EqWorld: The World of Mathematical Equations

Information about various classes of algebraic, ordinary differential, partial differential (mathematical physics), integral, and other mathematical equations. It also outlines some methods for solving equations, includes interesting articles, gives links to mathematical websites, lists useful handbooks, textbooks, and monographs, and refers to scientific publishers, journals, etc.

Polyanin, Andrei. Russian Academy of Sciences (2004). Resources>Education>Academic>Mathematics

Errors and Omissions Insurance: Assuming the Risk of Professional Liability  

Like most other business owners, technical communicators may, from time to time, have legal exposure for their actions and mistakes. Errors and omissions insurance is one way to manage the risks the associated with operating a business and while it may not be the best solution for everyone, it's worth considering whether the benefits of this of insurance coverage outweighs the costs.

Juillet, Christopher. STC Proceedings (2004). Careers>TC>Legal

Errors and Omissions Insurance: Assuming the Risk of Professional Liability  

Discusses the costs and benefits of errors and omissions insurance, a type of coverage normally obtained by independent technical communicators and consultants.

Juillet, Christopher. Intercom (2004). Careers>TC>Consulting

Estimating the Cost of Writing and Editing

The cost depends on how long and complex the document is, and how much editing is required. Most editors have a fixed hourly rate, and will quote for a job after they have studied the document. Skilled wordsmiths usually charge more per hour, because they do the job faster. When you find a fine wordsmith, handle with care. They are not exactly thick on the ground.

McAlpine, Rachel. Quality Web Content (2004). Careers>Consulting>Writing

An Ethical Gamble  

Are the ethical issues affected by a vendor's status as an offshore operation? By the prospect of Internet gambling becoming illegal in the U.S. (bill pending in the U.S. House of Representatives)? By the presumption of shady morals in the gambling industry? Should one's choices be affected by his/her rocky employment history?

Bryan, John G. Intercom (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Ethics

Ethical Lessons Learned from Computer Science

In this article, we will address the question 'How can computer science methods help us to better understand ethics?'

Bergmair, Richard. ACM Crossroads (2004). Articles>Technology>Ethics

European Union Interinstitutional Style Guide

One of the European Union’s vital tasks is to circulate and disseminate information in 11 languages. People are not generally aware of the scale and complexity of this task, and the ever-increasing amount and multilingual character of the documentation to be distributed, and it is only through continual development of the techniques used and constant rationalisation that the task can be accomplished each day. The Interinstitutional style guide has been produced with these things in mind.

European Union (2004). Resources>Style Guides>Regional>Europe

Evaluating and Managing Surveys

While surveys aren't the only research tool available to HR managers, they are the most useful one when 'hard' numbers are needed on how many people see things a certain way and when it's important to track differences among subgroups or improvement over time.

Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2004). Careers>Management>Assessment>Surveys

Evaluating Forms

To demonstrate an example of some accessibility issues in HTML Forms, the following content intentionally has accessibility errors.

Abou-Zahra, Shadi. W3C (2004). Articles>Web Design>Accessibility>Forms

Evaluation of Websites for Older Adults: How "Senior-Friendly" Are They?

Thirty-six websites designed for older adults were evaluated as to how well they complied to 25 'senior-friendly' guidelines recommended by the National Institute of Aging. Results indicate that a majority of the sites complied to guidelines related to basic navigation and content style but not for text size, text weight, or site map availability. Implications of compliance to these guidelines on user satisfaction and performance are discussed.

Hart, Traci A. Usability News (2004). Design>Web Design>Accessibility>Elderly

Everything I Know About Technical Writing I Learned by Writing Fiction  

This session is about writing, that daunting task of putting nouns and verbs together to see what they can say. If you are interested in good writing, and if putting nouns and verbs together is essential to what you do for a living, or essential to what your life is about, then you may find this session valuable. We will discuss what fiction writing and technical writing have in common, and how the fiction writer's use of plot, character, narrative voice, and style may be adapted for use by the technical writer.

Ferguson, Paul F. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing

Everything I Need To Know About Web Design I Learned Watching Oz

Making it as a web designer is like staying alive in the slammer. So before you sharpen your Photoshop skills or crack open that new book on crafting more effective customer experiences, you’d be well advised to catch a few reruns of HBO's Oz. ALA system designer Brian Alvey points out the parallels between a successful career in web design and the popular prison drama.

Alvey, Brian. List Apart, A (2004). Articles>Web Design

Eviter le Langage Trop Promotionnel

Internet n'est pas un mass media réceptionné passivement comme peut l'être la télévision ; Internet est un média qui est activé par l'utilisateur. C'est ce qui explique sans doute l'échec relatif de la publicité en ligne à laquelle les internautes ont tout le loisir de ne pas prêter attention. Les surfeurs n'ont pas de temps à gaspiller : ils s'orientent tout droit vers les informations qui leur sont utiles et fuient tout ce qui ressemble à de la publicité.

Redaction (2004). (French) Articles>Web Design>Writing

An Examination of Factors That Affect the Credibility of Online Health Information    

The study reported in this article examined the effect of street address and external links on perceptions of credibility of a Web page. The study attempted to determine how readers process these cues by drawing on key theories in both technical communication and psychology, including the Elaboration Likelihood Model. The article includes a review of relevant literature on which the experiment reported here was based, hypotheses concerning the expected outcomes of the experiment, the methodology, the results, and a discussion of the results. Finally, conclusions and implications for future research are discussed.

Freeman, Krisandra S. and Jan H. Spyridakis. Technical Communication Online (2004). Design>Web Design>Scientific Communication>Biomedical

Examining XML

Buzz about the value and implications of XML has reached an all-time high, with lofty claims of its potential to transform business and society, doing everything from simple document formatting to curing the common cold. I don't recommend you empty your medicine cabinet just yet. However, do take seriously the developments surrounding XML and its associated technologies. While XML might not merit all the hyperbole, it remains useful. Knowing how to apply this simple meta-language can help you create solutions that will give you a strong competitive advantage.

Trytten, Chris. FileMaker Advisor (2004). Articles>Information Design>Databases>XML

Expand your Skills in 2004

A sure way to find new work opportunities is to expand the range of skills you offer your employer or clients.

Usborne, Nick. Excess Voice (2004). Careers>Advice>TC

Experiences in Remote Usability Evaluations  

Traditional usability testing occurs in a laboratory setting in which users are directly observed by test facilitators. However, the costs associated with accessing users for usability testing as well as the limited availability of many users make it necessary to consider new methods for gathering usability feedback for software products. Online, remote testing is a key to achieving a larger, more diverse pool of participants.

Cheatham, Deane and Velda Bartek. IBM (2004). Articles>Usability>Testing

Expertise and Agency: Transformations of Ethos in Human-Computer Interaction  

The cases of expert systems and intelligent agents illuminate two dimensions of the dwelling-place we have built for ourselves with our technologies.

Miller, Carolyn R. and S. Michael Halloran. North Carolina State University (2004). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Rhetoric

Exploring Footers

With old-school table layout methods, vertical positioning is a piece of cake. With CSS layout, it's a piece of something else. New ALA contributing writer Bobby van der Sluis shows how to regain control of footers and other vertically positioned layout elements via CSS, JavaScript, and the DOM.

van der Sluis, Bobby. List Apart, A (2004). Design>Web Design>CSS>JavaScript

Exporting Technical Writing Jobs

Traditionally, contractors have played an important role in the technical writing field by providing specific expertise, thereby allowing companies to focus on their core competencies. Contactors have made it possible for companies to add temporary personnel when needed ' an important benefit in a field where work output peaks periodically.

VanNorman, Maggie. Carolina Communique (2004). Careers>TC>Outsourcing>Offshoring

Extending XHTML: Target and Strict

That the target attribute is not by default allowed in valid XHTML 1.1 or XHTML 1.0 Strict continues to be a source of frustration for designers. It simply doesn't have to be.

Burkett, Wayne. Dionidium (2004). Design>Web Design>Standards>XHTML

Extensible Master-Page Framework for ASP.NET 1.1 Using Pattern Oriented Design

Development of a framework for master-pages using ASP.NET and C#.

Mukhtar, Shams. Code Project, The (2004). Articles>Web Design>Server Side Includes>ASP

Extracting Content

How to extract content from a portion of a PDF document.

Baker, Donna L. PlanetPDF (2004). Articles>Content Management>Document Design>Adobe Acrobat

Eye Tracking in Human-Computer Interaction and Usability Research: Current Status and Future Prospects  

Discusses the various opportunities for eye-movement studies in future HCI research, and details some of the challenges that need to be overcome to enable effective application of the technique in studying the complexities of advanced interactive-system use.

Poole, Alex and Linden J. Ball. Alex Poole (2004). Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Usability>Eye Tracking

Eye-Tracking Studies: Usability Holy Grail?

The reality is that eye-tracking, while valuable, doesn't make usability testing any more powerful. It's what you do with the observations and the usability test data that counts.

Spillers, Frank. Demystifying Usability (2004). Articles>Usability>Methods>Eye Tracking