Re: cognitive/human factors - technical writing and translation

[":--)" <elblase -at- ZAMIR -dot- NET>]

Dear Jeff,
I am a very recent subscriber to TECHWR-L, so I was not aware until your
post that there was anyone interested in these subjects. I did my graduate
work in Washington, DC in behavioral science, and am very interested in
receiving a copy of your research. Behavioral science is kin to these areas
of study, and has been very important in the way I have been able to create
documentation or curricula for various levels of end-users. This brings to
mind a comment I make to all prospective clients that my real client is the
end-user. A behavioral approach has served the needs of many audiences
extremely well, and drawn their indefatigable appreciation. Aside from the
incomparable value NLP has in addressing learning and, thus, the art of
documentation, Kahlers (apostrophe s; I am overseas right now and cannot
find the apostrophe on my keyboard) Process Communication Model can be of
significant help in understanding and writing to audiences and end-users.
This model is used by the Secret Service, FBI, State Department (although I
wonder if they really use it), and NASA, among other federal agencies.
Another person you might want to seek out is Darryl Sink, doing business as
Darryl Sink & Associates. As a member of the ISPI in Dallas, TX, some years
ago, I had the pleasure of hearing him many times discuss the importance of
design. He is popular among instructional system designers, and what he has
to say about his ISD approaches is directly applicable to documentation.
Another guru I have had the pleasure to hear is Thiagi (spelling may be
off). He has a URL I cannot recall at the moment. I think if you seek either
out, you will discover that both take a behavioral approach to addressing
their audiences - even the most educated. These social sciences can
effectively inform good documentation. As a contractor at IBM in Lexington,
Kentucky, for example, and in spite of a great deal of "net new" material, I
rearranged and edited a 367 page tech manual to 173 pages based on some
simple behavioral principles. And based on these simple principles, it was a
success. Well, I hope I am not too far off target in my advice.
Cheers,
Inkhorn


-----Original Message-----
From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues
[mailto:TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU]On Behalf Of Jeff ALLEN
Sent: 06 July 1999 9:55 AM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Sum: cognitive/human factors - technical writing and
translation


Dear Colleagues,

I have completed a summary of responses received with regard to my request
on 22 April 1999 on the topic of references for cognitive and
psycholinguistic factors
in technical writing and translation.  I've slowly been compiling the
information in my free time on the weekends, so it has taken a few months
to complete it.

The summary is too long to post to the LANTRA-L and TECHWR-L lists (exceeds
250 lines), so if you want a copy of it, please contact me directly at
<jeff -at- elda -dot- fr>.

Best,

Jeff



=================================================
Jeff ALLEN - Technical Manager/Directeur Technique
European Language Resources Association (ELRA)  &
European Language resources - Distribution Agency (ELDA)
(Agence Europe'enne de Distribution des Ressources Linguistiques)
55, rue Brillat-Savarin
75013   Paris   FRANCE
Tel: (+33) 1.43.13.33.33 - Fax: (+33) 1.43.13.33.30
mailto:jeff -at- elda -dot- fr
http://www.icp.grenet.fr/ELRA/home.html


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