Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, All Rights Reserved. Chapter 3 Technical Communication and Electronic Technologies

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 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, 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, All Rights Reserved. Tools for Creating Documents  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, 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, 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, All Rights Reserved. Graphics and Imaging Software  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, 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, 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, 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, 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:  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, 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, All Rights Reserved. Tools for Communicating and Collaborating  The Internet   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, 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, 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, All Rights Reserved.  Allows users to send documents as attachments  Connects writers to larger audiences via list- servs  Offers advantages of speed, price, and convenience

Dobrin / Weisser / Keller: Technical Communication in the Twenty-First Century. © 2010 Pearson Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ, 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, 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, All Rights Reserved. Netiquette  Choose an appropriate 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, 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, 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, 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, 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, All Rights Reserved. The Future  Wireless  Bandwidth  Integration  Portability  Price