The Art of Technical Documentation
- 1st Edition - October 30, 1991
- Author: Katherine Haramundanis
- Language: English
- Paperback ISBN:9 7 8 - 1 - 5 5 5 5 8 - 0 8 0 - 3
- eBook ISBN:9 7 8 - 1 - 4 8 3 1 - 8 4 0 1 - 2
The Art of Technical Documentation presents concepts, techniques, and practices in order to produce effective technical documentation. The book provides the definition of… Read more
The Art of Technical Documentation presents concepts, techniques, and practices in order to produce effective technical documentation. The book provides the definition of technical documentation; qualities of a good technical documentation; career paths and documentation management styles; precepts of technical documentation; practices for gathering information, understanding what you have gathered, and methods for testing documentation; and considerations of information representation, to provide insights on how different representations affect reader perception of your documents. Technical writers and scientists will find the book a good reference material.
Contents
About this Book
1 Technical Documentation Defined
Types of Technical Documents
Quality in Technical Documentation
Accuracy
Completeness
Usability
Clarity
Readability
Logical Progression
Conciseness
Appropriateness of Language
Grammaticality
Appropriateness of Content and Scope
Appeal of Package
Further Reading
2 A Career in Technical Documentation
Example of a Project Team
Writing Tasks
Career Growth in Technical Documentation
Documentation Management
The Singleton Operation
The Separate Writing Group
Part of Engineering
The Outside Documentation Consultant
Further Reading
3 Precepts of Technical Documentation
Work Methodology
Know Your Subject
Technical Concepts
Use of Technical Experts
Know Your Reader
Writing for the Novice
Writing for the Experienced User
Writing for the Computer Operator
Writing for the System Manager/Administrator
Writing for the Information Systems Manager
Writing for the Programmer
Writing for Other Industries
Writing Technical Reports and Marketing Literature
Your Technical Training
Know the Rules
Organization of Material
Format Considerations
Categories of Technical Documents
Organizational Elements of Technical Documents
Terminology
Style
Know Your Tools
Further Reading
4 Development Techniques
A Typical Writer's Workplan
Sample Writer's Workplan
The Quality Documentation Process
Research
Understanding
Planning
Writing Your Documentation
Reworking Your Documentation
Receiving the Results
Further Reading
5 Graphics in Technical Documentation
How to Prepare Graphics
How to Use Graphics
How Not to Use Graphics
How to Place Graphics on Your Page
Visualization
Further Reading
6 Information Presentation
The Great Attractors of Technical Documentation
Page Layout
Page Details
Reader-Level Formats
Readability
Punctuation in Technical Documentation
Special Notation
Tables
Book Design
Typography
Printing
Types of Paper
Bindings
Screen Layout
Combined Media
Information Retrieval
Hypertext Systems
Human-Computer Interfaces
Alternative Media
Further Reading
7 Tools
Text Editors
EDT
EMACS
TeachText
LSE/TPU
Graphics Editors
DECwrite
Adobe Illustrator
Micrografx Designer
Support for Information Structures
Text Formatting Software
DSR/troff/dtroff/nroff/RUNOFF
Scribe
Tex
Page Layout Systems
Vax Document
Interactive Page Layout Systems
Interleaf
PageMaker
Language Tools
Electronic Dictionaries
Spelling Checkers
Grammar Checkers
Translation Aids
Language Analysis Tools
Software System Tools
System Features
Code Management Systems
Specialized Authoring Tools
Further Reading
8 Computer Hardware
System Hardware
Personal Computers
Workstation Systems
Minicomputers
Mainframe Computers
Feature Comparison of System Hardware
Input Devices
Keyboards and Mice
Imaging Systems
Scanning Devices
Output Devices
Printers
Video Screens
Hardware Used to Create Your Book
Further Reading
9 Conclusion
A Societies, Conferences, and Journals
Societies
Conferences
Journals and Magazines
B Standards
C Timeline of the Development of Writing
Glossary
Select Bibliography
Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: October 30, 1991
- Language: English
KH
Katherine Haramundanis
Affiliations and expertise
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