Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Talk amongst yourselves…introducing forums.scriptorium.com

February 9th, 2010 by Sarah O'Keefe

Our web site now has forums for discussions of technical communication issues. We want to give you, our readers, a venue where you can set your own agenda instead of just responding to our blog posts.

Given Scriptorium’s particular interests, I expect to see a lot of emphasis on publishing automation and XML. But frankly, we don’t know exactly what might happen. Communities often develop in unexpected ways. It will be up to you—and us—to figure out what direction these forums go.

(We have an internal pool on how long before Godwin’s law is applied.)

The forums are available in our main site navigation. There are also RSS feeds so you can subscribe to a topic or category of interest. Or, if you prefer, you can get email notifications for new forum posts.

And how do we feel about this launch? We’re…perfectly calm.

Please join the conversation.

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ePub + tech pub = ?

January 29th, 2010 by Alan Pringle

At Scriptorium earlier this week, we all watched live blogs of the iPad announcement. (What else would you expect from a bunch of techies?) One feature of the iPad that really got us talking (and thinking) is its support of the ePub open standard for ebooks.

ePub is basically a collection of XHTML files zipped up with some baggage files. Considering a lot of technical documentation groups create HTML output as a deliverable, it’s likely not a huge step further to create an ePub version of the content. There is a transform for DocBook to ePub; there is a similar effort underway for DITA. You can also save InDesign files to ePub.

While the paths to creating an ePub version seem pretty straightforward, does it make sense to release technical content as an ebook? I think a lot of the same reasons for releasing online content apply (less tree death, no printing costs, and interactivity, in particular), but there are other issues to consider, too: audience, how quickly ebook readers and software become widespread, how the features and benefits of the format stack up against those of PDF files and browser-based help, and so on. And there’s also the issue of actually leveraging the features of an output instead of merely doing the minimum of releasing text and images in that format. (In the PDF version of a user manual, have you ever clicked an entry in the table of contents only to discover the TOC has no links? When that happens, I assume the company that released the content was more interested in using the format to offload the printing costs on to me and less interested in using PDF as a way to make my life easier.)

The technology supporting ebooks will continue to evolve, and there likely will be a battle to see which ebook file format(s) will reign supreme. (I suspect Apple’s choice of the ePub format will raise that format’s prospects.) While the file formats get shaken out and ebooks continue to emerge as a way to disseminate content, technical communicators would be wise to determine how the format could fit into their strategies for getting information to end users.

What considerations come to your mind when evaluating the possibility of releasing your content in ePub (or other ebook) format?

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Tech Writing 101: Now certified as excellent

December 21st, 2009 by Sarah O'Keefe

Happy news in my email this afternoon:

The STC Carolina chapter has completed judging of the 2009-2010 Technical Publications Competition. For your Technical Writing 101: A Real World Guide to Planning and Writing Technical Content (third edition) entry, you have received an Award of Excellence. Congratulations on your accomplishment!

Congratulations to Alan Pringle, who did most of the work on the 3rd (and previous) editions.

You can order the book at amazon.com.

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Are you ready for mobile content?

December 16th, 2009 by Alan Pringle

A report from Morgan Stanley states that mobile Internet use will be twice that of desktop Internet and that the iPhone/smartphone “may prove to be the fastest ramping and most disruptive technology product / service launch the world has ever seen.” That “disruption” is already affecting the methods for distributing technical content.

With users having Internet access at their fingertips anywhere they go, Internet searches will continue to drive how people find product information. Desktop Internet use has greatly reshaped how technical communicators distribute information, and having twice as many people using mobile Internet will only push us toward more online delivery—and in formats (some yet to be developed, I’d guess) that are compatible with smaller smartphone screens.

The growing number of people with mobile Internet access underscores the importance of high Internet search rankings and a social media strategy for your information. If you haven’t already investigated optimizing your content for search engines and integrating social media as part of your development and distribution efforts, it’s probably wise to do that sooner rather than later. Also, have you looked at how your web site is displayed on a smartphone?

If you don’t consider the impact of the mobile Internet, your documentation may be relegated to the Island of Misfit Manuals, where change pages and manuals in three-ring binders spend their days yellowing away.

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Contest for The Compass ends Sunday: enter today!

October 22nd, 2009 by Alan Pringle

If you’d like to win a free copy of our white paper compilation, The Compass, enter the drawing by Sunday:

Drawing for The Compass

We’ll announce three winners on Monday.

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Win a copy of The Compass

October 16th, 2009 by Alan Pringle

Our white paper compilation, The Compass (ISBN 9780970473387), is now available at online bookstores, including amazon.com, amazon.ca, amazon.co.uk, and bn.com. You can also special order a copy at your local bookstore. The cover price is $15.95 (USD), but some online sellers are offering the book at a discount.

To celebrate the release of The Compass, we’re giving away three copies.

Enter the drawing by October 25.

We’ll announce the winners on October 26. Good luck!

FYI: If you plan to attend LavaCon (October 24-27 in New Orleans), you can get a free copy of The Compass from Sarah O’Keefe. She will give away a limited number of copies while she’s at the conference.

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