How to Design and Write Web Pages Today by Karl Stolley

The graphic above shows that there is an immense amount of data on the Internet today. However it is useless to put information on the Internet without a proper analysis of the audience you are trying to address.

Thus, designing and writing web pages are a daunting task and is turning into a task that is becoming more common to more and more companies today. Therefore, this book is broken into four parts to help attack this issue:

Part I: What am I Writiing?
Part II: Issues and Challenges
Part III: Strategies for Success
Part IV: Problems and Solutions

Throughout the book, the reader will learn how to use WordPress, the importance of languages such as XHTML and CSS, how to design a web page, and many more. 

Here is the link to my full book review: 

http://docs.google.com/document/d/1OYOKR0dYePynOhE38CCYszDPC2TV7GVo8UCSygNrJYQ/edit 

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 3rd Ed.

When I first saw "World Wide Web" in the title of the book that I was assigned, I cringed. I thought, "I'm no web guru, this book is going to make no sense to me."After reading it, though, this book is not meant to apply ONLY to the web. In fact, the authors go through multiple aspects of Information Architecture that can be applied to any field.

The largest emphasis of the book is the idea of an Information Ecology. That is, the relationships between the user, the content, and the context. In all documents and products, this relationship is malleable and organic - it is something that we, as Information Architects and Professional Writers need to be aware of and try to master. Successful end products, good Information Architecture, and happy stakeholders, result from researching about each of the three parts of the Information Ecology.

The book also goes deep into the heart of what Information design really is and how to explain it to others. This is the sort of introduction that people who are new to the field need to have. This book spells the basics out in interesting and helpful ways that I wish I had in front of me when I entered the field.

For a full review of Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, 3rd Ed please follow the link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G_GQxezGWLwLlSgxdOgSVhdQhVe841l6nApedCcrrMY/edit

Review of Brandscapes by Anna Klingmann

The experience economy is marked by brandscapes, which employ elements of information design and user-centered design. The author gives many examples of how companies create brands and the consumers who can't get enough of them. I suggest the book to anyone who is interested in branding and architecture.

For my book review: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1epm8i4MHpVT4md6XvEydDAZsnjeNRI8M4AY9-ZZtVAA/edit

For my presentation: https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B-Qz-MQA15ynNjljNjQ2ZDUtMmQzZi00ODJlLTg4MjItMjNmODk4MGM1Mzg0

"A Pattern Language: Towns Buildings Construction"

Full review can be found here: Full_Review

Visual presentation can be found here: Visual_Presentation

"The Wayfinding Handbook" by David Gibson

Below are my final products for the book, "The Wayfinding Handbook" by David Gibson. My visual representation is a powerpoint presentation, because it effectively allows my audience to gain insight and knowledge about my text in a concise and cohesive manner, allowing each side to discuss a significant concept from the text. My book review provides the audience with an in depth explanation of the concepts covered within the text, and their significance to professional writing students and the industry at large.

In regards to the actual text, "The Wayfinding Handbook" is a very innovative read, because it discusses how the universal concept of information design can be so versatile, in this book particularly, through the concept of wayfinding. Wayfinding in short refers to creating visually competent, concise, cohesive yet detailed signage, planning and community development. It is an interdisciplinary subject because it encompasses aspects from professional writing, arcitecture and visual design, graphic design, and cartography. It presents information that is very valuable because this field and industry provide professional writing students a new opportunity to utilize their major and possibly acquire jobs post graduation.

Engl 515 final visual

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The above is my powerpoint visual representation of this text.

Engl 515 final book review

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This is my in depth book review for the text.

Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal

Story Board on Prezi

In Reality is Broken, Why Games Make Us Better and How They Can Change the World by Jane McGonigal there is an impressive amount of statistics about the amount of time the average gamer plays video games. In fact, the amount of time is so impressive that it has led Jane McGonigal to come to the conclusion that reality is broken and therefore people have turned to virtual worlds to satisfy their worldly needs. 

From this idea, McGonigal further discovered that there is a ridiculous amount of human participation hours being committed to playing a single game: World of Warcraft. On average gamers are committing 210 participation hours per week to playing WoW. This visual is meant to be a story board of a greater visual that has the potential to show an overwhelming statistic and what that number could mean if it were applied to worldly problems outside of gaming. 

Included after the jump is a review of the book and how McGonigal's evaluation that video games and gamers are the future of our society can be applied to professional writers. This review is intended for all audiences, but is specifically geared towards helping people outside of the profession to understand the specifics of how a professional writer creates and designs successful documentation.

Information Archetechture: Blueprints for the Web Review

Imagine your company decides it needs a website, imagine that you draw the short straw, and imagine you have no clue whatsoever where to start or how you are going to make it through this. People in this position (as well countless similar ones) and many others who simply do not know where to start or simply want to know more about effective web-site design will benefit greatly from Christina Wodtke’s Information Architecture: Blueprints for the Web. While this a very much book for beginners, some more experienced people will find good advice here too as it lays out a framework of good practices rather than a step-by-step “for dummies” guide.

The first thing the book does is draw a distinction between a myriad of “proper web design laws” written by web “gurus” and real world. There are no cut and dry design laws, if it were that simple she wouldn’t have the need to write the book and the job would be so much easier. But we all know it is not, what worked for one company and that “guru” made into a “law” will not necessarily work for you. Therefore do not just blindly accept any such laws you may run across.
Perhaps the most important point that is made in Information Architecture is regarding user-centered design. The author of the book conveyed one message very clear – do not guess on what your users may or may not like and build a website based on that. Bottom line is that you have to talk to the potential end users to get the answers you need. Not following this particular guideline can cost you both many hours of work and tons of money. Simply put it is a gamble you cannot afford. If you guess right, you will save yourself time you would spend on research. However, if you guess wrong, you will likely have to re-design almost the entire site. In addition, history shows that the latter is a more likely outcome, thus making the choice very easy – do your research!

Here is the link to the full review:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_6rmFpLAadtZjJmODBhODgtM2JmYy00MzVmLTk2ZjItYjdlOGYxY2JhMWYx

And here is the link to the presentation:

https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B_6rmFpLAadtOTM5ZjY2YTktM2I0OC00MDJiLWIzMTMtNTk0MTIzMTE0YmRm

One Click Richard L. Brandt

Convincing decision makers of the value information designers can add to an organization can be a tough challenge for any information designer. But, many decision makers will pay more attention if we can illustrate how much money their companies can gain by focusing on the customer. This focus on the customer often takes the form of usability or user-centered design, and Richard L. Brandt’s One Click: Jeff Bezos and the Rise of Amazon.com illustrates the impact that a focus on usability and user-centered design can have on a company’s growth. This book begins with a history of Amazon.com and weaves Jeff Bezo’s various commitments to usability throughout the story.

Read the full review here.

Visual Thinking by Rudolf Arnheim

Rudolf Arnheim’s Visual Thinking a combination of vision and knowledge is a book that will ask you to think, but more importantly there is a lot to learn for anyone willing to look at something part of everyday life in a new light. Professional writers can benefit from this book in the ways that it talks about images, how to use them, and the effect that they have on people. After reading the book, I would sum this book up by saying that without our senses the mind has nothing to think with so, visual thinking is using our senses to learn and observe the world around us in our minds.

Review & Visualization: Don't Make Me Think by Steve Krug

Follow this link to see my full review of Steve Krug's Don't Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G4_IWs3il5fBknz30aUm0TYnEJk4taICoT8aj9K88tA/edit

Here Comes Everybody by Clay Shirky Review and Visual

In Here Comes Everybody, Clay Shirky attempts to explain group behavior and their organization online. It is an easy read with highly entertaining and relevant examples of how, with the right tools, people can organize outside of the traditional hierarchy. Specifically, Shirky provides a foundation for understanding the types of group interactions and formation that take place as well as the type of activities and contributions different members make to these groups.

This book would be most relevant to individuals working in the field of communications. It caters to those with an interest in social media, its trends, crowd sourcing, and their effects on society and the job market. The book does a great job of outlining what is going on in society today as a result of people adopting these tools as an effective way to organize, communicate, and take collective action. Furthermore, the book provides insight as to how one might use these tools to complete research and gather data from users, which is an integral part of information architecture and design.

Here Comes Everybody expands on a lot of the concepts we’ve discussed in class such as trends in a post-industrial society (Cohen), collective learning (Thomas & Brown), and civic tools/action (Shirky). Since the book is so accessible, and provides a foundation for concepts pertinent to information architecture and design, it would serve as a good introduction to user-centered design and social media as a source for research and impact.

Above I've embedded my interactive multimedia Prezi visual. In it, I strived to illustrate the main points discussed in the book, and contrasting which concepts are most important to information and user-centered design. There are no paths outlined in the presentation, so the viewer has complete control of which parts of the presentation he or she wants to view. Specifically, in the “Relevance” section I have included an image (seen below), inspired from by The Information Design Handbook by O’Grady & O’Grady.

User-Centered Design using Social Media Tools

For a full review, click here.

Shoshanna Zuboff's In the Age of the Smart Machine

I read and thoroughly enjoyed the middle portion of Shoshanna Zuboff’s “In the Age of the Smart Machine”. The book examines the effect of automation on American workers of every level. But the section I read dealt with labor relations between blue-collar workers and management.

The first two chapters of this section didn’t have much to offer on information design, but they were interesting. Zuboff examines the sociological underpinnings of the separation of management from workers thoughtout history. She sites examples and attitudes from texts of various eras that support a religious underpinning for management and capitol and then later a social Darwinist underpinning. She then offers examples of how the smart machine (automation, logistics software and programming) has changed or rather threatened this balance. This gives us a basis to understand her work in the later chapter, which has an important if tangential relationship to information design.
In the third chapter the most starling anecdotes are about management trying to limit or purposely design poorly to retain thier position. The machine is viewed as a tool in between the workers and the management and because of that it is a threat to both. But more so to managers in Zuboff’s book.

We see information design used as a tool in this section. It is a way for those with access to the information to keep it to them selves or rather problematize it a way that preserves their job. It is the opposite goal from what we’ve studying but it uses the same tactic. It seems that only the most poorly design information can be hidden in the ‘informed organization’ as Zuboff calls it. This illustrates how design is tied into access. And access has been tied to power for so long it seems ridiculously elementary to mention it.

The machine does a lot of the mental work done by managers even as it removes workers from the process. It limits the managers access in this way and in a more personal sense, their power. Often in the book from interviewees you get a sense of the pride, meaning or feeling of a requirement satisfied that we have in a job. When the machine takes these from workers or management, the need for what the job gave us remains.

It is viewed as an opportunity for workers to be promoted to operators or for management to be demoted to the same position. There is never an argument for removing humans from the process entirely but it asks where the humans who operate the smart machines lay in our ‘working’ social order.

The way religious or scientific ideas have been bent to satisfy this power dynamic are in flux in the age of the smart machine. An age which was in it’s nascent stages when the book was published is in full thrust today. She doesn’t predict much but she does convey a sense of a growing issue. And the issues it predicted have become problems today.

James Gleick's "The Information

James Gleick’s The Information follows the development and use of information. The book covers thousands of years of history in a narrative style, telling the story of information and its impact on us. Gleick focuses on modes of transmission, code languages, information in nature, and the post sixties information revolutions. He also invokes what it means for us to engage with information and how it in turn shapes who we are.

This book is appropriate for an audience of advanced professional/technical writers and practitioners who wish to advance their knowledge of the history of information. To understand where a field is heading it is helpful to ground one’s perspective in what has past. Understanding the continued proliferation of information helps orient the response in information design in architecture to an economy of attention scarcity.

The graphic represents the arch of information’s development. With the rise of technology (specifically, the personal computer), information can be transmitted and created in more and more different ways. The gradient arch shows the ‘density’ of information creation and transmission. The quick darkening of the gradient arch coincides with the rise of the personal computer. The x-axis shows the amount of information transmitted and the y-axis shows the time scale.

For full review of The Information follow this link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oTBhhlz9b5iwTL-Bo64UMFgYeZNgkwbKr5fpUTnXYlM/edit?pli=1&hl=en_US

Information Design by Robert Jacobson

In Information Design, Robert Jacobson compiles the ideas of numerous professionals involved in the field of information design in order to create a very broad definition of the subject. This review focuses on what a prospective reader could learn from the book as well as recommendations for a variety of potential readers. As a visual aid, there is an accompanying PowerPoint which explains both textually and visually some of the major concepts in the book such as wayfinding, perception differences, and how data takes on new meaning. Overall, this book is useful for those hoping to broaden their views of information design but definitely not for narrowing them down or those searching for concrete and absolute ideals.

Info design presentation-3

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English515 jacobson bookreview-3

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Visual Review of How to Design and Write Web Pages Today

In what is called a post-industrial era, a time period where technology is advancing, information is flowing, and workers are becoming multi-skilled, the ability to be able to write for the Web but also be able to design a website is an essential proponent to advancing a person’s personal, academic and even professional lives. It is this topic I review in my powerpoint presentation, discussing and demonstrating the ways that Karl Stolley’s book How to Design and Write Web Pages Today provides assistance, offering an approach for building websites that will let readers reach their intended audience in an effective way with methods that never get old.

Click to View Presentation

TC Server Issues?

I am trying to access the TC server to do a review and keeps telling me either that Information-Design articles do not exist or does not load period. I am using the address http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Information-Design

Anybody else having issues?

Metacrap: Putting the torch to seven straw-men of the meta-utopia

http://www.well.com/~doctorow/metacrap.htm

RATING

Usefulness: 2/5

Interesting: 4/5

In “Metacrap,” Cory Doctorow goes on to discuss why he believes that a “meta-utopia” is not achievable, and it’s “nerd hubris” to believe it is. A meta-utopia would require reliable metadata, which he states is impossible for at least seven reasons: “people lie, people are lazy, people are stupid, people are lousy observers of their own behavior, schemas aren’t neutral, and metrics influence results.”

In other words, people are trying to compete with others in order to get their information, opinion, or product out there. The large amount of knowledge out in the world causes people to have short attention spans. In order to get views on information or sites, people lie. Others sometimes don’t put in the effort to properly label data. Either the information is incomplete, or they fail to spell correctly, etc. Also, people fail to accurately describe data, because there’s no correct way to categorize things. There are many ways to do so. Not everyone will agree on one given form of categorization. Furthermore, everyone has different ways of describing things. If everyone were to agree, there would be “homogeneity in ideas” that could create a road block for fresh and innovative ideas.

The author argues that metadata is still valuable, as it helps to organize and retrieve data. However, a meta-utopia will never come about, nor is it something we should really strive for and I think I agree. It’s a double edged sword. On one hand, if I’m looking for the official Marvel’s Avengers trailer, I want to see the official trailer. I don’t want to click on a link for ‘Avengers 2012 Official Trailer’ and find myself watching a fan-made video. On the other hand, if it wasn’t for deceptively categorized data, I wouldn’t have found that ‘obscure yet totally cool’ article I was never looking for.

While this article was interesting, it serves little purpose in informing people about how to properly label and create metadata. It is a discussion about what is wrong with metadata, not about what we can do to improve it.

TC Server Works

It seems the website address changed. Here's the new one.

http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Information-Design

TCServer troubles

The TCServer continues to hiccough and otherwise make access difficult. Rather than waste time scrambling, let me shift focus a little and ask everyone to take a look at chapters 1 and 6 of Shirky's Cognitive Surplus. These chapters are all about information design, the information age, and empirical research, but in fun ways (really!). Read "Milkshake Mistakes" and you'll see what I mean.

While you are doing that, I will shift to a more standard reading schedule--you know, where everyone knows what it is we're supposed to be reading before class. What can I say. We tried something and, because of technology challenges, it didn't work. We'll spend Tuesday talking about the readings in general, the assignments, and getting the discussion back on track while you start reading Shirky. My assignments are the reading minimum: feel free to explore more in Cognitive Surplus. I enjoyed the book very much when I first read it, and Shirky has an uncanny ability to articulate things we're all seeing every day but don't have the words to describe.

So let the eServer reviews wait for now. I'll see if I can't figure out what's up with the TCServer.

Keeping Tabs

Article: Keeping Tabs

While this article is about how the tab came to be used in arganizing information it also deals a great deal with index cards that were once used to organize books at a libriary. The article does a very good job of drawing our attention to something we take for granted and explaining the history of it's development. In an effor to not bore the reader the author doesn't get too far into detail about specific aspects of the tab's history. He moves it right along and hits the high points and states the interesting stuff.

This article is written very straight forward and would appeal to all age groups. When reading the article, it feels as though it's a continuation of a short interesting fact someone would point out as "did you know that...". It's as though the author knew you just wanted a little more information on the subject, but not too much to bore or deter you from reading pages of information.

Dibs

Article Title: "Keeping Tabs"

Dibs

Dibs on "Is anal retentive hyphenated?: self-referential humor".

Cues, The Golden Retriever

Claimed.

Dibular

I am also calling dibs on

"What Technical Communicators Can Learn from Comics"

It is currently #16 and shows a broken link, but I have found a working link to the PDF.

the CAA: A Wicked Good Design Technique

As before, I call all sorts of Dibs.

Dibs.

Are Structured Authoring and Wiki Opposing Forces?

Above title, upon it I declare what we call DIBS

Duplicate review of "Using Bullet Points and Lists"

It was number 9 when I reviewed it ...... (morning of Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2011)

Article: Using Bullet Points and Lists

Summary: Bullet points and lists are a good tool to bring the reader’s attention to a specific set of items or a sequence. While bullet points or other graphic symbols suggest that all the items on the list are of the same importance, numbers signify importance and priority. For example, number one on the list is more important and urgent than two or three. If the entry on the list is a definitive sentence, the entry should always end with a period. One should always try to start the entries with action verbs if possible, as well as try to keep all the entries to approximately the same length and structure. Lists should not be longer than three to six items if at all possible. Use lists sparingly and always finish with a summary sentence under the list.

Skill Required: This article is written in a very basic and straightforward manner, no significant background knowledge is required. It is recommended as a quick guide to anyone who writes documentation, memos, etc. on daily basis.

Target Audience: This article is targeted towards people who do not yet possess basic knowledge about using lists, i.e. new and current students as well as high school students and general public.

The KJ-Technique: A Group Process for Establishing Priorities

#11 currently

Oh and

Dibs

Totally Dibs

Information Interaction Design: A Unified Theory of Design

http://www.nathan.com/thoughts/unified/

The website and chapter, “Information Interaction Design: A Unified Theory of Design” by Nathan Shedroff is an indepth account of the principles and concepts involved in organizing and presenting data. In the first part of the chapter, which appears in Information Design, he outlines three types of design that interact according to the picture below. The three types are Information Design, Interaction Design, and Sensorial Design. The way information architects/professional writers employ these ideas can make the documents and information more appealing and accessible.

Another point of the chapter was about the value of information. Shedroff says “Data is fairly worthless to most of us; it is the product of research or creation (such as writing), but it is not an adequate product for communicating. To have informational value, it must be organized, transformed, and presented in a way that gives it meaning.” The graphic below demonstrates different ways to think about and organize data so that data will take on meaning. Data is not the end product, but a part of the process of understanding.

Much of the rest of the chapter is devoted to ways to think about knowledge, wisdom, and data organization. One central theme is knowledge that can be built for a community. As technical/professional writers we should be mindful of who we are writing for and organize the data appropriately so that it becomes valuable and knowledge for a community.

Content Curation versus Content Creation

http://idratherbewriting.com/2010/12/22/content-curation-versus-content-creation/

RATING

Usefulness: 4/5

Interesting: 5/5

In this article the anonymous author for I'd Rather be Writing played with the idea of content creation versus content curation. It is no secret that social mediums have become staple in our society, and play an integral role in how we obtain and digest information. Whether it is a 140 word tweet, a blog, or a lengthy article there is a high demand for information on the internet. The author proposes that to keep up with the demand, writers must understand the role of content curators.

He refers to a rat-race, an innate need to keep posting and publishing in order to feed the demand for information. Publishing has become a matter of staying relevant. Does that mean that we keep creating material, just for the sake of creating something? Or, do writers simply look for content to pass along, building upon and adding their reflections on a topic? The implications of both these options are cause for great debate and possible controversy.

Consider the following example. A few years back a man by the name of Antoine Dodson was interviewed by his local news station about the attempted assault of his sister. His ire was recorded and soon became a viral hit on the web because of the unintentional humor. In this situation, an original content was created and passed along. While it was circulating, the Gregory Brothers decided to remix and auto-tune the Dodson news story. A new viral hit was created from the original content.

How does this analogy apply to writing? It can be said that yes, it is undeniably important to create content, or else nothing new would be created. However, one can’t expect to create content just for the sake of doing so. Eventually the well will dry, there will be writer’s block, and the zing that an author’s writing used to have will vanish. Our social networks have made sharing information as easy as literally clicking an icon or pushing a button. However, too much of this, and you might end up with the dilemma I mentioned before, no new content. The next step then becomes “remixing” and “auto-tuning” someone else’s content, keep it circulating so that the topic remains fresh and new perspectives are formed. This can be considered both content curation and creation.

The article argues that there must be a balance, and I agree. This topic is relevant to us because the way we share information is changing, and so is the role of a writer. Just as a tool becomes obsolete if it can’t merge and evolve with “the times,” so will the role of writers who cling to the old model of writing. I predict that writing will continue to be a collaborative effort, on the part of many parties. I recently had to use Google Docs for a class assignment, and the concept of posting content and permitting others to modify the original intrigued me. The tool allows several users to be working on the document at the exact time, demonstrating the changes to the document as they are made. There are varied levels of participation, for example, sometimes only people with the link can modify as opposed to a document available to the general public. I believe that writing, especially in mass communication mediums will become highly participatory, like Google Docs. The important key would then be to find a perfect balance between curation and creation.

Review of "Social Tagging and the Enterprise: Does Tagging Work at Work?"

"Social Tagging and the Enterprise: Does Tagging Work at Work?"

In this article, the author examined if social tagging could exist in the workplace. Stephanie Lemieux, the author, makes the focus of the article deal with two main points: findability and people. I believe both points can become a problem, as evidenced in Lemieux’s article. The author evaluated social tagging platforms in general to determine that tagging enables findability. Also, people can personalize their tags, meaning there are no rules in what people tag or how they tag it, adding a human element to finding information. This was later brought up as perhaps a hindrance if social tagging was done in the workplace. Lemieux brings up the point that too much social tagging can in fact separate similar materials. Tags spelled wrong, marked using a synonym, or adding a “s” to a term, could likely skew groupings of similar content.

The author believes that tagging should accompany, but not overpower, workplace materials to add another aspect to documents. Lemieux introduces “The Content Continuum” which is essentially what can be done using social tagging and what cannot in the workplace.

Due to increased findability using tags, argues the author, people may be able to cut down on wasted time because content of interest is already sifted through for them. Information professionals would also not be relied upon as much to filter content if employees could do it themselves. As a whole, I believe Lemieux’s article relates the importance of knowing what to tag, and keeping personal and workplace content separate in terms of social tagging.

Connecting the Dots of User Experience

Claimed.

Moving from Information Transfer to Knowledge Creation by Michael Hughes

Michael Hughes’s article, Moving from Information Transfer to Knowledge Creation: A New Value Proposition for Technical Communications discusses the role of technical communicators in modern society. According to Hughes, the commonly held definition of a technical writer as some who takes “technical information and makes it understandable to those who need it” does not accurately describe the numerous responsibilities that a technical writer’s work entails. Hughes instead suggests that rather just being translators of information, technical writers are actually creators of knowledge.

Hughes’s article revolves around the argument that the commonly held beliefs about the function of technical writers has been greatly restricted to just the translation of information. Rather than information, however, Hughes believes that technical communicators are dealing with knowledge. He highlights the difference between information and knowledge with a quote by O’Dell and Grayson: “Knowledge is information in action” (276). A new way of thinking about technical writing, called constructivism, brings to light a much broader definition of technical writing and suggests that “technical communicators negotiate meaning within development communities and between those communities and user contacts, and they capture the resulting consensus as knowledge assets” (278). These knowledge assets put information into action by using their knowledge of a product to create new and unique ways of understanding that are beneficial to the users of the product.
One of the multiple ways in which Hughes believes that technical writers create knowledge is by making their own tacit knowledge (knowledge that is inherently known or unknown but difficult to explain) into explicit instructions and documents. In this way, the writers are doing more than translating or transferring information, they are creating new knowledge assets based on their own tacit knowledge of a subject. Because of this, the users who read these documents are able to understand the documents in a way that they would not be able to without these knowledge assets.
Throughout the article, Hughes effectively argues for a broader definition of technical writing. He asserts “a technical communicator who sees himself as an information packager should broaden that perspective to that of creator of knowledge” (284). His argument is well structured and clear, with more theoretical ideas in the beginning being followed by practical implications in the workplace. However, while his main argument is clear, some of the details about tacit and explicit information are not as well explained as his other ideas and the vocabulary he uses may be difficult to understand without prior knowledge on the subject.

Overall, the article is very well-written and clear. The argument is tracked in a logical way. First, highlighting the problem with the definition of technical communication as translators of information, explaining the difference between information and knowledge, describing the ways in which technical communicators create knowledge, and finally, explaining the practical benefits of technical communicators’ knowledge creation for both companies and technology users. This would be a good article to read for anyone interested in how technical writers create knowledge or how they use their own unconscious knowledge and turn it into understandable documents. While the argument is clear, some of the finer points may be lost on those who do not already have knowledge and an interest in the subject.

Content Curator

http://justwriteclick.com/2009/10/10/content-curation-a-manifesto/

http://socialmediatoday.com/SMC/131472

Two blogs are in dialogue about the notion of a type of job particularly suited to the skills of professional and technical writers. Rohit Bhargava describes a Content Curator, "someone who continually finds, groups, organizes and shares the best and most relevant content on a specific issue online". He notes that experts predict that soon the volume of information produced online will double every 72 hours. The sheer volume of data will require someone who is versed ind ata organization.

Anne Gentle comments on Bhargava's blog and the discussion that took place on this post about Content Curation. She agrees with Bhargava that this job is ideally suited for professional and technical writers who already have experience developing, organizing, and editing content in a variety of media.

these articles are useful reading for any professional/technical writing student or professional considering where their career path may take them

Dibs!!

Hey everyone!
I'm claiming the article "Friend or Foe? Web 2.0 in Technical Communication" ... I'll find you if you take it :)

Grace

Review of #7 Abundance of Choice and Its Effect on Decision Making by Colleen Roller

This article is in the format of an online news article, and discusses how as the number of choices increases or decreases, its consequent role on the decision making process. The format of this article is very easy to understand, in that it starts with a brief abstract discussing the significance of the article, and then goes into many subsections about the complexity of decisions, what research says about the abundance of choice, decision strategies, lessons for design, strategies for design and lastly, making a good enough decision.

Overall, the format of this article really helps readers understand the reasons behind the research, as well as the significance of the research. The fact it utilizes subsections is very helpful because this large amount of information could appear daunting if not properly organized. One flaw I did notice however, was at times the lack of reasoning or relevance. The first time I read the sections about design, I was unsure about what connection that had to choice and the decision making process. The correlation between the two should have been explained in further detail in the abstract.

At large, this is a very useful article that brings could potentially bring a great deal of perspective to many audiences.

http://uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/12/abundance-of-choice-and-its-effect-on-decision-making.php

Ambient Findability

It's interesting to see how Peter Morville's post "Ambient Findability" rides the line between sounding both dated and prescient. On the one hand, he mentions emerging technologies that have yet to reach the mass consumer (e.g. "smart dust" and "personal fabricators") while typing from his "Dell C400". The 2002 post date is certainly the biggest example of that fact.

Nevertheless, the hope that we'd move "beyond Google" still seems to be of paramount concern, although for different reasons. The size of the company and its dipping into other avenues has created a situation not unlike that of Microsoft in the early and mid-90's. He's certainly right that users still get frustrated with search results, a concept that I've certainly been relaying to my students when we discuss research. Even more on point is his prediction of the prevalence of metadata and RF tags, which have become extremely prominent in recent years (QR codes are another relatable example).

The most interesting thing that I've found is implied within his statements on his "frugality"-we've seen that many PC manufacturers have abandoned the high-end/high-performance market in favor of budget PC's, with netbooks being the best example of that. Of current niche PC manufacturers, only Falcon Northwest, Alienware (now owned and semi-ruined by Dell), and Razer. The consumer push towards low-end (and I don't mean that in the pejorative) desktops and laptops has shaped how manufacturers aimed their R&D. I'd like to think that we'll be seeing more of a push upward in the upcoming years, but that's just a gut feeling on my part.

Preliminary Review- "About Information Architecture" By Mark Hurst

In the blog posting, “About Information Architecture,” Mark Hurst discusses how despite their similarity and usual arrival at the same solution, terms “information architecture” and “costumer experience” both have their differences. Immediately, when viewing this document within the database and seeing its 4 star rating, it begs for analysis as to how a rating was determined. With such a short and in my opinion not very well written abstract, I have identified three things that Mark Hurst did well, things that give reason to the rating he received.

There are probably a numerous amount of things that can be applauded about in regards to this article, which led to the rating it received, but three in particular stood out. First thing that can be discussed is the way Mark Hurst clearly introduced and defined the terms in which he focused on. By using simple and easy language, Mark Hurst made this article very universal in that anyone, ranging from a PhD graduate, down to a high school student, could grasp and understand exactly what he was referring too. Although this is an overall benefit to anyone who may stumble upon this article, it can especially beneficial to students just embarking on their college careers and majors of professional writing or tele-communications.

Secondly, Hurst does something more than what the abstract mentions in the database. Aside from pointing out the differences there are between information architecture and costumer experience, Hurst provides readers an inside view into a debate that exists over these terms and the importance of them. He does this by providing a clipping of a heated email, which was received, following a conference he spoke at, showing how some people believe that costumer experience is not important.

The third and very last point I will touch on is the way in which Hurst makes this article personal and tells readers exactly why in his opinion his job matters and costumer experience matters. Hurst demonstrates the importance of his work, despite what some people may argue, as seen in the upset email he received, by listing his thoughts and reasons in a clear and concise order. Through this personal touch, students, career men and women, and just everyday individuals can see that through his opinion, that there is purpose behind the type of work being done and that both costumer experience is just as important as information architecture.

Overall this article was quick, clear and very well versed. Mark Hurst provided backing for his arguments with not just scholarly examples but with personal examples, which in my opinion can do and mean a lot more.

Review of “Games To Explain Human Factors: Come, Participate, Learn and Have Fun!!!”

http://www.slideshare.net/group/games-to-explain-human-factors-come-participate-learn-and-have-fun

One of the first things to notice about this “blog” is that the name brings in a different audience than was probably originally intended. “Games To Explain Human Factors: Come, Participate, Learn and Have Fun!!!” seems like a site to show how video games can become a tool to help people learn about various aspects of being a human. Granted, my background with video games could bias this first impression, but I asked other friends and this was their impression as well.

Upon actually visiting the site readers will see that the blog isn’t even a blog at all, it’s a slide show of pictures from a training event where volunteers learned how to present games to other people. The type of games they present are games played with the human body, using different senses to trick the other senses of the body. The pictures posted on the site are silly and the program made to use them is obviously Microsoft Word. Younger/more technologically inclined users of the site will not even acknowledge it as a valuable resource because of its lack of design and inferior graphics.

As to the purpose of this site, it isn’t entirely clear. It seems like it is supposed to be used as an example of a successful event for this group, but there is only one member and it has not been accessed/changed since 2009. Overall I would not suggest using this site as a resource for scholarly work of any kind, but maybe as an example for what bad web design can look like.

Review of #17: "Using Bullet Points and Lists" by Catherine Hibbard

This article begins with a brief abstract, then discusses the differences between bulleted lists and numbered lists. It then continues to discuss the implications and benefits of both and finally concludes by citing some general rules for making effective bulleted and numbered lists.

"Using Bullet Points and Lists" would be helpful for those individuals looking for a clear, concise guide to organizing listed information. It might be useful for students making Powerpoint presentations or other multimedia. Because of its simple language, this is probably not an article to use in substitute of a scholarly journal. It does not contain any research, rather some general guidelines for usage with practical examples. These examples may be helpful for learners that are more visual.

Although this article is written at an somewhat of an elementary level, its information remains pertinent and valuable to anyone using bulleted and numbered lists in information design.

Review of #234: Demystifying Information Modeling

This resource is a PDF version of a PowerPoint presentation. It is just the slides without any speaker notes, so there are some jumps and gaps in the details.

I was expecting some analysis and discussion about information modeling, followed by practical application. The first few slides did offer some discussion of the concept of information modeling, but there was no comprehensive analysis. Instead, this is a linear presentation of how to build a cross-indexing system, which is not what I associate with information modeling.

The presentation does a good job of methodically walking through the steps to create a linear index with cross-indexing features, but there is no 'demystification.' No concepts or ideas are presented as mystified to be demystified. Instead, a book-technology-based system of hierarchies is assumed--there is no interaction with the audience or searching for comprehensive feedback.

For what it does, this is a fairly well structured presentation. Including speaker notes would be a great idea, and some of the slides are cluttered, especially towards the end. If you want to build a site map or impose a rigid superstructure on a wiki or intranet, this presentation could be very useful. If you want to understand any of the concepts behind the structure or examine how or why one structure works better than another, this resource is less useful.

Intermittent Problems at tclibrary.eserver.org

Students have reported trouble accessing the tclibrary.org site.

http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Information-Design

The link is working as of 8:40am Aug 30, but many of you have been in touch Sunday and Monday. In class today (again, Aug 30) we will be discussing Anderson's Free, specifically we're re-running the chocolate experiment described on pages 63-67. Google Books offers a free preview of these pages.

Today, Tuesday Aug 30, we'll spend time re-running the experiment. On Thursday, we will discuss the experiment and what it reveals, and its representation in Free as well as in Cheap and another text, Predictably Irrational. The relationship among these texts is established in this New York Times book review, which is itself not without some controversy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/06/books/06maslin.html

Dan Arielly keeps a blog based around the themes of Predictably Irrational here: http://danariely.com/

See especially this analysis of the chocolate experiments: http://danariely.com/2009/08/10/the-nuances-of-the-free-experiment/

So on Thursday, after running the experiment, I want to talk about the representation of the experience, and how authors represent similar events. In the meantime, we can figure out what is going on at the TCLibrary/Eserver site. Start reading Free and we'll have plenty to discuss this week.