Newbies’ Corner: Can You Help a Student Out?

Rita Johnson is a student in a Technical Editing course enrolled at Bowling Green State University. She’s doing a research project, combining psychology and editing. Rita’s project focuses on how technical editors can better provide feedback to their clients and strengthen professional communication.

For her project, she’s looking for technical editing practitioners who would be willing to answer a few questions in this Google Form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSccAnKr8wesPDEeGeE8_PGu_Gz2woEXEKdabj9MAdO2xr07pw/viewform

Rita will really appreciate your responses as she continues to learn from us and our technical editing experiences!

Of Interest: Feedback Finesse – The Art of Giving and Receiving Feedback

Technical communicators serve as a cornerstone in the flow of feedback through organizations that goes well beyond editorial feedback on different content types.

On 10 February 2021, at 3 PM EST (UTC-5), Liz Herman will show you how to add some finesse to the way you give and receive feedback in your organization. Learn new ways to deliver meaningful feedback. Understand how to thoughtfully respond to feedback. Leave with some artful ways to approach the flow of feedback and some specific resources for additional learning.

This is a joint STC Technical Editing SIGSTC Santa Barbara, and STC Los Angeles event, and is open to members and non-members:

  • TE SIG members: $0
  • P&P SIG members: $0
  • Santa Barbara chapter members: $0
  • Los Angeles chapter members: $0
  • Students: $0
  • Other STC members: $10
  • Non-members: $20

To register, click here.

From Around the Web: Editing Reference Lists

If there is any part of academic editing that editors do not look forward to, it is reviewing and formatting the references used in a manuscript.  But citations in a thesis or dissertation are an ethical and professional necessity, and often cause editors to spend hours going back and forth from the research paper to the style guide. 

In this blog article, Sharon Paul helps you get into the basics of how to edit a list of references and provides you with some tips that can make the entire process easier. She also links to a comparison checklist that can help you choose a suitable citation management software that can make your life a lot easier.

Call for Submissions to Corrigo!

Do you have something to say that you think technical editing practitioners will find interesting? Then consider submitting it for publication on Corrigo!

You don’t need to be a member of the STC Technical Editing SIG – regardless of your official job title, we welcome and encourage everyone to read and submit to Corrigo.

Corrigo has lots of different feature categories:

You can submit short (1000 words or less), original content about subjects you think technical editing practitioners might find interesting, for example:

  • Stories about how applying technical editing skills increases reader satisfaction
  • Information about tools you find helpful
  • Hacks that you use to make your job easier
  • Tips about how to balance quality and deadlines
  • Vignettes about a day in your life as a technical editing practitioner
  • Links to sites you find helpful in your job, with explanations about how they help you
  • Reviews of articles, books, or events you’ve read or been to that relate to technical editing

We’re also looking for longer, more detailed original articles about topics that pertain to technical editing, both its theory and its practice.

Send your submissions to the Corrigo editor, Yoel Strimling, at editor@stc-techedit.org.
We’ll try to get back to you within three weeks with our decision. If we think changes need to be made to the submission before it is accepted, we’ll make suggestions.

If you want to discuss possible ideas for submission to Corrigo, send an email to Yoel, and he’ll be happy to listen.

Of Interest: To Be More Efficient and Consistent, Build a Better Checklist

Anyone writing, editing, or managing any type of communication for a living is feeling the crunch. There is less time to create and edit; more types and formats of content; more apps, software, and systems to learn. And we expect quality, accuracy, and consistency from ourselves because we take pride in our work.

On 30 December 2020 at 3 PM EST, Kelly Schrank will discuss how to address a multitude of modern dilemmas with a relatively old-school hack: a checklist.

In this webinar, Kelly will teach you how to use a comprehensive checklist created and updated for a specific communication task to help you:

  • Differentiate workflows, systems, and activities
  • Spell out style and formatting details
  • Track your progress
  • Document metrics
  • Give you a sense of completion and peace of mind

This is a joint STC Technical Editing SIG, STC Santa Barbara, and STC Los Angeles event, and is open to members and non-members:

  • TE SIG members: $0
  • P&P SIG members: $0
  • Santa Barbara chapter members: $0
  • Los Angeles chapter members: $0
  • Students: $0
  • Other STC members: $10
  • Non-members: $20

To register, click here.

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