Earlier this week, I was asked my opinion on whether a Documentation Manager was needed when the individual Technical Authors are embedded into Agile project teams. My response was that a Documentation Manager mainly provides people management, project management, process management and content management. If a Technical Author is a member of a software project… Read more »
Category: Technical Author
Will the growth of tablet and mobile phone based reading lead to the return of Clippy?
Microsoft Clippy (aka “Office Assistant” or “Clipit”) is a feature remembered by many users of Microsoft Word. It assisted users by way of an interactive animated character, which interfaced with Office’s online Help. Although the concept of “embedded” or “persistent” Help was good, its application in the real-life working environment was not well received. With more and more… Read more »
Do cave paintings reveal the origins of the Health and Safety user manual?
Recent investigations into the famous Lascaux cave paintings in France suggest the images might actually be the first ever Health and Safety manual. This discovery could mean the professions of both Technical Author and Health and Safety Officer began significantly earlier than is commonly believed. A paper released today by Professor Miriam Webster of the Université de… Read more »
Book review: Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate
I was sent a review copy of Confluence, Tech Comm, Chocolate: A wiki as platform extraordinaire for technical communication, by Sarah Maddox. It’s about using wiki technology for developing and publishing technical documentation, using the Confluence platform, the emerging trends in the creation of User Assistance and, in places, chocolate. The book is aimed at three… Read more »
Training workshop on using the iPad (and other tablets) as a documentation device
We’re considering running a training workshop on how to use the iPad and other tablets as a device for delivering documentation. The primary focus will be on the iPad, but we can also cover what’s possible on Android tablets. If there is sufficient interest, then we’ll run a course. We’ll cover items such as How… Read more »