Guidance for Authors
Introduction
This entry includes guidance for authoring a page in the Technical Communication Topics Wiki. As you prepare your entry, consider that this entry can serve as as a program portfolio piece. Consider also that visitors to your page may also visit other pages.
Getting Started
To create a new wiki page, in the site edit mode click on"What Do TCs Need to Know About..." and click the plus sign to add a new topic at the main heading level. To add a sub-page to an existing topic, click on the existing topic and then click the plus sign to create a new sub-page. Title your page with the name of your topic. Do not apply any page themes.
Remember, as a whole, the content of the wiki entry should answer the question, "What do Technical Communicators Need to Know About This Topic?" This means that you should limit your content to what TCers need to know.
Word Limit
While there is no set word limit, entries should include at a minimum 500 words of text, not including links, as well as relevant multi-media (photos, illustrations, diagrams, videos, etc.).
Organizing Your Topic
Your wiki entry can be divided up into as many subsections as you deem relevant and necessary for your purposes. The Wikipedia Featured Article Criteria are good guidelines. Remember to stay focused on what technical communicators need to know (do they need to know the history? Maybe, but make sure you ask the question). Common, but not required, sections on a Wikipedia page include:
Lead/Introductory section with summary or definitional material--if this is the only section a visitor reads, will they get the most important idea?
Overview
Origins or History (use this section -only- if it is relevant)
Specialized subsections unique to the topic
See Also
References
External Links
Style
Style Guide: Style should adhere to the Wikipedia Manual of Style.
Point-of-View: Writing for Wikipedia is a commitment to adopt a neutral point-of-view (NPOV). Wikipedia defines NPOV here. On this wiki we maintain NPOV, except when it interferes with the main rhetorical aim of articles to answer the question: "What do Technical Communicators Need to Know About This Topic?"
Links: Links to related topics should be limited to links within the TC Topics Wiki. In general, do not link to outside the wiki (such as to Wikipedia). There may be exceptions to this rule (e.g., links to sources, links to organizations, etc. related to the topic) and those should be considered on an individual basis.
Finding Sources
Sources for your topic must represent both the scholarly and the practitioner world of technical communication. Your entry must cite a minimum of 8 sources, with at least 3 of those being scholarly. The balance of scholarly vs. practitioner sources will depend heavily on your topic. This means doing research to find articles in scholarly journals, trade publications, known technical communication blogs, company websites, professional organizations (such as STC), etc. Your topic wiki will be evaluated in terms of its credibility based on thoroughness and breadth of the sources found.
You can go to the PSU Library subject guide for Technical Communication as a portal for doing academic research.
Suggested sources include:
Suggested Journals
Technical Communication (combination scholarly and trade journal, published by STC)
Technical Communication Quarterly (scholarly, journal of ATTW)
Journal of Business and Technical Communication (scholarly)
Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (scholarly)
Journal of Business Communication (scholarly)
International Journal of Business Communication (scholarly)
Communication Design Quarterly
Transactions on the IEEE Professional Communication
Other journals related to specialized topics
Other Sources
Relevant trade journals and newsletters
Corporate sites for software and other products
Blogs/Wikis by Practitioners (I'd Rather Be Writing; Scriptorium; TechWhirl, etc.)
White papers about products (often found on company webpages)
Professional organization sites and pages related to the topic
Textbooks or other training books and materials related to a topic
Using Images
Images and graphics should be included as well. However, you must have permission to publish any images that you use. Images must be your own, be in the public domain and/or have a creative commons license.
Using Heading Styles
Use the default styles for your levels of headings via the format menu. Always format your headings using the style settings in order to ensure uniformity across the site and to make it possible to change the style of the wiki in the future. Note that Heading 1 is the page title and is automatically formatted.
Inserting a Table of Contents
Insert a table of contents at the top of the article to make the information architecture of your article clear and to ease navigation. Go to the "insert" menu tab and choose "Table of Contents."
Author Attribution
Include your name at the bottom of the page. Write: "Last updated by Your Name on Date."
Citing Sources
Follow the Wikipedia guidance for source citation in articles. Summarized, quoted or paraphrased material should be cited in the text using a number in brackets, for example: [8]. References should be listed at the bottom and numbered to reflect these references.