Art of Technical Documentation (eBook)

Front Cover 1
The Art of Technical Documentation 4
Copyright Page 5
Table of Contents 6
Figures 11
Tables 12
About This Book 14
Who Is the Audience of this Book? 14
What Is the Thesis of this Book? 14
What Is the Structure of this Book? 15
A Word about Style and Conventions 16
Acknowledgments 16
Chapter 1. Technical Documentation Defined 20
Types of Technical Documents 21
Quality in Technical Documentation 21
Further Reading 27
Chapter 2. A Career in Technical Documentation 28
Example of a Project Team 31
Career Growth in Technical Documentation 34
Documentation Management 35
Further Reading 37
Chapter 3. Precepts of Technical Documentation 38
Work Methodology 39
Know Your Subject 40
Know Your Reader 41
Know the Rules 49
Know Your Tools 86
Further Reading 87
Chapter 4. Development Techniques 89
A Typical Writer's Workplan 90
The Quality Documentation Process 94
Further Reading 125
Chapter 5. Graphics in Technical Documentation 129
How to Prepare Graphics 130
How to Use Graphics 132
How Not to Use Graphics 134
How to Place Graphics on Your Page 135
Further Reading 138
Chapter 6. Information Presentation 140
The Great Attractors of Technical Documentation 141
Page Layout 141
Book Design 159
Printing 163
Screen Layout 165
Combined Media 166
Information Retrieval 168
Alternative Media 176
Further Reading 178
Chapter 7. Tools 180
Text Editors 183
Graphics Editors 188
Support for Information Structures 189
Text Formatting Software 190
Page Layout Systems 196
Language Tools 202
Software System Tools 205
Further Reading 208
Chapter 8. Computer Hardware 210
System Hardware 212
Feature Comparison of System Hardware 214
Input Devices 216
Output Devices 217
Hardware Used to Create Your Book 221
Further Reading 222
Chapter 9. Conclusion 223
A Societies, Conferences, and Journals 224
Societies 224
Conferences 226
Journals and Magazines 227
B Standards 230
C Timeline of the Development of Writing 233
Glossary 236
Select Bibliography 254
Index 274