Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Chapter 3Technical Writing and

Electronic Technologies

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Technology is any implement that helps perform a task, from sticks and stones to modern computers

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Computer Technologies‣ Inevitable and necessary in workplace

writing

‣ Influential in producing and disseminating information

‣ All documents depend on them

‣ All workers depend on them

‣ Many to choose from for different tasks

‣ Involved in the Problem-Solving Approach

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Different Programs for Different Documents

‣ Word processors

‣ Web-authoring software

‣ Graphics and imaging software

‣ Desktop publishing software

‣ Help authoring tools

‣ Single sourcing programs

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Word Processors‣ Can revise, edit, correct, and change documents

‣ Use templates and style guides

‣ Create tables and columns

‣ Use multiple windows

‣ Can be used to find and replace words and phrases

‣ Can be used to share and collaborate at various stages

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Web-Authoring Software

‣ Used to design, create, and maintain websites

‣ Uses graphics, images, sounds, links

‣ Use HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) in the background

‣ Uses WYSIWYG for ease of composition

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Graphics & Imaging Software

‣ Creates new images

‣ Edits and crops existing images

‣ Masks portions of images

‣ Modifies and cleans up images

‣ Creates text and logos, drop shadows, and effects

‣ Develops diagrams, charts, and tables

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Desktop Publishing (DTP)

‣ Combines features of word-processing, web-authoring, and graphics and imaging software

‣ Renders the whole publication, including text, images, and other visual elements

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Help Authoring Tools‣ Create and organize information to help guide

readers through a process, problem, application, program, product, or website

‣ Prioritize and sequence help information so users follow it logically on various systems

‣ Create glossaries, appendices, and tables of content to organize and prioritize information

‣ Create and use a variety of navigational aides, such as forward, back, and home buttons

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Single Sourcing Software

‣ Stores one version of the information to use in multiple documents

‣ Is similar to help authoring software

‣ Saves time and money, eliminates errors, and improves consistency

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Communicating & Collaborating

‣ The Internet

‣ Email

‣ The World Wide Web

‣ Electronic Messaging

‣ Video Conferencing

‣ Groupware

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

The Internet

‣ Is a huge network of interconnected computers

‣ Facilitates most workplace communication

‣ Is a generic name for multiple modes of communication

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Email‣ Is the most widely used tool for

collaboration and communication today

‣ Delivers 35 billion messages per day

‣ Carries attachments, like word processing documents

‣ Provides a conduit for listservs and newgroups

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Netiquette — The Informal Rules of the Internet

‣ Choose an appropriate email address

‣ Use an appropriate subject line

‣ Respect others’ bandwidth

‣ Lurk before you leap

‣ Polish your writing

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Netiquette Continued

‣ WATCH THOSE CAPS

‣ Use attachments appropriately

‣ Back it up and save it

‣ Remember: when it’s out there, it’s out there

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

The World Wide Web‣ Web pages stored on servers, written

in code, and accessed through a web browser

‣ A large portion of the Internet

‣ The primary medium through which technical information is published, transmitted, archived, and accessed today

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Electronic Messaging

‣ Is synchronous communication through short text-based messages

‣ Is used for short discussions, follow-ups, and immediate questions

‣ Can be used to facilitate group discussions

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Videoconferencing‣ Allows participants to see and hear one

another

‣ Allows individuals at different locations to interact in real time

‣ Is not as convenient as text-based messaging, since hardware, software, and bandwidth can be problematic and expensive

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

Groupware‣ Brings together many of the features of

videoconferencing, document sharing, and the WWW in one package

‣ Allows secure and private file sharing

‣ Uses whiteboards to “draw” on a screen that everyone can see, regardless of their location

‣ Manages lists of contacts, group members, or collaborative teams

Dobrin / Keller / Weisser : Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2008 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.

The Future‣ Wireless

‣ Allows remote connections

‣ Bandwidth and connection speed

‣ Allows for more sophisticated documents

‣ Ubiquity

‣ More integrated, transparent, and portable

‣ Price

‣ Cheaper, more powerful computing