Lesson 1: Technical Communication
Technical communication
·
is
a means to document or convey scientific, engineering, or other technical information
·
defines
the field as any form of communication that focuses on technical or specialized
topics, communicates specifically by using technology or provides instructions
on how to do something
·
a
factual communication, usually about products and services
·
as
a field within business communications encompasses a range of disciplines that
work together to communicate complex information to those who need it to
accomplish a defined task or goal
*Whatever
the definition of technical communication, the overarching goal of the practice
is to create easily accessible information for a specific audience.
*As modern society relies
increasingly on technology for every aspect of life’s activities, technical
communications will remain a viable, lively and varied profession and continue
to grow in strategic importance
Technical communicator
Individuals
in a variety of contexts and with varied professional credentials engage in
technical communication. Some
individuals are designated as technical communicators. These individuals use a
set of methods to research and document technical processes or products.
Technical communicators may put the information they capture into paper
documents, web pages, digitally stored text, audio, video, and other media.
Technical
communicators generally tailor information to a specific audience, which may be
subject matter experts, consumers, end users, etc. Technical communicators
often work collaboratively to create deliverables.
*Deliverables include:
· online
help- topic-oriented, procedural or reference information delivered through
computer software. It is a form of user assistance
·
user manuals- is a technical communication
document intended to give assistance to people using a particular system
· white papers- is an authoritative report or guide
helping readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. White
papers are used in two main spheres: government and business-to-business
marketing
·
specifications- (often abbreviated as spec)
may refer to an explicit set of requirements
to be satisfied by a material,
design, product, or service
· industrial
videos- is a video that targets “industry” as its primary audience. An
industrial video is a type of sponsored film (such as an educational film)
which prioritizes pragmatism over artistic value
·
reference cards- is a concise bundling of condensed
notes about a specific topic, such as math formulas to calculate area/volume,
or common syntactic rules and idioms of a particular computer platform,
application program, or formal language. It serves as an ad hoc memory aid for
an experienced user
· data sheets- is a document that summarizes the
performance and other technical characteristics of a product, machine,
component (e.g., an electronic component), material, a subsystem (e.g., a power
supply) or software in sufficient detail to be used by a design engineer to
integrate the component into a system
· journal
articles- is a written work published in a print or electronic medium. It
may be for the purpose of propagating the news, research results, academic
analysis or debate.
· patents- is a set of exclusive rights granted
by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in
exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention
·
forms and documents- is one of the things that technical
communicators do as part of creating deliverables for their companies or
clients. Document design is “the field of theory and practice aimed at creating
comprehensible, persuasive and usable functional documents.” These forms and
documents can have many different purposes (i.e. collecting information,
providing information, etc).
*Technical domains can be of any kind, including
the soft and hard sciences, high technology including computers and software
and consumer electronics.
0 comments:
Post a Comment