Re: tech writer bookshelf -- long

[Itowsley -at- aol -dot- com]

In a message dated 11/16/00 6:30:35 PM Eastern Standard Time, 
ghaas -at- selectica -dot- com writes:

<< "Understanding Comics" (McCloud). >>
Guy,

I thought I was the only one who thought this book should be required reading 
for any technical writer.  It covers almost every salient point in good 
communications.  Another excellent book is "Reinventing Comics" (McCloud).  

"Understanding Comics" is something that shows as well as tells its audience. 
 McCloud effectively uses the medium (comics) to discuss the technology of 
communications.  Even those of us who can't draw worth a "rat's tin fanny" 
can effectively use one side of the spectrum of comic drawings to effectively 
instruct readers.  The effective use of text and pictures is something that 
is a fascinating study in and of itself.   

"Reinventing Comics" discusses why the comic book industry went from bang to 
bust, and where it might be going.  Why is that relevant to technical 
writing?  Well, we can definitely adapt many of the concepts of comic book 
writing to technical writing.  

I was at WorldCon in Chicago this year and in one of the panels the panelist 
mentioned that the ONLY REASON he knew what the speed of light was on a test 
was not from reading it in a text book, but from reading it in Superman.  
(Remember, the people who used to be in charge of the editorial process in 
the publishing houses were very careful to check their facts.  Sadly, fact 
checkers have been among the groups dwindling in the publishing industry.)  
This illustrates how effective a combination of words and pictures can be in 
capturing an audience.  

If you haven't read these books, I suggest you do.  

As far as indexing goes, I prefer the "Indexing and Abstracting in Theory and 
Practice" by F. W. Lancaster.  I like the fact that it covers concise writing 
and goes into the theory of indexing as well as just the practical stuff.  I 
am not familiar with "The Art of Indexing" so I can't comment on it.  Some 
people have asked me what text I like to use for teaching good, concise 
writing - not like what I write in email ;-) - this is the book.  It is the 
textbook I had in my Master's (Library and Information Science) program for 
Indexing.  I'll admit, I may be biased towards this book, but I like killing 
two birds with one stone.

As far as style guides, my order of preference is:

-- "New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage" by Andrea 
Sutcliffe (Editor) [This covers any general and obscure English usage you can 
think of and makes it easy to find it.  I find I can find the answer here 
faster than in any other book.  Leave it to a librarian ;-) .]

-- "Read Me First A Style Guide for the Computer Industry" by Sun Technical 
Publications(Editor) [I find this is a much more common sense usage guide for 
computer issues than Microsoft's Style Guide - of course, I find MS to have 
strange non-standard English, especially when IT does something like not 
allow me to turn off Grammar Check {YUCK!!}]

-- "Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (Publication 
Manual of the American Psychological Association, 4th Ed)" [Most scientific 
communities and marketing groups have adopted this style guide.  It is 
comprehensive and easy to use - not as easy as NY Public Library Style Guide, 
but close.  It is definitely not as comprehensive.  It does give good 
guidelines as to the various types of documents you are likely to cover, and 
has a decent section on concise writing.]

Though I have recommended it as a general usage resource, I haven't used 
Harbrace since my freshman English class.  All of my other classes required 
the APA Style Guide with a smattering of MLA for good measure.  Of all of the 
style guides I've used, I definitely recommend the New York Public Library 
Writer's Guide to Style and Usage above ALL OTHERS.  

My JavaScript Library:

-  "JavaScript Bible" by Danny Goodman, Brendan Eich. Paperback (March 1998) 
[I saw that there is an update coming in January. {YEAH!}  This is the book 
that no one who owns it loans out.  They just tell you to buy a copy because 
it is so valuable.  Lots of example code that Goodman goes through in a 
methodical and understandable method.  This book is something you definitely 
should have on your bookshelf if you are doing any web development.]

-- "Dynamic Html : The Definitive Reference" by Danny Goodman [This is the 
quick reference with explanation of every DHTML tag that was in use at the 
time of its writing.  It even includes browser issues.  Another must have.]

-- "Javascript : The Definitive Guide" by David Flanagan [Another quick 
reference for JavaScript instead of DHTML.  If you remember when JavaScript 
was LiveScript and all of this was available on the web without any 
digging...]

A basic HTML book if you are doing web-based help.  Any of them will do - 
there is even a downloadable HTML  WinHelp file and HTML MS HTMLHelp file 
available at www.tucows.com.  (They keep moving their site around.)

Design
 
-- "Designing Web Usability : The Practice of Simplicity" by Jakob Nielsen  
[I actually wrote and THANKED him for writing this.  You can give this book 
to marketing, programmers, managers, etc. and you have some backing for what 
you are telling them.  It isn't just the "crank of a tech writer" saying 
these things anymore.  He presents the issues that most of us have come 
across in designing help or even print and explains it in plain English.  And 
it isn't YOU saying it, so maybe you aren't alone in thinking what you thing. 
 Granted, I don't agree with everything he says, but I find I agree with 95% 
of what he says.]

Technical books:

If I'm working on a programming topic, I find out from a listserv or friends 
or by looking at Amazon reviews whether the Que, "Bible", or Dummies book is 
better for beginning with a technology/program/whatever.  After I graduate 
from that initial book I go check out O'Reilly.  

If it is Telco land (my job for the next week and one day - I got a new job 
and am looking forward to starting :-) ) I could not live without my 
"Newton's Telecom Dictionary".  This is the book that you will find on 
virtually every desk of every programmer, marketing, engineer, etc. in any 
telecommunications company.  It should really be part of the welcoming 
package when you join a telecommunications firm.  I also highly recommend 
McGraw-Hill books.  I have Voice and Data Communications Handbook.  It goes 
into all the various things that people need to know to understand the world 
of telecommunications and why it ain't the world of computers.  Computers are 
only a part of the telco world.  

Ok, I will step off of my soap box now...  I hope this helps you in your 
search for good books.

Regards,

Melissa L. Owsley, M.L.I.S. (Hey, once a librarian, always a librarian.  
Books are one of the things I actually know ;-) )

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