TechWhirl: Technical Communication Recap for August 22, 2014

Here in the US, the back-to-school season has begun in earnest, and whether or not you actually matriculate somewhere, the fever of activity and focus on learning seems contagious. TechWhirl, happily, is not immune. From tips on acing the job interview, to eLearning storyboards and DITA starter kits, our features this week cross the tech comm and content strategy neighborhoods. Meanwhile, conversations in the email discussion list and community forums include intros to API documentation, FrameMaker and CSS, GUI documentation, DITA and open source, policy and procedures writing, and much more.

We can tie all of those content areas together with some encouraging words about nominating yourself or other outstanding content creators for a Customer Experience Recognition Award. Doing our jobs well requires such a broad range of skills and tools, and often it’s hard to see any commonalities. The CERAs offer a way to see how well it can all come together, so gather up your team members and put together your submission before the September 19^th deadline. Think of it as an optional homework assignment…

Have a great weekend!

-Connie and the gang at TechWhirl

	Tech Writer This Week for August 22, 2014 The best articles on the web for the week of August 21, 2014.
	The Help Files: Interview Special You’ve been coasting along at your “meh” job for ages. You’ve been contemplating a job jump, and now summer’s nearly over. Resume and cover letter are ready to go. Now for some top-notch advice about slam dunking your interview.
	eLearning Storyboard Template A storyboard can be a collaborative tool used between subject matter experts (SMEs) and eLearning developers to develop and edit content, and to visualize the way screens will look before doing too much of the actual work (or possibly having already done lots of rework).
	DITA Starter Kit: Everything You Need to Jump into DITA Take a deep breath, and get ready to jump in—to both the hands-on of DITA content and the planning needed to make your implementation succeed. Use this DITA Starter Kit as your jumping off point.
	Content Strategy Versus DITA Content Strategy (poll) Obviously all three terms–strategy, content, and content strategy–rate a lot of research and debate. Jacquie Samuels’ informative piece on Building a DITA Content Strategy also rated some debate recently, including a worthwhile blog post from Sarah O’Keefe of Scriptorium, which makes a really nice TechWhirl poll question.

Technical Communication News:

• eXplorance Launches Blue 5.5 with Powerful Text Analytics
• GRC App Manages P and P Content Using SharePoint 2013 or Office 365

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