#TechComm or #Tekom? My trip to Germany part 1 & 2

Originally published on Minnesota State bridges to the world.

#TechComm or #Tekom? My trip to Germany part 1

#TechComm or #Tekom? My trip to Germany part II

WWB – Friendship, Love, and Saying Goodbye

This is the second, and final, personal post in memoriam of my friend, Joe Westom.

See the following link to read the first post – the password is Joe

• WWB – Legend, Lore, and the Loss of a Brother

WWB – Legend, Lore, and the Loss of a Brother

This is a Personal Post in memoriam of my friend, Joe Westom.

I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.

It’s been difficult, but I’ve managed to not write anything about or to Joe since Alex Durkee called me about Joe’s accident. It’s been hard because there is so much I wanted to say, but wanted to say to Joe. I enjoy reading all of the Guestbook messages each day; it makes me so happy to know that so many others feel as I do about Joe. It was a good decision for the doctors to restrict visits to family only—the number of “visits” to his support page tell of the love for Joe, and I believe that each of the 9,317 “visits” would have been ten thousand people going to Joe if the doctors had allowed it.

Article Review: “The Textualizing Functions of Writing for Organizational Change”

Anderson, Donald L. 2004. “The Textualizing Functions of Writing for Organizational Change.” Journal of Business and Technical Communication 18 (2) (April 1): 141–164.

Contents:
Logic, organization, and argumentation strategies
Are the claims logical interpretations of the data?
Significance to the field of technical communication

This research paper combines a literature review with an ethnographic study to examine “how change is accomplished through language” (Anderson 2004, 142).

Anderson introduces his two research questions at the end of the introduction and literature review and immediately preceding the methodology section. The rest of the paper is the presentation of the study results along with concurrent analysis.

The Anderson’s conclusion (and theoretical perspective) is that an idea, or series of ideas—whether it’s from meetings, voicemails, IMs, etc.—can’t effect change unless they are “textualized”, written down or otherwise transformed into an “object”; this object is the agent that allows change to occur.

Reflections on Finishing a Technical Communication Graduate Program

As I reach the end of my time at Minnesota State University, Mankato, I can look back and say that I made the right choice to pursue the Master of Arts, Technical Communication (MATC) degree.

Before my penultimate semester in the program, I pondered whether the graduate technical communication program I chose was the correct option for me. Once again, I want to take some time to reflect on the choices I made, the experiences I’ve gained, and what I’ve learned along the way as I finish my thesis and complete the program.

*** To read the full article, see the Spring 2013 issue of Techniques, pages 1-5, 7.

Summary of contents:

• Applying theory to practice — the “practice” versus “theory” debate
• Master of Arts degree is synonomous with “adaptable”
• How to benefit from networking as a technical communication graduate student and technical writer
• How an online graduate degree prepares you training, working, and teaching
• Technical Communication is a Multidisciplinary Field
• Minnesota State University, Mankato, fulfilled my goals for a master’s degree in technical communication

STC Live Webinar 2012: Using YouTube Videos to Enhance “Traditional” Documentation

This webinar was originally given as a presentation at the STC Summit, 2012.

For the audio/video of our original presentation the STC Summit 2012, visit the Summit@aClick site (first 5 minutes free, login required:

Using Videos to Enhance “Traditional” Documentation.

Below are the description and slides for the updated presentation Ben and I gave as an STC Live Web Seminar, 11 December 2012.

Presentation description:

The way users consume information is becoming increasingly visual. Technical communicators can address this need and increase user satisfaction by creating video tutorials.  Ben and Fer present some best practices for choosing topics, creating, sharing, promoting, and measuring the success of video tutorials in YouTube.

Topic description:

Rich media, including video, infographics, screencasts, screen recordings, and flash animation, is an effective tool to supplement and enhance online support documentation. Users are increasingly using sites such as YouTube to share video-tutorials for tasks such as replacing a print cartridge in a printer, to basic software tutorials.

If your organization is considering using video tutorials, this session will provide real-world examples and ideas from two different companies that are using video tutorials with success.

This presentation will discuss what content to produce, how to best deliver it, and why it is more effective for increasing customer satisfaction for some users than text-only support documentation. Additionally, technical communicators can incorporate rich media into their social media strategy to leverage content across several channels thereby reaching the most users possible.

Report: Usability testing of the MnOnline website

Last year (2011) I completed a usability study of the MnOnline website (http://www.mnscu.edu/online/index.html) for a project in ENG 674 User Experience at Minnesota State University, Mankato. This was my first foray into both UX/Usability research and writing a quantitative report.

The final document is available to view by opening the PDF from the following link:

Report: Usability testing of the MnOnline website

Related:

Report: Webinar Best Practices for Online Learning and Collaboration

Redesigned Help File with graphics and video

Article Review: 350-word summary of “A Question of Ethics: Lessons from Technical Communicators on the Job”

Dragga, Sam. 1997. “A Question of Ethics: Lessons from Technical Communicators on the Job.” Technical Communication Quarterly 6 (2): 161–178.

The questions of how useful, desirable, or effective ethics instructions is for professional technical communicators has been visited and revisited for decades. Most of the literature concerning ethics instruction focuses on the analytical perspective rather than on narratives. In this article, Dragga offers a claim based in part on

Redesigned Help File with graphics and video

My work machine uses the program IZArc for compressing (zipping) and extracting archives. Some time ago, I was looking for some information in the Help File (a .chm file called “IZArc Help” that comes with the program) and noticed that it covered many topics but that the topics I was interested in (compressing and archiving) contained little useful information. Most of the topics could be considered “glossary” information rather than “help.” Furthermore, the entire Help File didn’t contain one graphic for procedures, or even a graphical overview of the user interface (UI).

What is a help system?

A help system is a reference document designed to assist users with learning how to use a product or feature. This form of documentation creates

Article Review: 350-word summary of “The Big Chill: Seven Technical Communications Talk Ten Years After Their Master’s Program.”

Wilson, Greg, and Julie Dyke Ford. 2003. “The Big Chill: Seven Technical Communications Talk Ten Years After Their Master’s Program.” Technical Communication 50 (2) (May): 145-159.

This “Applied Research” study uses an interactive qualitative method and what the authors define as an “autoethnography” to critically examine the culture of technical communicators. The authors posed questions to stimulate an unstructured conversation on how technical and professional communication (TPC) Master’s programs prepared students for the workplace.  The four topics addressed in this survey were