Google Summer of Code Doc Summit Stories

{ Posted on Oct 21 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : social media
On my way to the airport after an intense and enjoyable three day session with four open source projects writing a book apiece, I wonder if I have any more words to write down. The group I worked with had ...Read More »

Wiki Best Practices from Wikia Content Team

{ Posted on Oct 16 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : wiki, writing
I found this great set of best practices for wikis on the Wikia site. They host 275,000 wiki sites on all sorts of topics, and truly want to help people reach the most potential with their wiki by offering guidance. ...Read More »

Docs in 2031

{ Posted on Oct 11 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : work, writing
I like to think about the future of documentation, ruminating on future processes, interactions, and tools. Yet this past week at the OpenStack Conference I was faced with the reality of the future of documentation as a storage device for ...Read More »

Why Wiki?

{ Posted on Sep 28 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : techpubs, wiki
In OpenStack-land, the wiki was chosen before I got here. It has a couple of flaws for my vision for open source documentation, which became more apparent when I recently outlined my reasoning for what content goes where. By walking ...Read More »

Social Support and Documentation Communities

{ Posted on Jul 14 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : social media, techpubs, tools
Stories of Social Media Sticking in Unlikely Places Saying, "No one reads the manual" just doesn't hold water any more. Social technology has intersected even the classic user manual. There's always someone who will read a book. But their true motivation ...Read More »

Observations from the Open Help Conference

{ Posted on Jun 09 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : techpubs, tools, wiki, work, writing
I attended the Open Help Conference in lush, green, over-20-inches-of-rain Cincinnati over the weekend and learned so much. I wanted to share my observations in a longer format than the 140 characters I used sporadically during the conference. First of all, ...Read More »

Crowdsourcing Inquisition

{ Posted on May 17 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : techpubs, tools, writing
I consider myself a curious person. I was constantly questioning as a kid, much to the chagrin of my fifth grade teacher. I recall that he wrote in my yearbook, "Keep asking questions, but when you ask, listen and learn." ...Read More »

Twitter’s Value to Technical Communication

{ Posted on May 04 2011 by annegentle }
7 Comments
Categories : social media
Some responses to an inquiry I got via email from a student at the University of Minnesota in the Scientific and Technical Communication program. Thanks Mary, for asking nice thought-provoking questions! 1. What do you think is the value of Twitter ...Read More »

Playing with the Future of Technical Communication

{ Posted on Apr 23 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : techpubs, work, writing
I have a great group of mom friends who also happen to be technical communicators. One day last month, my friend posted this picture her 6-year-old daughter made and asked if technical writing is genetic. Ha! [caption id="attachment_1741" align="alignleft" width="171" caption="The ...Read More »

Learn about Leveraging the Social Web for Customer Support

{ Posted on Apr 15 2011 by annegentle }
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Categories : social media, techpubs, work, writing
The webinar and interview we recorded last week thanks to MindTouch is now available for your listening and viewing pleasure. I had a blast talking to Scott. I thought we might argue a bit on some of the points, but ...Read More »
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