for changing the default printer is extremely important. If we then mark each chunk for an index and record its type and title, we've also got the keywords for a future database.

Stieren, Carl. Simware (1997). Articles>Documentation>Single Sourcing>Adobe FrameMaker

Advanced Technical Communication

English 497 offers you the opportunity to enhance your skills in planning, inventing, organizing, drafting, revising, and editing technical prose. Most students will develop these skills as they complete a single large project consisting of several parts--perhaps including a technical report and articles written for professional and popular journals. We will emphasize the importance of and strategies for accommodating your presentation to your audience. We will also devote much attention to editing technical prose, yours and your classmates'. Finally, we will recognize that the Web has altered the way that professionals communicate. You will learn to take advantage of the new electronic resources in discovering information and communicating it to others.

Harwood, John T. Pennsylvania State University (1997). Academic>Courses>Undergraduate

Advanced Usability Topics  

An increasing number of STC members now have usability programs as part of their job responsibilities, although they’re not always full-time usability specialists. Many STC members have been performing usability activities for several years.

Rosenbaum, Stephanie L. and Lori K. Anschuetz. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Usability

The Almighty Thud

Why do we bother with models or documentation? They don't execute, and our customers pay us for working code, not pretty pictures. We bother with models to communicate. The idea is that a graphical object model can show how objects fit together more clearly than looking at the source, an interaction diagram can show a collaboration better than figuring out the call path from several class definitions. But so often the design documentation fails in this, and leaves me puzzled on my sofa.

Fowler, Martin. MartinFowler.com (1997). Articles>Documentation>Agile>Extreme Documentation

Analysis of Virtual Classroom Environments: Survey of Classroom Dynamics in RSVP Courses  

Students can earn Master's degrees or continuing education certificates by at tending courses offered live satellite or compressed video or on videotape for delayed viewing. This panel discussion evaluates the effects of the various forms of technology and modes of interaction on the classroom dynamics in a live satellite class offered by Rensselaer Polytechnic institute (RPI).

Brunner, Kirsten, Roger A. Grice, David F: Hans, Teresa L. Hood and Leo J. Smith. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Online

Analyzing and Reporting Usability Data

The Just-In-Time (JIT) method of data analysis has the virtue of immediacy, rapid turn-around, and team involvement; however there are several disadvantages. First, this type of analysis is problem-focused, rather than goal-focused. Long lists of problems are generated, but there is no clear relation to specific usability goals. Second, developers may not be able to fix things immediately so the context of the problem may be lost when it is time to fix the problem. Third, the JIT analysis requires that the entire development team observe the testing sessions since problems may occur that are the responsibility of different developers.

Wilson, Chauncey E. Usability Interface (1997). Articles>Usability>Testing>Reports

Animation as Documentation: A Replication with Reinterpretation  

Animated demonstrations are replacing text as the vehicle for documentation, help, and training on new software systems. An animated demonstration is a demonstration of a particular feature or features by a ghost user. The demonstration executes the procedure for performing a task, on-screen, as the user passively watches. Whereas research into the effectiveness of animated demonstrations has produced mixed results, certain patterns of behavior are emerging. The current study replicates the learning advantage offered by animated demonstration and shows that retention is equal to that of a group instructed by text after a one week retention interval. Implications for development of on-line training materials are discussed.

Lipps, Audrey W., J. Gregory Trafton and Wayne D. Gray. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Interactive

Anti-Aliasing Evolves  

A variety of technologies are evolving to help make type readable on the computer screen. Here's a report on anti-aliasing.

Tinkel, Kathleen. Adobe Magazine (1997). Design>Typography>Online

Applying Research to Practice: Helping Users Find What They Need  

Have you wondered why some documents succeed when others don’t? Have you been curious about the research behind the guidelines that you use? Are you ready for some new challenges and new ways of thinking about organizing documents for your audiences? Come participate in this demonstration/workshop on applying research to practice. We’ll concentrate on issues about how to help users find what they need in documents, interfaces, and just in time training materials.

Redish, Janice C. 'Ginny'. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Usability>Help

Applying Software Development Methodology to Developing Help Systems  

Help systems have become an important part of the Technical Communicator’s repertoire. If we as communicators approach developing help systems in the same way we approach writing paper documentation, we miss the advantages of using software development methodology.

Nurczyk, Susan V. STC Proceedings (1997). Presentations>Documentation>Workflow

Assessing Publications Process-Maturity: The Experiences of Two Organizations at Different Levels of Process Maturity  

As Information Development organizations grow and mature, their organizational structure should grow and mature as well. The optimal structure for an organization in its early stages should focus on achieving stability and repeatable quality. As an organization matures, the optimal structure may need to be significantly different to develop a more thorough understanding of customers and contribute substantially to customer satisfaction.

Hackos, JoAnn T., Lisa Blaschke, Brenda MacKay and Deborah J. Rosenquist. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Information Design>Assessment>Case Studies

Assessing the Value Added by In-House Technical Communication Courses  

A specially designed instrument that measures the effectiveness of written communication courses taught in-house has been pilot-tested with employees of a major power utility. The instrument showed that, one month afrr attending the course, participants’ written communication skills increased by twenty percent. A second measurement, recordedfour months aJer the course, showed there had been only a marginal drop in skills compared to the level recorded three months earlier.

Blicq, Ronald S. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Writing>Assessment

ATTW Bibliography (1997)  

In the 1997 bibliography, I’ve included all the categories of the taxonomy, even if the contributors have submitted no entries in a given section. Several users informed me that they prefer to see the entire taxonomy since doing so facilitates their research; thus it seemed wise to return to our original list of sections. This year, we have added quite a few new sources; all are noted on the list of works consulted at the end of this bibliography. We have expanded in the areas of health, risk, and environmental communication publications; we continue last year’s trend of fewer entries in editing, revision, and the general writing aspect of the profession. No new categories have been added.

ATTW (1997). Resources>Bibliographies>TC

Author-Friendly Electronic Submission to SGML-based Academic Journal

I and my co-workers developed an author-friendly method for electronic submission to an academic journal, which is published using a SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language)-based system. The method uses a style function and RTF (rich text format), and can be used in popular word processing software: Microsoft Word, WordPerfect, PageMaker, etc. The method has been adopted in Bulletin of Chemical Society of Japan (CSJ) since April 1994, which is the monthly English journal of CSJ, and has been published since 1937. The journal has been published in a SGML-based system since January 1993. Our electronic submission method will be included in SIST (Standards for Information of Science and Technology) No. 14 (draft): 'Guideline for electronic submission', which is considered in SIST Committee in Japan, and will be published in near future.

Ishizuka, Hidehiro. ISRDP in Digital Libraries (1997). Articles>Content Management>SGML

Avoiding Plagiarism

Academic writing in American institutions is filled with rules that writers often don’t know how to follow. A working knowledge of these rules, however, is critically important; inadvertent mistakes can lead to charges of plagiarism, or the unacknowledged use of somebody else’s words or ideas. While other cultures may not insist so heavily on documenting sources, American institutions do. A charge of plagiarism can have severe consequences, including expulsion from the university. This handout, which does not reflect any official university policy, is designed to help writers develop strategies for knowing how to avoid accidental plagiarism.

Purdue University (1997). Academic>Writing>Ethics>Plagiarism

Avoiding the Pitfalls of Independent Contracting  

With the decline of employer loyalty to employees and the move to outsource peripheral functions, many technical communicators are exploring the possibility of becoming an independent contractor. Although much emphasis has been given to marketing and negotiation skills, there are pitfalls awaiting the entrepreneur who leaps before looking. Among these pitfalls for former corporate employees are structuring time and dealing with isolation. Success as an independent is measured by how well he/she deals with these intangible issues.

Smith, Gem. STC Proceedings (1997). Careers>Consulting>Contracts

Back to the Future: Instructional Practices and Discourse Values    

When I think of writing-across-the curriculum—especially when asked to look toward the future, I am drawn to looking back to my initial involvement in WAC in the mid-1970's.

Herrington, Anne J. LLAD (1997). Articles>Language>Writing Across the Curriculum

Balancing the Elements in Job Aid Design  

Job Aids offer the Technical Communicator a unique opportunity to present acquired product knowledge in a creative format. In order to produce a successful job aid, you must select and blend elements of material, color, graphics, text, typography, and ergonomics in a manner that will be most useful to the intended user. The information for the Job Aid is culled from the larger project deliverables such as User Manuals or Procedure Guides; the creativity for the Job Aid comes from within and is driven by the needs of the user and the limitations of time, money, and environment.

Houterman, John and Kristine E. Henriksen. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Education>Tutorials

Barriers and Approaches to Reviewing Documentation

This article discusses some important issues in implementing a software documentation review process. If you are part of a small development organization and have few reviewer resources available, you may have to improvise techniques for providing the services and procedures suggested here.

Boston Broadside (1997). Articles>Documentation>Editing>Collaboration

Basic Indexing Techniques

If you're like most technical writers, you have had little (if any) training in creating indexes for the documents you produce. Even technical writers who graduate from Technical Communication degree programs receive little or no training in writing indexes. Consequently, most technical writers learn indexing 'by the seat of their pants ' and, unfortunately, many of the indexes they produce fall short of readers' needs.

Lathrop, Lori M. Boulder Writers Alliance (1997). Articles>Indexing

Basic JavaScript with Examples

Since the day Microsoft built support for JavaScript into Internet Explorer 3.0, Netscape's client-side language has become the de facto standard for enhancing web pages at the browser. In this full-length excerpt from Practical JavaScript Programming, author Reaz Hoque explains the basics of client-side scripting. He also gives you some neat scripts that can enhance your web pages, making them impressively interactive. Important code snippets available in this article include a browser detection script, capable of offering tailored content based on broswer version or type. For instance, it's important (unless you like crashing visitors' computers) to only serve JavaScript 1.1 code to Netscape Navigator 3.0 or later.

Hoque, Reaz. Intranet Journal (1997). Resources>Tutorials>DHTML