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Evaluating software documentation projects quickly
Often when we start a new job, or are dropped into an existing software documentation project at our current job, getting up to speed is overwhelming. This article suggests steps to quickly assess the situation, develop a plan, and begin writing.
Linguistic standardization of requirement specifications and functional specifications
Risk assessments, design plans and standardized protocols: These are the documents that first come to mind when thinking of internal documentation. Documents for internal company use, which must be provided mandatorily by law or due to internal process requirements, but which do not usually leave the company. Quite different on the other hand are requirement specifications and functional specifications: They are also typical documents of development processes for internal documentation, but are created to cross the company’s borders and coordinate the cooperation with external partners. And that puts these documents in the sphere of technical writing.
Microsoft Help Viewer V1.0 - a new Help format?
Not much was heard about the development of a new Help compiler by Microsoft for a long time - except denials. But something seems to be happening since 2009. There is talk of a new Help format in the Help community: HTML Help V3. Since the beginning of this year, the new format is called Microsoft Help Viewer V1.0. It was officially introduced in April 2010, with the release of version 2010 of Visual Studio.
Practical tips for PDF: Securing files
The security of PDF files is a common concern. There are several criteria with regard to the security of PDF files: Security from viruses, security against spying, security against loss of PDF files, security against modification by third parties and security against removal of content. This practical tip deals with the simple password protection that is integrated into Acrobat.
Using insights gained from brain research for technical documentation
Almost every week, new results from brain research are being published. Neurobiology has already been hailed as the science of the 21st century. Brain-friendly learning is the name of the new paradigm for didactics. What are the basic findings from neurobiology and can technical communication use these in a productive manner?
Expectations and responsibilities of technical communicators
In the corporate world, expectations and responsibilities play a very important role. Throughout all levels – from top management down to the individual employee – expectations and responsibilities are set. An organization places a certain set of expectations on each of its business units. In accordance with the organizational goals the business units then set their expectations. To meet these expectations, the business unit performs the task of delegating responsibilities to all teams and their respective team members. The desired responsibilities can be met well, if all individual team members understand exactly what is required of them.
International measures
“58.42 cm (23”) Full HD Monitor with 50:000:1 contrast and 5 ms”: technical details for many electronic products read something like this nowadays. What exactly does the specification “58.42 cm” signify? Were we not happy so far with the “23-inch monitor”? Since the beginning of the year, the EU lawmakers have been proposing more uniformity.
Terminology to suit the master plan
Terminology in line with a plan, tapping synergies, overcoming technical hurdles and not losing sight of the big picture, namely, overall multilingual communication: Is all this just a pipe dream or just a question of perspective and approach? A lot of things that corporate managers have hoped for with regards to terminology management are already feasible in terms of technology and work process.
tekom Spring Conference 2010: Discover Schweinfurt
The Spring Conference on the 29th and 30th of April is guided by the motto “Successful in times of change”. At the Hotel Mercure and Schweinfurt Main Island Conference Centre, exhibitors, participants and visitors can find out how Technical Communication is changing through the effects of the economic crisis and other factors, and how to overcome the newly emerging challenges.
Technical communication: Content is the key
Recent years have seen more and more capable authoring tools with an ever-increasing number of smart features. But what about the art of writing good content? Has the focus on highly-developed software applications shadowed the need for writing comprehensive, high-quality content?
Caution against “suitable handling”
“Why bother with writing a chapter on safety when no one is going to read it anyway?” A justifiable question indeed. In most cases, the reason quoted is escaping legal consequences. And that is exactly how safety notes would come across to readers: legally motivated dry patches, as if this is precisely what the author intended to achieve, namely, that the notes should go unread. An approach that has serious consequences, because the quality, the didactic design of the notes based on the latest inputs from science and technology, is crucial in effective safeguarding.
Practical tips for Word 2010 – where text and image exist in unison
Towards the end of November 2009 Microsoft released the beta versions of the next generation Office applications, namely, “Office 2010” for downloading. The text processing with Word is worth taking a look at where technical documentation is concerned. What does Word 2010 have in store for technical documentation? In what way is it different from the predecessors?
tcworld conference 2009: range of visitors remains stable
Technical professionals and corporate managers from all over Europe and overseas visited the tekom Annual Conference in 2009 again. The conference was held between the 4th and 6th of November in the Rhein-Main-Hallen in Wiesbaden. The organizers registered about 3,100 visitors to the Trade Fair and participants at the conference, about ten percent less than in the record year 2008. Compared to this, the number of exhibitors went up by two percent. With this result, the event has once again confirmed its standing as a top international event for technical communication and information development.
Terminology management with a system
When a terminology project is started, simple software solutions such Microsoft Excel or Word are often used. This is a reasonable process, actually, but the user soon realizes the limits of this approach where clarity and controllability are concerned. Before it comes to a point where the quality of a terminology system begins to suffer, it is advisable to procure a system for terminology management. But what are the criteria to be applied in the selection of such a special system?