Category: Tools

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From Around the Web: GenAI and Editing

The question of how ChatGPT and other generative AI tools will the affect the field of technical editing is a hot topic. Will we be replaced? Can we use it to help us do our jobs better?

Iva Cheung, a certified professional editor based in Metro Vancouver, B.C, has drawn a cartoon about how we as technical editing practitioners might need to react to the coming of large language models and GenAI, but she also writes some serious stuff about it that’s worth thinking about.

Take a look (and laugh!) here:

https://ivacheung.com/2023/07/conspiracy/

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Newbies’ Corner: Monthly TESIG Student Chats

One of the goals of the TESIG is to help technical editing students get more involved in the field. We want to hear some new, fresh voices, especially from those who are studying the subject or just starting out.  It’s important to us to discuss the needs, dreams, and issues of the next generation of technical editing practitioners.

With this goal in mind, we are excited to announce the TESIG Monthly Student Chat series!

These 30-minute virtual chats will be held over Zoom on the last Wednesday of each month, and are a forum for current TESIG student members to discuss editing challenges, as well as share helpful resources, editing tactics and tips, and career advice about finding internships/jobs.

For details, please contact student_outreach@stc-techedit.org.

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Of Interest: Editing with Macros?!

A wise person once said, “Automate what you can automate!”
But can we automate some of our editing processes? Should we?

On Wednesday 22 June 2022 at 10 AM EDT (for
your local time zone, go to https://bit.ly/3LjzOv2), join Jennifer Yankopolus and Paul Beverley who will address the benefits of using macros to automate some editing tasks in Microsoft Word, and demonstrate a variety of macros written by Paul that technical editing practitioners can use to make their editing processes more efficient and focused.

This is an STC Technical Editing SIG event, and is open to both members and non-members.

To register for this event, go to https://bit.ly/3PoINOK.

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Of Interest: Editing Blind

Can you edit a document that you can’t even see?

Most technical editing practitioners might be surprised to hear that there are visually-impaired people who work as editors. But how is this possible?

On Thursday 10 February 2022 at 10 AM MT (click here for
your local time zone), join Erin Nightingale, a blind editor (her preferred terminology) who will talk about the obstacles she’s overcome and the tools she uses. Erin recently published an article called “An Editing Process for Blind or Visually Impaired Editors” in IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

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

To register for this event, click here.

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This Worked for Me: Three Collaboration Tools for Technical Editors Who Use Word

By Amanda Altamirano

Many businesses use Microsoft Word as their primary tool for creating documentation and other digital texts. Using Word can be challenging when performing edits with multiple subject matter experts (SMEs) and individual contributors with varied writing skill levels.

As a technical communicator who was tasked with managing product suite documentation in Word, I had to find ways to streamline technical editing. After months of trial and error, I found three collaboration tools that integrate with Word that worked for me.

Continue reading “This Worked for Me: Three Collaboration Tools for Technical Editors Who Use Word”