According to some blogs, technical writers need to know how to use certain tools in order to be effective in these modern times. But is this the truth? Let’s look at the current suggestions:
NOTE: Poll Issues
We’ve been seeing some issues with the poll. If you aren’t able to vote, try taking the poll from the blog’s home page at: http://www.writingassist.com/newsroom/ instead of attempting to take the poll while viewing this post.
Much has changed in the past 5 years or so. MadCap Flare grew in popularity while interest in FrameMaker and RoboHelp seems to have dropped off a bit. Or is that a misperception?
Here’s a chance for technical writers, information developers and others who author help content to chime in. Which tools are you using?
At the top of the left column of our blog you’ll see the Help Authoring Tools poll. We’d like to know which tools you’re using on a regular basis right now – not what you’ve used in the past.
Perhaps you’re not using any of these tools at all. Maybe you’re using an XML tool or some other way to handle help file deliverables we haven’t considered. If that’s the case, we’d love to hear what’s going on with you and find out which tools you use most, which tools you love and which you hate. So once you’ve taken the poll, chime in with a comment on this post and let’s get a conversation going.
What help authoring tools are you using? Please take the poll at the top of the left column of our blog. Then, please leave a comment on this post with anything you’d like to share about the tools you’re using and the trends you’re seeing in help development.
Technical writing and medical writing require information that’s thoughtful and precise, which is why many technical and medical writers are concerned that templates may restrict their writing.
If we stop to think about the way we live our lives, we’ll recognize that we tend to live 95% by habit. That is to say that most of what we do is something we do out of habit instead of out of a conscious decision. This is not a bad thing because it allows us to make the most of our time and it allows us to create the ideal circumstances in which we can do what we need to do, often without thinking about it. In some ways, templates allow us to produce without thinking.
It’s September, and you need to start brushing up on your technical writing skills. Time for you to head to class – but without recess or a snack.
What are your company’s assets? That’s the question this free webinar wants to answer this question for technical writers and teams. If you’re already using Lingo, or you want to learn more, why not use a free webinar to help you dive in?
MIT’s OpenCourseWare is an online catalog of course materials designed to help those who may never get a chance to enroll at school of MIT’s caliber. With free access to past class materials, students (and those who wish to become students again) gain access to past class syllabi, lectures, and more.
Technical communication in the medical and public health field is in high demand today, and in the Spring of 2007, MIT offered an undergraduate course for those who wanted to learn more – Introduction to Technical Communication: Perspectives on Medicine and Public Health. The courseware from that class is available for free through the MIT OpenCourseWare program (some textbooks require a purchase).
The course description reads:
Who hasn’t wanted to correct Wikipedia from time to time? If you’re a technical writer or just a fan of a certain celebrity, you might have noticed that not all of the Wiki entries are accurate. But who has time to fix them? One technical writing class at James Madison University decided that enough was enough. And the idea became a class project.
How to Fine Tune Wikipedia
In Cindy Allen’s Professional and Technical Writing class at James Madison University, she is having her students work on their writing and researching skills via Wikipedia. By examining the contents of Wikipedia to find errors, the students are then going in to correct those errors and make Wikipedia a more accurate research tool.
Clemson University students made a video for their technical writing class to show how electricity is delivered to the school. While this seems unorthodox, maybe there’s something to it. Maybe technical writing needs to be visual in more than just a 2D booklet or user guide.
A New Look at Technical Writing
Communication evolved as soon as Facebook and Twitter became more popular. While they might have been used to talk with friends at first, they’ve become places where ideas are shared and where technology can change because of one comment. Though there are downsides to social media when it comes to productivity, technical writing teams can benefit from staying connected.
Here’s how.
Technical writers and trainers aren’t always in an office or at a desk. When technical documentation or training materials need to be updated, the person responsible may be on the road at a customer site, snowed in or otherwise not in reach of the office desktop. While having laptops, netbooks, or tablets and access to the Internet is a good start, how can multiple users access the same file from different locations?
Cloud computing offers new answers to these problems for many professions.
According to many experts in technical writing and communications, 2011 is a time of change.
The predictions for technical communication in 2011 include issues such as:
What does all this mean for the coming year?
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