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Best Practices for Technical Writers and Editors (Collection): DITA, Quality, and Style

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Best Practices for Technical Writers and Editors (Collection): DITA, Quality, and Style

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Description

  • Copyright 2012
  • Dimensions: 7" x 9-1/8"
  • Edition: 1st
  • eBook (Watermarked)
  • ISBN-10: 0-13-292965-1
  • ISBN-13: 978-0-13-292965-3

A brand new collection of state-of-the-art insights for technical writers, editors, and content managers…in a convenient e-format, at a great price!

 

Three outstanding IBM Press eBooks help you create powerfully effective, usable, and higher-value technical communications…in all media, for all audiences, everywhere! (PDF Format)

***Please note this collection includes the 2nd edition of Developing Quality Technical Information and not the current Third Edition (10-ISBN: 0133118975 | May 2014 publication).


Three IBM Press eBooks bring together today’s best techniques for creating clearer, more usable, more effective technical communication. The IBM Style Guide: Conventions for Writers and Editors distills IBM’s best wisdom for developing higher-quality content across all media, authors, delivery mechanisms, and geographic locations. You’ll find up-to-the minute guidance on topic-based writing; writing for diverse media and global audiences; formatting, organizing, structuring, and linking information; maximizing accessibility; documenting interfaces and procedures; and much more. Next, in DITA Best Practices: A Roadmap for Writing, Editing, and Architecting in DITA, three pioneering implementers show how to use DITA to maximize the value of technical documentation and offer a complete roadmap for successful DITA adoption, implementation, and usage. The authors answer crucial questions “official” DITA documents ignore, including: “Where do you start?” and “How do you avoid the pitfalls?” Discover proven best practices for developing effective topics, short descriptions, and content architecture, plus “in-the-trenches” solutions for ensuring quality implementations and accurate, cost-effective content conversion. Finally, Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors, SecondEdition, presents today’s most systematic, well-proven approach to creating great documentation. Learn how to focus on the right tasks and topics; say more with fewer words; use organization to deliver faster access; streamline and improve reviews; and much more. Packed with before-and-after examples, illustrations, and checklists, this book addresses crucial topics ranging from internationalization to retrievability to visual effectiveness.


From expert IBM and IBM Press publication professionals Francis DeRespinis, Peter Hayward, Jana Jenkins, Amy Laird, Leslie McDonald, Eric Radzinski, Laura Bellamy, Michelle Carey, Jenifer Schlotfeldt, Gretchen Hargis, Ann Kilty Hernandez, Polly Hughes, Deirdre Longo, Shannon Rouiller, and Elizabeth Wilde.

Sample Content

Table of Contents

The IBM Style Guide

Chapter 1   Language and grammar     1A

Chapter 2   Punctuation     37A

Chapter 3   Formatting and organization     73A

Chapter 4   Structure     115A

Chapter 5   References     143A

Chapter 6   Numbers and measurements     155A

Chapter 7   Computer interfaces     185A

Chapter 8   Writing for diverse audiences     233A

Chapter 9   Glossaries     245A

Chapter 10  Indexes     255A

Appendixes     273A

Index     381A

DITA Best Practices

Introduction     1B

Part I: Writing in DITA 5B

Chapter 1   Topic-Based Writing in DITA     7B

Chapter 2   Task Topics     21B

Chapter 3   Concept Topics     41B

Chapter 4   Reference Topics     51B

Chapter 5   Short Descriptions     63B

Part II: Architecting Content     89B

Chapter 6   DITA Maps and Navigation     91B

Chapter 7   Linking     109B

Chapter 8   Metadata     143B

Chapter 9   Conditional Processing     161B

Chapter 10  Content Reuse     183B

Part III: Converting and Editing 201B

Chapter 11  Converting Content to DITA     203B

Chapter 12  DITA Code Editing     229B

Chapter 13  Content Editing     259B

Index     273B

Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and Editors

Chapter 1   Quality technical information     1C

Part 1: Easy to use     15C

Chapter 2   Task orientation     17C

Chapter 3   Accuracy     47C

Chapter 4   Completeness     75C

Part:2: Easy to understand     101C

Chapter 5   Clarity     103C6

Chapter 6   Concreteness     149C

Chapter 7   Style     181C

Part 3: Easy to find     213C

Chapter 8   Organization     215C

Chapter 9   Retrievability     245C

Chapter 10  Visual effectiveness     277C

Part 4: Putting it all together     329C

Chapter 11  Applying more than one quality characteristic .    331C

Chapter 12  Reviewing, testing, and evaluating technical Information     357C

Part 5: Appendixes     385C

Appendix A  Quality checklist     387C

Appendix B  Who checks which quality characteristics?     391C

Appendix C  Quality characteristics and elements     397C

Resources and references     401C

Glossary     413C

Index     425C


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