Transcript Chapter 3 Technical Communication and Electronic

Chapter 3
Technical Communication and
Electronic Technologies
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Evolving technologies influence how
individuals produce and disseminate
information in and from their
workplaces, affecting every phase of
the problem-solving approach.
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Keeping Up With Progress
 Select an approach to keeping up that best suits
you and your own learning style:
 Learn by watching others or from the web
 Learn by trial and error
 Learn through seminars and workshops
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Tools for
Creating Documents
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Word Processors
Presentation Software
Graphics and Imaging Software
Web-Authoring Software
Desktop Publishing Software
Help Authoring Tools
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Word Processors
 Revise or change documents: cut & paste, find &
replace
 Work across multiple windows
 Use templates & style guides for consistent look
 Organize layout with tables and columns
 Insert symbols, images, and links
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Presentation Software
 Multimedia equipment helps audiences to take a
speaker more seriously and to retain
information.
 Allows you to:
 Work with a common background or design theme
 Incorporate audio, video, and graphical content
 Share across platforms
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Graphics and
Imaging Software
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Edit and crop images
Erase, mask, or “touch up” existing images
Create and manipulate text
Add gradient, blur, and dropshadow effects
Design graphs, tables, and charts
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Web-Authoring Software
 Embed graphics, links, and sound directly on the
page
 Make page instantly available by uploading from
within the program
 Switch between two levels:
 Hypertext (HTML) code
 What-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) design
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Web-Authoring Software
 View code to find and correct bad coding and to
insert design notes
 Use a WYSIWYG view to insert text, graphics,
and multimedia
 Use CSS for consistency by storing all design info
in a single separate file
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Desktop Publishing (DTP)
 Combines many features of word processing,
web authoring, image design
 Creates page layouts that combine text, graphics,
photos, and other visual elements
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Help Authoring Tools
(HATs)
 Help files explain how to use, navigate, or search
through extensive online sites, files, or
documents.
 Specialized Help Authoring Tools help writers:
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Create and organize information
Develop searchable menus
Prioritize and sequence information
Create glossaries and tables of contents
Create navigational aids
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Single-Sourcing Programs
 Allow users to create multiple documents in
various formats from the same content
 Save time and money by avoiding duplication
errors
 Allow for easier sharing among colleagues
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Tools for Communicating
and Collaborating
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The Internet
Email
The World Wide Web
Electronic Messaging
Videoconferencing
Groupware
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Intranets & the Internet
 Some companies use private local networks
(intranets) for internal sharing and
collaboration.
 Much of the rest of the Internet is made of the
World Wide Web: the public network of
networks that stores web pages.
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
The World Wide Web
 Provides access to (and storage of) research
materials
 Allows embedding of multimedia content
 Enables easier transmission of and access to files
and documents
 Enables readers at different locations to access,
change, and upload versions of documents
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Email
 Allows users to send documents as attachments
 Connects writers to larger audiences via listservs
 Offers advantages of speed, price, and
convenience
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Ethics and Electronic
Communication
“The newest computer can merely compound, at
speed, the oldest problem in the relations
between human beings, and in the end the
communicator will be confronted with the old
problem of what to say and how to say it.”
– Edward R. Murrow
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
“Netiquette” refers to the
informal guidelines of
behavior for the Internet.
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Netiquette
 Choose an appropriate email address
 Use an appropriate subject line
 Respect others' bandwidth by limiting message
and attachment size
 Lurk before you leap
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Netiquette
 Polish your writing
 Watch those caps
 Back it up and save it
 Remember that when it's out there,
it's out there
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Electronic Messaging
 Is good for short discussions, follow-ups, and
immediate questions
 Can facilitate group conversation
 Offers remote communication, thanks to
wireless PDAs and smart phones
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Webconferencing
 Allows individuals to interact in real time
 Can be sophisticated and expensive on larger
scales
 Is made more available by webcams
 Is developing rapidly in complexity, usage, and
quality
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
Groupware
 Brings together many features of
videoconferencing, document sharing, and the
World Wide Web in one package
 Allows users to develop sophisticated
presentations, spreadsheets, and documents
 Manages lists of contacts and collaborators
 Provides whiteboards that a user can “draw” on
so everyone can see
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.
The Future
 Wireless
 Bandwidth
 Integration
 Portability
 Price
Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century.
© 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 07458. All Rights Reserved.