Contribute directly to the success of STC and be heard by voting in STC’s election! The ballots are open from 26 February to 9 March 2018.
Click here to find out more about the candidates and their positions – and then vote!
Of Interest: Call for Speakers – CIDM Summer Conference on Judicious Editing
Judicious Editing— July 24-25, 2018
On the heels of the IDEAS Winter 2018 conference, Writing Well, comes Judicious Editing, the IDEAS Summer 2018 conference. It doesn’t matter how good your writing skills are, you can always benefit from another set of eyes. Whether performed by a peer, a professional, or you yourself, editing is a critical phase of the publication process. It helps to validate accuracy, confirm readability, improve usability, and enforce conformance to corporate standards. Nevertheless, the review and approval phases of a project are often compromised as we struggle with differing opinions, changing feedback, and condensed timelines.
What can you do to make the editing and review process as painless as possible? What should editors be looking for and what can writers do to better prepare their content for editing in the first place? What role do automated quality checkers serve in the process? What do you do when reviewers disagree? Join us for the answers to these questions and more!
For more details, go to: https://ideas.infomanagementcenter.com/call-for-speakers-summer-2018/
A Word from the New Editor!
Hi! My name is Yoel Strimling and I’m the new editor of Corrigo! First, a little about me:
When people ask me what I do, I tell them I spin straw into gold.
I’ve been an editor for 20 years, and over the course of my career, I’ve successfully improved the content, writing style, and look and feel of my employers’ most important and most used customer-facing documentation by researching and applying the principles of documentation quality and survey design.
I’ve presented twice at STC Summits: once in 2008 (Editing Modular Documentation: Some Best Practices) and once in 2017 (So You Think You Know What Your Readers Want?).
I’m a member of tekom Israel and a Senior Member of STC.
I’m really excited to be here and lend my expertise to this great resource – but it won’t be great if you don’t help! We’re looking for STC Technical Editing SIG members to contribute to Corrigo – for more details, see the About Corrigo page.
If you are interested in helping out or submitting to Corrigo, please email me at editor@stc-techedit.org.
I look forward to hearing from you!
My Top 3 Editor Roles
In 2016, the STC Technical Editing SIG held a Watercooler Chat entitled, Technical Editors Wear Many Hats. We discussed the evolving role of an editor and various roles technical editors play. Some common responsibilities:
- proofreader
- trainer
- peer reviewer
- writer
- video creator
Most days, I juggle several editorial roles. Here are my three favorites.
1. Peer Reviewer
Peer reviews–or feedback–isn’t formal editing. I critique stories, blog posts, articles, chapters, or online course material. Sometimes, it’s an early draft and my colleague wants another read to help her organize the piece. Other times a fellow writer emails the story for me for one last review, to make sure the piece flows.
The side benefit? I read material before it’s published!
2. Proofreader
It’s all in the details! A client sends me a draft article or a link to their website. The task? Proofread for grammar, spelling, and punctuation matter.
One client asked me to proof their initial blog posts. I received the link to the newly-launched website and began reading. One post had this bold title: Heart Attach [sic]. I emailed a screenshot to the client before adding this error to my list. “Yikes! I proofread that title many times! It’s supposed to be ‘Heart Attack’.” Every writer needs a proofreader!
We can’t trust the automated spell checkers to pick up all our errors. ‘Attach’ is a good word but not the right word for this context!
3. UX (User Experience) Editor
I hadn’t thought of UX testing as editing. In several cases, I test as a consumer and provide text edits.
Case 1: Missing Login/Logout Buttons
Recently, I checked on one educational institution’s website. Where’s the login button? I wondered. I emailed their tech support. Tech Support responded that there’s no login button and provided the login steps. After I click around, I wanted to logout. No logout button or link, and when I closed the browser and reopened, I was still logged in. Again, I contacted Tech Support; they sent me the logout link.
My feedback to the institution? It was difficult to login and logout; please add buttons!
Case 2: Missing Donate Button and Unsecured Website
A non-profit client requested that I click through their site and try some features. We agreed that I would try and donate, to test the automated responses. On the main page, there was no Donate button. Why make a potential donor hunt through the site to give money? When I did find the donation page, I noticed that the website address wasn’t secure (not https). Consumers don’t want to provide PII (Personally Identifiable Information) on an unsecured website.
My suggested edits? Secure the donation page. Add Donate buttons on all pages.
Sherri Leah Henkin is a Senior Member of STC. Her STC-related articles have appeared in NEO STC’s newsletter and Intercom. In addition to tech writing and editing, Sherri has published creative non-fiction pieces in several international magazines. Sherri offers content creation and editing services through www.contentclarified.com.
Protecting Yourself from Injury While Using a Computer – Part 3: Eye Strain
by Geoff Hart
Editor’s note: This series of articles is taken from Appendix II of Geoff’s book Effective Onscreen Editing, 3rd edition (http://www.geoff-hart.com/books/eoe/onscreen-book.htm), which was published in May 2016. Republished for Corrigo with the author’s permission.
The more you use your computer, the greater the risk you’ll encounter a repetitive-stress injury (RSI) such as carpal tunnel syndrome. That’s not because computers are inherently harder on your body than (say) jogging, but rather because the problems are subtler and develop over longer periods. (Unless you jog 8 hours per day.) RSI results from overuse of a body part without giving it time to recover, so it’s also called an overuse injury. Given how much time modern editors spend at the keyboard, overuse is surely a risk. The most common problems fall into three categories, each of which will be discussed in separate blog posts:
- Aches and pains
- Hand and arm problems
- Eye strain
Continue reading “Protecting Yourself from Injury While Using a Computer – Part 3: Eye Strain”