Document Design summary

[Randy Allen Harris <raha -at- WATARTS -dot- UWATERLOO -dot- CA>]

The responses to my request for information about texts for a document
design course are slowing to a trickle.  There may be a few others yet to
come, but I would like to summarize them now, for people in a similar
pickle to mine, and for any unpickled but still interested readers.

I would first like to thank, very gratefully, the people who have
responded, online and off:  Bob Morrisette, Charles Fisher, Laurie Melson,
Paul Trummel, Dickie Selfe, Lori Lathrop, Kathy Viaropulos, Brad
Mehlenbacher, John Sanders, Tamye Lyles, Bill Coggin, David Farkas, Tom
Warren, Kathleen Nosbisch, Murrie Burgan, and Jim Porter.  Many of these
people went several extra paces and sent prospecti, or suggested
excersizes, or offered general advice.  Believe me, it was needed, and very
much appreciated. I'd also like to thank the listowner, Eric Ray, for
starting and running this vibrant list.  Having this community to draw on
has made my life much easier, and consequently improved the lot of my
students hugely.

A few people chided me for trying to draw, for free, on professional
expertise I should be paying for.  I wish, in fact, that I could pay for
this information; it's certainly valuable.  But my institution, like
everyone else's, is getting the financial squeeze.  We have all just
swallowed BIG cutbacks.  Rather than money, and in addition to gratitude, I
can offer the assurance that my students will be much better off than if
they had only me to depend on.  It will be the best course I can make it,
but without your help that would certainly have been less good.
Contributions like yours are important services to the community.  Thanks
again.

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The suggested texts (not all references are complete; some may be
innaccurate) are:

Jan V. White.  EDITING BY DESIGN. 2nd edition, (R. R. Bowker Co., 1982). (2
VOTES)

William Horton.  ILLUSTRATING COMPUTER DOCUMENTATION:  The Art of
Presenting Information Graphically on Paper and Online.  (Wiley and Sons,
1991). ISBN  0-471-53845-0. (2 VOTES)

John Brockman. WRITING BETTER USER DOCUMENTATION, 2nd Edition.  (Wiley,
1990).  ISBN 0-471-62260-5 (29.95). (2 VOTES)

James Hartley.  DESIGNING INSTRUCTIONAL TEXT.  2nd ed. (Kogan Page, 1987).
(2 VOTES)

Jan V. White.  GRAPHIC DESIGN FOR THE ELECTRONIC AGE (Watson-Guptill, 1988).

A.J. Romiszowski.  DESIGNING INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEMS: Decision
Making in Course Planning and Curriculum Design.  (Kogan/Page, 1981).
"It's OLD!, but still has useful material."

Barbara Seels and Zita Glasgow.  EXERCISES IN INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN.
(Merrill, 1990).

Thomas Bivins and William E. Ryan.  HOW TO PRODUCE CREATIVE PUBLICATIONS:
Traditional Techniques and Computer Applications.  (NTC Business Books,
1991).

Williams Horton.  DESIGNING AND WRITING ONLINE DOCUMENTS.

Jonathan Price and Henry Kormans.  ("entitled something like") HOW TO
EXPLAIN TECHNICAL INFORMATION.

T. M. Duffy, J. E. Palmer, B. Mehlenbacher. ONLINE HELP:  Design and
Evaluation. (Ablex, 1992). ISBN 0-892-91858-X (~25.00)

Theodore, E. Conover.  GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION TODEAY. (St. Paul, MN: West
Publishing, 1985).

Document Design Center.  GUIDELINES FOR DOCUMENT DESIGNERS.  (ORDERS:
Document Design Center/American Institutes for Research/3333 K Street, NW/
Washington DC 20007; $12.95).

Martha Andrews Nord and Beth Tanner. "Design That Delivers" in the Barnum
and Carliner collection TECHNIQUES FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS (Macmillan,
1993).

Two people also recommended an in-press book by Karen Shriver (no title
supplied).

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I have not yet decided which book I'm going to use (I haven't been able to
see all the suggested titles yet).



Randy Allen Harris                          raha -at- watarts -dot- uwaterloo -dot- ca
Rhetoric and Professional Writing           519 885-1211, x5362
English, U of Waterloo                      FAX:  519 884-8995
Waterloo ON, CANADA, N2L 3G1