Linda Urban is a popular international speaker at conferences and professional groups. She also creates custom workshops and trainings for companies.
Linda has been teaching in the Technical Communication program at UC Berkeley Extension since 1995, and received the Honored Instructor Award in 2000 for her work in that program. In 2001, she also began teaching occasional courses in the Technical Writing and Communication program at UC Santa Cruz Extension. She regularly receives outstanding evaluations from students.
- Current and Upcoming Workshops, Classes, and Talks
- Recorded Webinars
- Past Workshops and Talks
- Past Classes
Current and Upcoming Workshops, Classes, and Talks
"Information Architecture Essentials," STC Sacramento, Thursday, April 11, 2013
Principles of Information Architecture, a 30-hour class through UC Berkeley Extension, Summer 2013 (Saturdays, starting July 13)
Technical Communication I, a 30-hour class through UC Berkeley Extension, Spring 2013 (Thursdays evenings, starting January 10)
Recorded Webinars and Videos
Topic-Based Authoring: Why Bother? Linda presented a webinar with Joan Lasselle on October 4, 2012, through JustSystems.
Video of Opportunities or reuse between documentation and training (38 minues - presented at Technical Communication UK, 2011)
Recordings of Linda's Topic-Based Authoring webinars in the Adobe eSeminar Series are available at these links:
Topic-Based Authoring in Unstructured Adobe FrameMaker
Applying Topic-Based Authoring Principles to Your RoboHelp Content
Essentials of Topic-Based Authoring
Past Workshops and Talks
"Topic-Based Authoring: Why Bother?" Linda co-presented with Joan Lasselle at STC Berkeley on November 14, 2012 and at STC Silicon Valley on February 18, 2013
"Thinking About UA as Performance Support" at East Bay STC, April 2012, STC-SF, February 2012 and at WritersUA, March 2012 (Memphis)
"Improving Your Online Help with Topic Type Patterns" at WritersUA, March 2012 (Memphis)
"Opportunities for Reuse Between User Assistance and Training" at Technical Communication UK, September 20-22, 2011, and at WritersUA, March 14, 2011
"Topic-Based Authoring in Unstructured Adobe FrameMaker," an Adobe eSeminar, July 21, 10 AM PDT. Recording is here (direct link)
"Applying Topic-Based Authoring Principles to Your RoboHelp Content," an Adobe eSeminar, June 30. Recording is here (direct link)
"Essentials of Topic-Based Authoring", an Adobe eSeminar, June 9, 2011. Recording is here (direct link)
"Paths to Success: Networking, Contributing, and Relationships "at STC 2011 Technical Communication Summit, May 16-18
Topic-Based Authoring: Getting a Handle on Topic Types, a workshop at WritersUA, March 13, 2011
"Trends in Technical Communication Panel," East Bay STC, March 3, 2011 (resource list)
Topic-based Authoring: Getting Your Feet Wet, a workshop at DocTrain West, March 17-20, 2009, at STC France, May 16, 2009, at Technical Communication UK, September 22, 2009 and September 21, 2010, through Berkeley STC on October 10, 2009, through East Bay STC on June 5, 2010, and through Technical Communication UK, September, 2010. (Details here)
"Building Bridges Between Documentation and Training," at East Bay STC, September 2, at LA STC, June 29, 2010, and at Sacramento STC, May 20, 2010.
"Paths to Success: Networking and Contributing (It's all about relationships)," a talk at the STC France Chapter Annual Conference, Feb 3, 2007, at the STC San Francisco Chapter Meeting, September 17, 2007, at DocTrain East, October 29-31, 2008, at DocTrain West, March 17-20, 2009, and at Technical Communication UK, September 23, 2009
"Trends in Technical Communication," a panel at the East Bay Chapter of the STC, June 4, 2009
"On the Road to Modular Training Content: A Case Study," at DocTrain West, May 8, 2008 (Links about Learning Objects)
"Information Design: An Orientation for Editors," at the Bay Area Editor's Forum, October 9, 2007
"Increasing Visibility and Value: Reframing the Work We Do," with Joan Lasselle, at STC Berkeley, August 8, 2007 and at STC NorthBay, August 16, 2007
"Case Study: Integrating User Assistance into the User Interface," at DocTrainUX, April 18 to 21, 2007
Sharing Your Expertise: Putting Together a Presentation or Workshop, a workshop at the STC France Chapter Annual Conference, Feb 2, 2007, and at STC Berkeley, September 6, 2008.
"Integrating User Assistance into the User Interface," Documentation and Training Conference, October 2006, East Bay STC, November 2, 2006
"Avoiding Pitfalls When Single-Sourcing Print and Online," Writers UA Conference, April 9, 2006.
"Meeting the Needs of More Users: Making Information Accessible," North Bay Chapter of the STC, November 17, 2005, SF chapter of STC, May 17, 2006.
Usability for Writers, Editors, and Managers, a workshop at STC New Mexico Kachina chapter, Albuquerque, N.M. October 15, 2005.
Moderated a panel "Working as a Writer in Medical and Scientific Fields," Berkeley Chapter of the STC, June 8, 2005.
"What's New in Online Help" at the East Bay STC chapter, May 5, 2005.
"Starting Documentation Early in the Product Development Cycle" at Sonoma State Computer Science Colloquium, Dec 9, 2004 Slides (pdf)
"Information Architecture for Technical Communicators," San Francisco Chapter of the STC, Nov 17, 2004, East Bay Chapter of the STC, May 6, 2004
"Developing Accessible Information," at the WritersUA Conference, March 28-31, 2004
"HTML Help Under the Hood," a presentation at the Berkeley STC meeting, July 9, 2003. Slides, Resource List 1 and 2
"Visual Design of Help Topics: An Introduction," a guest speaker presentation at Mick Renner's UCB Extension course, Visual Design for Technical Communication, May 5, 2003.
"Usability Techniques for Technical Communicators," a presentation at the STC Sacramento Chapter meeting, April 2, 2003. Slides, Resources, Checklist
"Getting a Fresh Perspective on Your Help Design," at WinWriters
Online Help Conference, February 16-19, 2003. Checklist
and Resource
List
"Designing Usable Help Topics," at WinWriters
Online Help Conference, February 2002.
Past Classes
Technical Communication I, through UC Berkeley Extension, since 1995. Typically offered Spring semester. Most recentsession: January, 2013
Principles of Information Architecture, UC Berkeley Extension, Summer 2002, Spring 2003, Fall 2005, Summer 2011. Next session: Summer 2013
Developing Online Help, UC Berkeley Extension, Summer 2003, Summer 2005, Summer 2010, Summer 2012
Usability Testing Documentation; at UCSC Extension, Fall 2009 (online)
Exploring Technical Communication: An Introduction to the Profession and Process, at UCSC Extension, Fall 2004.
Survey of Usability Analysis Techniques, UC Santa Cruz Extension, June 2004
Usability Testing for Technical Communicators, at UCB Extension, Fall 2004, Fall 2003, Fall 2002
HTML Help, an Introduction: From the Desktop to the Web, UC Santa Cruz Extension, Fall 2002, Fall 2003, Spring 2005.
Developing Technical Information from Plan Through Completion, through UC Santa Cruz Extension, 2002.
Becoming a Technical Information Developer, through UC Santa Cruz Extension, 2001.
Developing HTML Help Using RoboHELP and Developing HTML Help Using RoboHTML, through UC Berkeley Extension, 1999, 2000, 2001.
Technical Communication II, through UC Berkeley Extension, 1998.
Note: Details about all courses are not yet available online.
If you'd like more information these or other classes, please let
us know.