Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Developing Quality Technical Information A Handbook for Writers and Editors

by: Hargis, Gretchen; Carey, Michelle; Hernandez, Ann Kilty; Hughes, Polly; Longo, Deirdre; Rouiller, Shannon; Wilde, Elizabeth

Developing Quality Technical Information A Handbook for Writers and Editors

by: Hargis, Gretchen; Carey, Michelle; Hernandez, Ann Kilty; Hughes, Polly; Longo, Deirdre; Rouiller, Shannon; Wilde, Elizabeth

ISBN 13:
9780131477490
ISBN 10:
0131477498
Edition: 2nd
Format: Hardcover
Copyright: 04/06/2004
Publisher: IBM Press
Newer Edition

Rent

Sorry, this item is currently unavailable.

Note: Supplemental materials are not guaranteed with Rental or Used book purchases.

Extend or Purchase Your Rental at Any Time

Need to keep your rental past your due date? At any time before your due date you can extend or purchase your rental through your account.

Summary

The book presents a much needed approach to quality technical communication and a working plan for achieving quality. The examples are excellent and are easy to use and adapt. The editorial advice is simple and clear enough for tech writers who did not major in English or journalism. It is most worthy of a text in university programs, but it is more valuable to experienced writers, editors and managers concerned with raising the quality of their publications. The main difference between this and other books is that in each of the first nine chapters, one quality characteristic is presented that you can apply to your writing project to make technical information easy to use, easy to understand and easy to find. There are checklists at the end of each chapter for review and a Quality checklist in the appendix covering all of the characteristics. The book shows original text and revision text so that you can actually browse the book and see the differences applied. This is another excellent feature that should catch a purchaser's eye.

Contents	p. iii
Welcome	p. xi
Is this book for you?	p. xi
How to use this book	p. xii
Conventions used in this book	p. xii
Changes in this edition	p. xiii
Acknowledgments	p. xv
Quality technical information	p. 1
What is quality technical information?	p. 3
Relationships among the quality characteristics	p. 4
Order of the groups	p. 4
Quality characteristics compared with elements and guidelines	p. 5
Other possible quality characteristics of technical information	p. 6
Using the quality characteristics to develop quality technical information	p. 7
Preparing to write: understanding users, tasks, and the product	p. 8
Writing and rewriting	p. 9
Reviewing, testing, and evaluating technical information	p. 10
Writing task, concept, and reference topics	p. 10
Establishing a unit of reuse	p. 11
Restructuring technical information	p. 12
Easy to use	p. 15
Task orientation	p. 17
Write for the intended audience	p. 19
Present information from the user's point of view	p. 20
Indicate a practical reason for information	p. 23
Relate details to a task where appropriate	p. 23
Provide only a necessary amount of conceptual information in task topics	p. 24
Focus on real tasks, not product functions	p. 27
Use headings that reveal the tasks	p. 31
Divide tasks into discrete subtasks	p. 33
Provide clear, step-by-step instructions	p. 36
Make each step a clear action for users to take	p. 36
Group steps for usability	p. 38
Clearly identify optional steps	p. 41
Identify criteria at the beginning of conditional steps	p. 43
In sum	p. 45
Accuracy	p. 47
Write information only when you understand it, and then verify it	p. 49
Keep up with technical changes	p. 53
Maintain consistency of all information about a subject	p. 58
Reuse information when possible	p. 60
Avoid introducing inconsistencies and eliminate those that you find	p. 60
Use tools that automate checking for accuracy	p. 67
Check the accuracy of references to related information	p. 69
In sum	p. 72
Completeness	p. 75
Cover all topics that support users' tasks, and only those topics	p. 77
Cover each topic in just as much detail as users need	p. 79
Include enough information	p. 82
Include only necessary information	p. 84
Use patterns of information to ensure proper coverage	p. 90
Repeat information only when users will benefit from it	p. 96
In sum	p. 99
Easy to understand	p. 101
Clarity	p. 103
Focus on the meaning	p. 105
Avoid ambiguity	p. 110
Use words with a clear meaning	p. 110
Avoid vague referents	p. 113
Place modifiers appropriately	p. 114
Avoid long strings of nouns	p. 116
Write positively	p. 118
Make the syntax of sentences clear	p. 120
Keep elements short	p. 124
Remove roundabout expressions and needless repetition	p. 124
Choose direct words	p. 127
Keep lists short	p. 129
Write cohesively	p. 132
Present similar information in a similar way	p. 136
Use lists appropriately	p. 136
Segment information into tables	p. 139
Use technical terms only if they are necessary and appropriate	p. 141
Decide whether to use a term	p. 141
Use terms consistently	p. 142
Define each term that is new to the intended audience	p. 144
In sum	p. 146
Concreteness	p. 149
Choose examples that are appropriate for the audience and subject	p. 152
Consider the level and needs of users	p. 152
Use examples appropriately in conceptual, task, and reference information	p. 154
Use focused, realistic, accurate, up-to-date examples	p. 160
Make examples easy to find	p. 162
Use visual cues to indicate where examples are	p. 162
Make examples part of the user interface	p. 163
Make clear where examples start and stop	p. 163
Make code examples easy to adapt	p. 166
Use scenarios to illustrate tasks and to provide overviews	p. 169
Set the context for examples and scenarios	p. 172
Relate unfamiliar information to familiar information	p. 174
Use general language appropriately	p. 176
In sum	p. 178
Style	p. 181
Use correct grammar	p. 183
Check for sentence fragments	p. 184
Correct pronoun problems	p. 185
Correct dangling modifiers	p. 187
Use correct and consistent spelling	p. 189
Use consistent and appropriate punctuation	p. 191
Write with the appropriate tone	p. 193
Use an active style	p. 196
Use active voice	p. 196
Use the present tense	p. 198
Use the appropriate mood	p. 199
Follow template designs and use boilerplate text	p. 200
Create and reuse templates	p. 200
Use boilerplate text to ensure inclusion of necessary information	p. 201
Create and follow style guidelines	p. 203
Provide practical and consistent highlighting	p. 205
Present list items consistently	p. 207
Use unbiased language	p. 208
In sum	p. 211
Easy to find	p. 213
Organization	p. 215
Organize information into discrete topics by type	p. 218
Organize tasks by order of use	p. 222
Organize topics for quick retrieval	p. 225
Separate contextual information from other types of information	p. 228
Organize information consistently	p. 232
Provide an appropriate number of subentries for each branch	p. 234
Emphasize main points; subordinate secondary points	p. 236
Reveal how the pieces fit together	p. 239
In sum	p. 243
Retrievability	p. 245
Facilitate navigation and search	p. 247
Provide a complete and consistent index	p. 249
Use an appropriate level of detail in the table of contents	p. 254
Provide helpful entry points	p. 257
Link appropriately	p. 260
Design helpful links	p. 264
Ensure that a link describes the information that it links to	p. 264
In similar links and cross-references, emphasize the text that is different	p. 265
Minimize the effort that is needed to reach related information	p. 265
Avoid redundant links	p. 266
Make linked-to information easy to find in the target topic	p. 268
In sum	p. 273
Visual effectiveness	p. 277
Use graphics that are meaningful and appropriate	p. 279
Illustrate significant concepts	p. 279
Avoid illustrating what is already visible	p. 280
Choose graphics that complement the text	p. 284
Use visual elements for emphasis	p. 288
Emphasize the appropriate information	p. 288
Ensure that your visual elements are not distracting	p. 292
Use visual elements logically and consistently	p. 295
Use a visually simple but distinct heading hierarchy	p. 295
Maintain consistent placement of document elements	p. 297
Ensure that the look and feel of multimedia presentations is consistent	p. 301
Use icons and symbols consistently	p. 303
Balance the number and placement of visual elements	p. 304
Use visual cues to help users find what they need	p. 307
Visually identify recurring alternatives or contexts	p. 307
Ensure that visual cues are usable in all environments	p. 309
Ensure that textual elements are legible	p. 311
Use a legible typeface and size	p. 311
Ensure that the text fits in the available space	p. 315
Ensure that the contrast between text and background is adequate	p. 316
Use color and shading discreetly and appropriately	p. 318
Ensure that all users can access the information	p. 323
In sum	p. 325
Putting it all together	p. 329
Applying more than one quality characteristic	p. 331
Applying quality characteristics to task information	p. 332
Applying quality characteristics to conceptual information	p. 337
Applying quality characteristics to reference information	p. 340
Applying quality characteristics to information for an international audience	p. 344
Applying quality characteristics to information on the Web	p. 351
Revising technical information	p. 355
Reviewing, testing, and evaluating technical information	p. 357
Inspecting technical information	p. 358
Reading and using the information	p. 358
Finding problems	p. 359
Reporting problems	p. 360
Testing information for usability	p. 361
Prototyping	p. 362
Testing outside a usability laboratory	p. 362
Testing in a usability laboratory	p. 363
Testing technical information	p. 367
Using test tools	p. 368
Using test cases	p. 368
Testing the user interface	p. 369
Editing and evaluating technical information	p. 370
Preparing to edit	p. 371
Getting an overview	p. 371
Reading and editing the information	p. 373
Looking for specific information	p. 376
Summarizing your findings	p. 376
Conferring with the writer	p. 378
Reviewing the visual elements	p. 379
Preparing to review	p. 380
Getting an overview	p. 380
Reviewing individual visual elements	p. 382
Summarizing your findings	p. 383
Conferring with the editor or writer or both	p. 384
Appendixes	p. 385
Quality checklist	p. 387
Who checks which quality characteristics?	p. 391
Quality characteristics and elements	p. 397
Looking at the quality characteristics	p. 398
Looking at the elements	p. 398
Resources and references	p. 401
Easy to use	p. 401
Easy to understand	p. 404
Easy to find	p. 407
Putting it all together	p. 409
Glossary	p. 413
Index	p. 425
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Developing Quality Technical Information A Handbook for Writers and Editors

Developing Quality Technical Information A Handbook for Writers and Editors

9780131477490

0131477498

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

Developing Quality Technical Information A Handbook for Writers and Editors

Developing Quality Technical Information A Handbook for Writers and Editors

9780131477490

0131477498

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials

Write a Review

Related Products