As started with the May issue, we're publishing Intercom editor Liz Pohland's Note from the Editor for each issue here on STC's Notebook. Have a comment or question about the magazine? Post it here!
The July/August issue of Intercom is dedicated to the technical communicator’s essential toolbox and identifying tool genres that are crucial to getting your job done. As the cover image suggests, not only is the tool or technology important, but so are the skills necessary to use the tools, and therefore this issue spans a wide array of tools and skill genres, including content management systems, game-based learning, terminology databases, essential books, and applications that make our writing process easier.
The first two features provide two important lists of essential knowledge about tech comm tools and skills. Avon Murphy, the recently retired book review editor for Technical Communication (http://techcomm.stc.org/), has written an excellent overview of the top 100 tech comm books reviewed in the journal from 1991 to 2010. The list covers fundamental topics such as editing, dictionaries, and style guides; document and visual design; the electronic environment; management and freelancing; and pedagogy. Jeanette Evans provides a synopsis of the 2011 Horizon Report, part of the New Media Consortium’s Horizon Project (http://horizon.nmc.org/), “a comprehensive research venture established in 2002 that identifies and describes emerging technologies likely to have a large impact over the coming five years on a variety of sectors around the globe.” This article examines six emerging technologies for their potential impact on and use in teaching, learning, and creative inquiry—all areas of interest to technical communicators.
The next three features suggest ways to apply tool knowledge. Jacquie Samuels asks us to consider our content management use and solutions. She provides scenarios for us to evaluate our content needs. Fred Wersan’s article on writing your own tools provides ways to save time and effort in writing by using techniques such as automation, adaptation, and thorough functionality. He explains how to write complex tools like string replacement, macros, and scripts. In the closing article of the issue, Emmanuel Margetic discusses the importance of terminology databases, especially in today’s global business world, which requires content to be localized. To Margetic, terminology databases provide benefits to companies such as protection against miscommunications, which can reduce revenue and decrease success. Technical communicators can use this article to explain to executives and managers why their jobs will save the company money and its reputation.
The columns in this issue are also devoted to the toolbox: Neil Perlin’s Beyond the Bleeding Edge column addresses the most important tools and skills for communication, including tools such as help authoring, mobile, and visual help and skills such as the right attitude, the ability to analyze and redirect our careers, and operational flexibility. Linda Roberts’s All Access column focuses specifically on one tool/skill—readability and making PDFs more accessible.
I hope you enjoy this issue and I welcome feedback in the Intercom discussion area of the MySTC Network (https://www.stc.org/). We are also in the planning stages of the 2012 editorial calendar. What would you like to read in Intercom next year?