TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Hackos' company, Comtech, used to create a software package called
PUB$ Estimator. I purchased a copy several years ago but never took the
time to learn it... it's an app that runs off Microsoft Excel. I believe the
Dependency Calculator is included... I'm not sure if Comtech still creates
or supports the product; it may be worth looking in to. Otherwise, you
can use the information on Dependency Calculator from her book and do
the figuring yourself...
If anyone out there uses the software, I'd like to hear your comments
about it... (incidentally, I found the user's guide a little lacking...hmmmm....
ironic.)
___________________
Colleen Adams
External Documentation Manager
First DataBank, Inc.
Indianapolis, IN
colleen_adams -at- firstdatabank -dot- com
A collegue has asked me to forward this information to the list:
> I received on-site Project Management training from
> Joanne Hackos, and part of the training involved what
> she called a "Dependency Calculator". This is a Java
> application that allows you to estimate time per page
> based on elements such as the level of familiarity with
> the tool used to produce the documentation, team
> experience, audience familiarity, subject matter experts,
> product stability, etc.
>
> Basically, this program allows you to enter the time it
> took per page on the last project (or the industry
> standard if you want), and will modify that
> time according to the factor ratings you enter. I do not
> know if she has this somewhere where people can
> access it, but I will check with her to find out, because
> this is an invaluable tool.
Penny Staples
pstaples -at- airwire -dot- com
From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
Send commands to listserv -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu (e.g., SIGNOFF
TECHWR-L)
Find additional TECHWR-L resources at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/