Presentation for Society for Technical Communication (STC) Metro New York Chapter, 4 November 2010

1. Ray Gallon
Global Software Technical Information Systems Designer, Carestream Dental
President, STC France Chapter
Moving Forward by
Looking Backward
Monday, 8 November 2010

2. D
The Talmud,
Hebrew
document
dating from the
4th Century
The First
Hypertext
Document?
Monday, 8 November 2010

3. Central Text - with
contradictory content
Commentaries and
controversies on the
Central Text
Rachi’s Commentary
“Complements” -
Commentaries on the
Commentaries
References and links to
external commentaries
and other Talmud
passages
Rabenou Haenel’s
Commentary
References to written
authorities
Biblical References
First word of next
page
After Georges Hansel, Professor Emeritus, Université de Rouen, France
Monday, 8 November 2010

4. This is a 15th century landscape:
• Split screen
• Fragmented
• Hierarchical
• Multi-tasking
from “Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry” by the Frères Limbourg, ca. 1400
Monday, 8 November 2010

5. “Alongside Terne” by Henry Gummery, 1879
This is a 19th century landscape:
• Coherent image
• Attempting to
interpret or
reproduce
reality
• Dominated by
the learned
grammar of
perspective
Monday, 8 November 2010

6. W
hich Best Represents Our
Current Information
Environment?
Monday, 8 November 2010

7. Connections
Monday, 8 November 2010

8. Connections
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9. Communication
Culture
Technology
Information Sharing
Monday, 8 November 2010

10. Communication
What are we saying?
To whom are we saying it?
How are we saying it?
Content Strategy!
User centered design
Monday, 8 November 2010

11. Culture
What language are we saying it in?
How do they represent knowledge visually?
What about the people we work with?
Where are they from?
• National cultures
• Corporate culture
Connections
User centered design
Monday, 8 November 2010

12. Technology
Gadgets?
What technology is useful or
appropriate?
Content ManagementInformation ArchitectureDITA
User-centered design
Monday, 8 November 2010

13. Technical
Communicator
CS
XLtn
UX IA
Communication
Culture
Technology Connections
Monday, 8 November 2010

14. Conclusions
• Technical Communicators come from varied, eclectic
backgrounds - this is no accident.
• Our work as communicators puts us at the center of a
host of activities. Our jobs either include aspects of these
activities, or the need to communicate them:
• Content Strategy
• Information Architecture
• User Centered Design
• Translation and Localization
• Our field of action is enlarged, and this gives us
opportunities for new jobs, new areas of intervention,
new prospectives.
• Let’s hear it for humanist nerds!
Monday, 8 November 2010

15. Thank You
infodesign@culturecom.net
Pass me your business card or an email for a
link to the slides on line
Culturecom
Monday, 8 November 2010