Linda Urban Communications Home

Exploring Technical Communication

Recommended Reading and Resources List

Class Outline

This top set of links are based on our discussions in class.

Web Resources for Technical Communicators

STC Main website

STC Usability SIG Website: http://www.stcsig.org/usability/index.html

Papers and Presentations by Tec-Ed, Inc: http://www.teced.com/c_and_p.html

ACM Digital Library, through the ACM Portal: http://portal.acm.org/portal.cfmhttp://www.stc.org/periodicals.asp

EServer TC Library (links to many articles related to technical communication)

For links about usability and user-centered design, see the suggested readings for the class Usability Testing for Technical Communicators.: http://tc.eserver.org

Associations

Society for Technical Communications (STC): http://www.stc.org

SIGDOC (Special Interest Group of the ACM for Documentation)

Books

Technical Writing and Editing

The Elements of Style, 4 th Edition, Strunk and White, Allyn and Bacon, 1999.

Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry, 2 nd Edition, Sun Technical Publications, 2003.

The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, 3 rd Edition, Microsoft Corporation, Microsoft Press, 2004.

Techniques for Technical Communicators , by Carol Barnum & Saul Carliner, MacMillan Publishing, 1992.

Handbook of Technical Writing, Fifth Edition, by Charles T. Brusaw, et. al., St. Martin’s Press, 1997.

Guidelines for Bias-Free Writing, by Marilyn Schwartz and the Task Force on Bias-Free Language of the Association of American University Presses, 1995.

Successful Scientific Writing, A step-by-step guide for the biological and medical sciences, by Janice R. Matthews, John M. Bowen, and Robert W. Matthews, Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Medical Writing: a Prescription for Clarity, 2 nd Edition, Neville W. Goodman and Martin B. Edwards, 2 nd Edition, Cambridge University Press, 1991.

Technical Editing, The Practical Guide for Editors and Writers, Judith A. Tarutz, Addison-Wesley Publishing Co, 1992.

How to Communicate Technical Information, by Jonathan Price, et. al., Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co., 1994.

Graphics, Layout, and Design

The Non-Designer’s Design Book: Design and Typographic Principles for the Visual Novice, by Robin Williams, Peachpit Press, Berkeley, CA 1994.

Terrific Training Materials: High Impact Graphic Designs by Darlene Frank, HRD Press, Amherst, MA, 1996

Envisioning Information by Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Press, Cheshire, Connecticut 1990.

The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward R. Tufte, Graphics Press, Cheshire, Connecticut 1990.

Online Help

Standards for Online Communication, JoAnn Hackos and Dawn Stevens, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, 1997.

Designing and Writing Online Documentation by William Horton, John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, 1994.

Microsoft Windows 95 Help Authoring Kit, Microsoft Press, 1995.

Developing Online Help for Windows 95, by Scott Boggan, David Farkas, and Joe Welinske, International Thomson Computer Press, 1996.

Designing Windows 95 Help: A Guide to Creating Online Documents, Mary Deaton and Cheryl Lockett Zubak, Que Corporation, Indianapolis, IN, 1996.

Writing for the Web

Hot Text: Web Writing That Works, Jonathan and Lisa Price, New Riders Press, 2002

Top

©2002-2004, Linda Urban