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From: Sigdoc95 (S.) Doc (BNR) Dept 8I33 CAR

Subject: SIGDOC '95 Preliminary Program (web site available by 6/19)

Preliminary Program

ACM 1995 SIGDOC Conference

EMERGING FROM CHAOS

Solutions for the Growing Complexity of Our Jobs

October 1-4, 1995
Hyatt Regency
Savannah, Georgia

SIGDOC '95 is a platform for us as documentation specialists to share
solutions that meet the daily challenges we face in our jobs. As our experience
and expertise grow, so too does the complexity of our challenges. We are no
longer asked to provide a piece of the puzzle, but the complete solution.

* Printed or online? We now deliver information through inter-active
software, graphics, hypertext, video, and sound running on multiple
platforms.

* Online help? Help systems now mix full text searches, performance
enhancement, and online selective viewing.

The Special Interest Group for Documentation (SIGDOC) is a society of
communication professionals facing the challenge of providing complete
communications solutions.

SIGDOC members are from all technical and scientific disciplines of the
computing community that uses computers to create documentation in many styles
and mediums. Possibly the greatest resource for SIGDOC members is the contact
with senior professions

in many disciplines of documentation.

This conference is uniquely intimate and affordable. It offers papers, panels,
and tutorials containing new information for the experienced professional.
This year's keynote speaker is Jakob Nielsen. SIGDOC also sponsors annual
awards for individual (

Rigo) and organizational (Diana) contributions to computer documentation. This
year's Rigo award winner is Ginny Redish. The Diana award winners are the
Communications Design Center (CDC), Tom Duffy, Dick Hayes, Karen Schriver, and
Erwin Steinberg.

SIGDOC is a special interest group of ACM. SIGDOC and ACM memberships provide
you with discounts on ACM publications and activities. You can also obtain
proceedings of conferences, voting member privileges, and membership
information from the ACM Memb

er Service Department at 212-626-0500, FAX 212-944-1318, or e-mail
<acm...@acm.org>

=============================================================

Welcome to Savannah

The conference site is located in Savannah's Historic District on the Riverfront
Plaza, a nine-block pedestrian concourse encompassing three mooring facilities
and six parks. This area is peppered with two dozen squares embellished by
fountains and gran

d monuments, banks of azaleas and camellias, live oaks and magnolias veiled in
Spanish moss. Architectural and antique buffs will find ample points of
interest: Shops will tempt you to take home a ship's lantern, a watercolor
seascape, pottery, shell je

welry, or a pound of fudge. The riverfront is also alive with seafood
restaurants and jovial taverns.

Where To Stay

The SIGDOC '95 conference takes place at the Hyatt Regency Savannah, 2 West Bay
Street, Savannah, Georgia 31401, USA.
Tel. 912-238-1234, FAX 912-944-3673

Other hotels within walking distance of the conference are:
Days Inn, 201 West Bay Street. 912-236-4440
Best Western Riverfront, 412 West Bay Street, 912-233-1011
Radisson Plaza, 100 General McIntosh Blvd.,912 233-7722

For information on Savannah's historic inns, call 1-800-444-2427.

Getting There

By Air: Most major domestic airlines serve Savannah International Airport. Car
rental, limousine, and taxi services are available at the terminal.

By Car: Savannah is located near Georgia's Atlantic coast. From I-95, take I-16
east to the end, then follow Montgomery Street east to the Historic District.

By Train: Savannah is a regular Amtrack stop.
---------------------------------------------------

Jewish High Holiday Information

For those of you observing Yom Kippur, Savannah has two synagogues. If you wish
to attend the Reform Synagogue, please call in advance for reservations.

Reform Conservative

Congregation Mickve Israel Congregation Agudah Achim
20 Gordon Street East 9 Lee Blvd
Savannah, GA 31401 Savannah, GA 31405-5707
912-233-1547 912-352-4737
---------------------------------------------------

Tours

Several tours are scheduled especially for SIGDOC '95 attendees and their
companions. You may reserve your seat for any or all of these when you
register for the conference.

Pub Tour
Saturday Evening,
8 p.m. - 10 p.m.
also offered Sunday Evening. 8 p.m. - 10 p.m

If you arrive at the conference early, join us for a Pub Tour on Saturday or
Sunday evening. This walking tour features some of the city's oldest pubs,
including the Pirate's House, 1790, the Old Pink House, and the Six Pence.
During stops you may purc

hase refreshments while your tour guide entertains you with history and stories.

Ticket required, $18.00
---------------------------------------------------

Historic District Tour
Sunday Afternoon,
2 p.m.-4 p.m.

Depart the hotel for a tour of Savannah's nationally acclaimed historic
district. You'll see several of the famous squares, fine examples of
architecture, and learn the history of Georgia's colonial capital. Stops at
private gardens are included, as we

ll as a tour of a private home with refreshments on the verandah.

Ticket required, $20.00
---------------------------------------------------

Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil Tour
Tuesday Evening,
8 p.m.-10 p.m.

This motorcoach tour takes you to locations described in John Berendt's 1994
best-seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Includes visits to
several private homes, slide show based on the true story, book signing and
entertainment by the real "

Mandy," one of the main characters, and concludes with music and a drink at Hard
Hearted Hannah's.

Ticket required, $33.00

=============================================================

SIGDOC '95 Program

Registration: All day from October 1-3; October 4. from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m.

Sunday, October 1
* Registration all day
* Tutorials
* Welcome Reception

The conference is organized around two streams.
Each time slot has a session A and a session B.

Stream A: Information at Your Finger Tips: Have We Reached the
Single Source Solution?
Stream B: People, Management, Contracting, and More

Monday, October 2
* Registration all day
* Sessions -- morning
* Luncheon (Rigo Award)
* Sessions -- afternoon
* Banquet -- Keynote Speaker, Jakob Nielsen

Tuesday, October 3
* Registration all day
* Sessions -- morning
* Luncheon (Diana Award)
* Sessions -- afternoon

Wednesday, October 4
* Registration 8 a.m - 9 a.m.
* Tutorials

=============================================================

TUTORIALS

Sunday, October 1, 1995</H2>

Contextual Inquiry: Grounding Your Design in Users'
Work

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Instructor

Alicia Flanders, Principal Usability Engineer, Digital Equipment Corporation

Currently a usability engineer, Alicia draws from previous experience as a user
information designer in describing techniques that ensure work usability.

Content

Participants learn the fundamental principles of contextual inquiry and how to
apply them effectively. Setting a focus, choosing a method, interviewing, and
analyzing data are specific skills participants practice. Examples and an
overview explicitly a

ddress integrating contextual inquiry techniques into the development process.

Objective

This tutorial provides a foundation for conducting field research with customers
and incorporating the findings into product development. Participants evaluate
research approaches using a practical and inclusive framework and gain
experience applying sp

ecific contextual inquiry skills. Participants leave the course ready to apply
contextual inquiry methods to their work.

Who Should Attend

This tutorial benefits anyone seeking a better understanding of audiences and
their needs. It applies to anyone involved in the information communication
process, including (but not limited to) information designers, editors, and
graphic artists.

Format

The Contextual Inquiry course uses lectures, videotapes, and hands-on exercises.

------------------------------------------------------

Managing Without Traditional Structure or Boundaries

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Instructor

Joseph S. Rosenthal, Ed.D., Principal, DyAD Incorporated, Adjunct Associate
Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Healthcare Leadership, Emory
University School of Medicine

Michael A. Diamond, Ph.D., Principal, DyAD Incorporated Professor and Chair,
Department of Public Administration, University of Missouri-Columbia

Seth Allcorn, Ph.D., M.B.A., Principal, DyAD Incorporated

Content

How does a virtual community of employees manage work where traditional notions
of hierarchy, power, authority and accountability no longer apply? How will the
virtual workplace be integrated into an organizational structure where
traditional forms of hi

erarchy power and authority still exist?

This workshop addresses these questions by introducing principles of individual,
group, and organizational processes and providing models for those developing
and working in networked and virtual organizations. Diagnostic tools, team,
and organizational

structure models are explored as vehicles for integrating virtual organizations
into the workplace

Objective

Participants explore the evolution of distributed networks toward the virtual
organization of team working relationships. They learn new conceptual tools
and practice the management of change. There is also in-depth exploration of
the meaning of new te

chnologies that promise to revolutionize workplace culture.

Who Should Attend

Executives, managers, and project leaders responsible for successfully preparing
the organization's response to new uses of information and network technology.
Individuals working in a team environment or as part of a team in a distributed
work environm

ent are also welcome to attend.

Format

Mini-lecture, group discussions, business simulations, and team activities.

MORE TUTORIALS
Wednesday, October 4

Models, Prototypes, and Evaluations for HCI Design: Making the Structured
Approach Practical

9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Instructors

Cynthia Rainis, Senior Instructional Design Consultant, Digital Equipment
Corporation. Cynthia works in user requirements analysis, information and
media design and HCI competency development.

George Casaday, Principle Software Engineer, Digital Equipment Corporation.
George manages an internal training program in HCI design and works as an HCI
consultant on various projects.

Content

This intermediate-level tutorial assumes an existing understanding of the basics
of UI graphical design. It covers design decisions required from definition of
user requirements to graphical design. The emphasis is on how to use a range
of work product

s (for example, scenarios, work models, and paper prototypes), and how to build
a design rationale that convincingly links user requirements with a software
user interface in a complete design story. The tutorial is concrete, hands-on,
and aimed at givi

ng participants practical
techniques they can use immediately.

Objective

1. Effectively participate in a UI graphical design effort by:
* Explaining seven intermediate design work products to clients
and/or co-workers
* Contributing to an HCI design effort by incorporating the work
products and associated design techniques
* Creating and evaluating the intermediate design work products at
a beginner level

2. Continue learning by:
* Leaving the tutorial with confidence that the intermediate work
products can be immediately used in practice
* Using the techniques as a learning and starting point for
independently expanding repertoires and expertise

Who Should Attend

Those involved in UI design (especially those contributing to UI design as part
of a team) who are looking for flexible tools and techniques to work together
and to be more systematic, productive, and influential in user interface
design.

It is a prerequisite that attendees be familiar with the basics of physical
screen layout.

Previous participants have a variety of backgrounds: programmers, software
designers, graphic designers, instructional designers, writers, and usability
specialists.

Format

Presentation and video examples in the morning, team exercises and group
discussion in the afternoon.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Determining User Needs on a Limited Budget and Tight Deadlines

9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Instructor
Catherine Kincaid, Senior Writer/Course Developer, NOVA Corp.

Content

This workshop introduces the skill analysis, an instructional
design process for gathering information about users quickly. This process
delivers a profile of the skills required to be successful at a given
responsibility or the skills that a particular responsibility needs, including
task statements.

This tutorial will be of particular interest to those who are also involved with
delivering training material or courses, in addition to documentation products.

Objectives

At the end of the sessions participates will be able to:

1. Describe the purpose, use, and sequence of the process.
2. Identify the three components of the process.
3. Identify criteria for selecting people to be involved in the
process.
4. Produce a skills analysis chart for technical communicators.

Who Should Attend

Writers and course developers.

Format

Active participation, discussion, hands-on.

===========================================================

Sunday Evening Reception

Welcome to SIGDOC '95, meet the '95 executive committee, and the '96 conference
and program chairpersons.

===============================================================

Stream A: Information at Your Finger Tips: Have We Reached the Single Source
Solution?

Stream B: People, Management, Contracting, and More

-----------------------------------

Monday, October 2, 1995
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Session 1A -- Single Source

The VisualAge C++ for OS/2 User's Guide: A Multi-Writer, Single-Sourcing
Challenge

Michael Priestley, Information Developer, Laura Rintjema,
Information Developer, IBM Canada Limited

In response to customer concerns about scattered, hardcopy-only documentation,
Priestley and Rintjema developed a single user's guide for the entire product.
Coordinating work from eight authors at three sites, it allows documents to be
maintained in a

single source for both online and hardcopy versions. The need for
maintainability and modularity is balanced with the competing need for a
document that is well-integrated and sophisticated in appearance, both online
and hardcopy.

Real Information, Virtual Documents

Stephen L. Harris, Ph.D., IBM
Corporation, James H. Ingram, Sykes Enterprises Incorporated

This paper discusses techniques of document element reuse and conditional
document processing that improve productivity and provide consistency for
libraries of publications for several product families. The documents in the
libraries are structured as

virtual documents, that is. file structures containing multiple conditional
document images.

-------------------------------------

Session 2B -- Authoring Tools and Help for the Writer

Towards a New Generation of Authoring Tools

Rick Sobiesiak, Manager,
User Centered Solutions Design and Evaluation, IBM Toronto Laboratory

Authoring tools for developing user documentation are often designed with
professional authors in mind. However, commercial applications are often
documented by part-time authors who carry many other roles. This paper takes
the perspective of these par

t-time authors in articulating some key issues for the next generation of
authoring tools.

Son of CODEDOC (SIGDOC '92): CODEDOC Revisited: Integrating Information and
Applications for Product Support

Peter Sturgeon, Senior Information
Developer, Northern Telecom

Essentially, this paper discusses integrating information and applications into
one seamless support system which provides product support people and others
with access to the tools and information needed in their daily work. The goal
is to encapsulate

an information environment that is optimized for a particular group. The paper
focuses on front-line support organizations but has implications for all
knowledge workers.

-----------------------------------------

10:30 a.m. to noon
Session 3A -- Information Access Online

Where Campus meets the Internet: A University Accessible Online
Documentation System

Susan Topol, Mark Smith, Suzanne Schlueberg,
Information Technology Division, University of Michigan

an information environment that is optimized for a particular group. The paper
focuses on front-line support organizations but has implications for all
knowledge workers.

Development of the AT&T PersonaLink Services On-line Documentation
System

Ron Enfield, AT&T Consumer Interactive Services

-------------------------------------------

Session 4B --Documentation Project Management

Documentation Project Management

Kathy Haramundanis, Digital Equipment Corporation

Technical communicators often encounter major project management issues that
are hard to resolve. This paper addresses some of these problems and offers
practical solutions. Case studies illustrate typical project management
problems and their solut

ions.

========================================================================

Luncheon noon to 1:30 p.m. Rigo Award

Janice (Ginny) Redish is now an independent consultant helping companies solve
problems in technical communications and usability. From the late 1970's until
1992, Ginny directed the Document Design Center at the American Institutes for
Research (AIR) i

n Washington, DC, where she and her colleagues studied the problems that people
have with workplace documents and developed model print and online
documentation and procedures for usability testing. During the past 15 years,
Ginny has helped many compan

ies in the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Japan with workshops, documentation, and
research, including American Airlines, AT&T, Burlington Northern, DuPont,
Hewlett-Packard, and GTE.

With Joseph Dumas of AIR, Ginny is co-author of A Practical Guide to Usability
Testing (Ablex, 1993). She also serves on the editorial board of three
journals and has published numerous papers and book chapters. Since 1993, with
funding from the Societ

y for Technical Communication, Ginny and Judy Ramey of the University of
Washington have been conducting research on Measuring the Value Added by
Professional Technical Communicators. Ginny is a graduate of Bryn Mawr College
and holds a Ph.D. in Linguis

tics from Harvard University.

========================================================================

1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m.

Session 5A -- Multi-Platform Help

Crossing the Great Divide: Developing Information for Hardcopy and Online Help,
OS/2 and Windows, and Other Impossibilities

Michelle Corbin Nichols, Chuck Jaynes, Randy Eckhoff, Research Triangle Park,
IBM Corporation

When faced with porting information to multiple platforms, online help designers
must deal with issues ranging from designing online help for multiple
platforms, to the implementation details of working with multiple source files,
to dealing with resourc

e constraints. Based on experience, a friendship between technical writers and
programmers is proposed to cross the great divide of cross-platform online
help development.

Producing Multi-Platform, Multilingual Help by Filtering Text Files Ann Lyons

e constraints. Based on experience, a friendship between technical writers and
programmers is proposed to cross the great divide of cross-platform online
help development.

-----------------------------------------

Session 6B -- Bring Communicators and Developers Together and the Communicator's
Role in ISO 9000

Technical Communicators' Views on Usability and Collaboration with System
Developers: A Bicultural Interview Study

Par Carlshamre, Linkoping University, Joanna L. Tumminello, Writer-Editor,
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

For nearly a decade, communications professionals have proposed more
collaboration with system developers, partly to have an impact on the usability
of delivered software products. Research shows there are several obstacles to
such close collaborative

development, including technical obstacles.

A small interview study, involving five technical communicators from the United
States and five from Sweden, investigated their experiences and preferences
concerning collaboration, usability issues, and documentation tools. The
results show differenc

es and similarities between the cultures and a need for tools that support
collaborative user interface development.

Integration of Information Development with Product Development

Brian Larmour, Roy Maclean, Bell-Northern Research

This paper describes a product development process that integrates information
development, the roles of key participants in the process, and the
re-engineering of the existing product development process.

Implementing ISO 9000: The Role of the Technical Communicator

Katie Schuler, Technical Writer, ABB Systems Control Division - Automated
Distribution

--------------------------------------------

3:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Session 7A -- Using the Internet with the World Wide Web

Using the Internet to Send and Receive Documents and Automate the Office
Julie Jensen, Gregg Woodfin, Internet Developers, Los Alamos National Laboratory

The original goal of the Chemical Science and Technology Division database was
to collect information about employee skills. It needed the information to
identify experts, list the Division's skills for proposals, and compile
publications for strategi

c planning. With over 1,300 people in numerous buildings using various
platforms (UNIX, PC, and Macintosh) and network connections, collecting the
information would be a difficult task. To complicate things further, the same
information was often av

ailable in multiple formats. To accomplish its goal, the Division needed a
user-friendly. multi-platform system that was secure, expandable, searchable,
and reliable. Solution: The World Wide Web. After overcoming several
obstacles (such as, passw

ord security, text field limitations, employee confusion, and a basic fear of
computers). the Division discovered it could use the collected information to
automate several daily tasks, such as time sheets. The Division's !
expanded its purpose to completing online forms. designing homepages for
employees, and conducting virtual meetings online

Publishing Online: A Commercial (Ad)Venture

Nancy Cooke, David
McAllister, North Carolina State University, C&M Online Media
Incorporated

The adventure is in creating something entirely new and providing solutions, at
least partially and provisionally. The authors are interested in improving the
publishing situation for writers, especially new ones and those whose books
have gone out of p

rint prematurely. One of the goals of this test is to discover what books
Internet audience likes to read; Boson Books, a C&M imprint, offers fiction,
nonfiction, and drama, including screenplays.

The major aspects of the idea are positive:

* low-cost, quick distribution
* worldwide, constant product availability
* immediate exposure for authors, possibly leading to publication
in other media (such as print or film)
* allows use of value-added components (multimedia)
* multiple printing formats (large print, for example)
* availability of Mosaic and other Web readers allows for
attractive advertising and promotion, browsing as in a
traditional bookstore, and high usability

---------------------------------------

Session 8B -- People in Organizations

Drop of Pond Water: Managing the Parallel Virtual Organization Psychosocial and
Cultural Elements of Creating Transitional Space Within Hierarchical
Organizations Via the Development of INTRANET and Virtual Organization

Panel Moderator: Joseph S. Rosenthal, Ed.D., Principal, DyAD Incorporated,
Adjunct Associate Professor of Medicine and Director, Center for Healthcare
Leadership, Emory University School of Medicine

Panel: Michael A. Diamond, Ph.D., Principal, DyAD Incorporated Professor and
Chair, Department of Public Administration, University of Missouri-Columbia

Seth Allcorn, Ph.D., M.B.A. Principal, DyAD Incorporated

The panel explores the following questions:

1. How will the creation of INTRANET and parallel virtual organizations
be processed at an unconscious level by employees?
2. How will they affect the interpersonal and intergroup world of the
workplace?
3. How will the resulting parallel virtual organization culture
interact with an existing parallel hierarchical organization and its
culture?

The panel discussion explores the unconscious and social meaning of individual,
interpersonal, group, and organization responses to the development of parallel
virtual organizations.

Objective

The audience, moderator, and panel members explore the psychosocial and cultural
implications of creating parallel virtual organizations. The discussion
focuses on the integration of knowledge of unconscious individual,
interpersonal, group and organiza

tional dynamics as they pertain to work, working together and the creation of
organizations -- hierarchial and virtual.

=====================================
Monday Evening, 7 p.m.

Banquet at The Savannah History Museum

This living history museum celebrates the founding of the colony of Georgia with
a series of exhibits and special collections. Arrive early to tour the museum
before a dinner featuring local and regional cuisine. Jakob Nielsen will
deliver the featured

after-dinner address.

Designing for the WWW -- Jakob Nielsen

Jakob Nielsen is Distinguished Engineer for Strategic Technology at SunSoft (the
software planet of Sun Microsystems). He leads the user interface team for the
redesign of Sun's WWW pages and co-designed Sun's internal WWW pages (SunWeb).
He also works

on the next generation of strongly object-oriented user interfaces, the user
interface for Sun's next generation of online documentation, and on enhanced
maturity levels for usability engineering methodology. Nielsen coined the term
"discount usability

engineering" and has invented several usability techniques for fast and cheap
improvements to user interfaces, including heuristic evaluation. He is the
author of the best-selling books Multimedia and Hypertext: The Internet and
Beyond and Usability En

gineering (both AP Professional) and co-editor (with R. L. Mack) of the
definitive work Usability Inspection Methods (John Wiley & Sons). Dr.
Nielsen's earlier affiliations include Bellcore, the Technical University of !
Denmark, and the IBM User Interface Institute at the T.J. Watson Research
Center.

Ticket required, $45.00. Includes shuttle between Hyatt Regency and History
Museum before and after the banquet, admission to museum exhibits, light
entertainment and meal.

=============================================================

Tuesday, October 3, 1995
8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m.
Session 9A -- SGML

Creating Custom SGML DTDs for Documentation Projects

Bradley C. Watson, Research Scientist, OCLC Online Computer Library Center
Incorporated, Keith Shafer, Senior Research Scientist, OCLC Online Computer
Library Center Incorporated

This 30-minute presentation presents a case for creating cost-effective custom
DTDs for an organization. Non-experts in SGML can use tools that automatically
create DTDs from tagged text. This makes it practical and easy to create DTDs
without having t

o hire outside consultants or invest heavily to develop internal SGML expertise.

Finding the Right DTD

Jo Anne Williams, Mary V. Gray, Greg Campbell, Leslie K. Glasser, Bowling
Green State University

There is information lacking in the application of SGML: users do not have a
single source to refer to when referencing DTDs. To address this, the
Scientific and Technical Writing program researched sources of DTDs and
created a resource list. The pr

esentation features the results of the program's research, public sources where
DTD examples can be found. as well as a brief description of SGML and its
applications.

---------------------------------------------------

Session 10B -- Performance Support - Part 1

Performance Support: Integrated Documentation and Training

W. (Bill) Bezanson, Bell-Northern Research

Performance support is just-in-time documentation, training, and other forms of
support integrated with tools and processes to enhance on-the-job performance.
This presentation gives an overview of business problems addressed by
performance support met

hods. It also provides a survey of industry work on performance support and a
summary of how to justify moving toward a performance support approach for
product/process documentation and training.

Finally, there is a discussion of BNR's pilot project in performance support of
benefit to those seeking to implement such methods in their organization.

Hyperintelligence - a Total Work Support Tool

Hironao Ozu, Computer & Information Systems Laboratory, Mitsubishi

Hyperintelligence is a total work support system, not just for the office, but
also for the field, where procedural and data information are key factors for
efficiency. The system provides a means to store and reuse information:
procedures and transact

ions accumulate automatically in the system while it is in use. Improvements
are easily made to procedures or transactions separately and stored in a
database. This system also assists beginners. If a beginner reuses data of
someone more proficie

nt, the beginner does the work from that perspective.

---------------------------------------------------

10:30 a.m. to noon
Session 11A - Managing Hyperlink Complexity and a Large Information Database

Personalized Information Structures II: Hyperstructure Hotlists

Scott R. Tilley, Walter M. Lamia, Carnegie Mellon University

This paper describes the integration of a programmable reverse-engineering
environment with a World Wide Web browser to support "hyperstructure hotlists:"
an approach to managing link complexity, organizing conceptual themes, and
aiding Internet navig

ation through use of multiple virtual webs.

The Promises and Pitfalls of Delivering (But Not Authoring) a Large
Information Database

Christina L. Klein, Senior Information Specialist, Northern Telecom

This paper discusses a current solution and presents possible future solutions
for delivery of a large information database to customers, both paper-based
and online. The database discussed in the paper is authored by multiple
software developers and d

elivered to customers by an information specialist. The source information is
structured within FrameMaker MIF files and compiled (restructured and
reformatted) by a utility. The output document is a FrameMaker book currently
delivered on paper but des

tined for future online use.

The paper also presents the delivery process for an information database and
related issues including:
* change of roles for developers and information specialists
* design, development, and test procedures for the document
compiler
* construction of customized templates for source and output
documents, including establishment and enforcement of syntax
rules in the source document
* identification and resolution of technical inaccuracies in the
data
* evolution and synchronization of templates for source and output
documents in response to the evolution of the information
database
* editorial responsibilities for source and output documents

---------------------------------------------------

Session 12B -- User interface designs

Creating an elegant, intuitive user interface

Mary Margaret Couse, Northern Telecom

This paper describes our experiences with doing usability testing of the UI and
online documentation right up front in the product development process for
Magellan ServiceView. We based the usabilty test on Sophie Kohn Kaminsky's
"Do-It-Yourself Usabili

ty Test" (see "Test Early, Test Often" in the SIGDOC Conference Proceedings,
Ottawa, October, 1992). The paper shows the benefits we have seen, the testing
methodology and results, and implications for the profession of technical
writing.

Is There a Homunculus in the Machine: How Anthropomorphic Should the Interface
Get?

R. John Brockmann, Associate Professor University of Delaware (Concentration in
Business and Technical Writing--English Department)

Recent interface designs such as Microsoft's BOB reintroduce the problem of the
antropomorphic computer. How antropomophic should the interface be? This paper
offers some perspectives from history on how to resolve this question,
including an exploratio

n of how the first "computers" were not machines, but positions held by WACs and
WAVEs using numerical analyzers during WW II. Perhaps Microsoft's interface
would be better termed BETTY, not BOB.

=============================================================
Luncheon, noon to 2:00 p.m. Diana Award at
Il Pasticcio Restaurant

Communications Design Center (Cdc), Tom Duffy, Dick Hayes, Karen Schriver, And
Erwin Steinberg

The Communications Design Center was established in 1979 to solve communications
problems in business, industry, and professions. The goals of CDC are to:
* encourage interdisciplinary approaches to solving visual and
verbal communications problems
* promote interaction between researchers at Carnegie Mellon
interested in problems of communication
* provide resources and an organizational setting for research in
visual and verbal communication
* train professional writers, researchers, and teachers
* promote development of educational materials for communication
programs on and off the Carnegie Mellon campus

CDC has worked on projects for NASA Lewis Research Center, Allen-Bradley
Company, Sony, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Fujitsu, Canon, IBM, Kingston, Siegal &
Gale (NY), National Reading Conference (NRC), Hacketts, Apple Computer, CMU's
Robotics Institute and

Graduate School of Industrial Administration, DEC, U.S. Army, Human Engineering
Laboratory, and more.
=============================================================

2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Session 13A -- Distributing Information

Webbed Documents

Andrew Surray, Senior Information Developer,
Northern Telecom Malcolm Graham, Director, WriteDoc

This presentation presents a prototype that exploits electronic connections,
using Netscape and Adobe Acrobat, for online delivery of documentation. It
addresses:

* the World Wide Web distribution of documents
* immediate access to the latest version of documents
* using a cross-platform, portable file format
* using HTML to create document navigation pages
* future developments for online delivery of documents

---------------------------------------------------

Session 14B -- Contracts

Contractor Management for the '90s and Beyond - The Kelton Method

Hugh J. Findlay, Manager of Emerging Technologies and On-site Client
Coordinator, The Kelton Group

This presentation offers a detailed description on managing technical
documentation contract writers in an off-site environment. Topics include the
roles and interaction of all players involved: client, vendor, contractor, and
the Kelton method's clien

t coordinator. Real-life situations, and their proven effectiveness for today
and the future, are discussed. Though the presentation's focus is the role of
the client coordinator, comparisons and contrasts are drawn between the Kelton
method and the t

raditional "body shop" style of business.

The Electronic RFP: Changing the Way Government Does Business

Gail Thornburg, Frontier Engineering

This paper reports on the challenges of a prototype electronic system for
transacting requests for proposals and source selections. More than simply
using electronic systems to generate paper output, the system's aim,
ultimately, is to enable productio

n, assembly, and electronic publishing of RFPs, accept electronic proposals in
response to RFPs and electronic evaluation of proposals resulting in contract
award.
-
----------------------------------------------------

3:45 p.m. to 5:15 p.m.

Session 15A -- Human Factors in the System Development Life Cycle and
theTurbulence in Information Technology

Incorporating Human Factors in the System Development Life Cycle: Marketing and
Management Approaches

Kenneth R. Ohnemus, Senior Consultant, CSC

This paper addresses incorporating human factors techniques into the system
development life cycle from a marketing and management perspective. It
explores alternative ways of getting HFE (Human Factors Engineering) and HCI
(Human-Computer Interaction)

activities included in the life cycle. The paper also pays special attention to
user-centered design, prototyping for usability, and cost-benefit studies.

Through the Looking Glass: Turbulence in Information Technology

Stuart Robbins, Program Manager, Network Information Technology & Services,
Synopsys Corporation

This paper examines four primary kinds of turbulence in information technology
experienced by institutions moving from hardcopy to electronic delivery models
and how they relate to changing economic models. Summary: To correct the
problems in our inform

ation systems we need to address the flaws in the system of relationships that
created them. People + process = system.

------------------------------------------------------

Session 16B -- Performance Support Part 2
Logistics of Integrating Online Help, Documentation, and Training: A Practical
Example

R. Stanley Dicks, Scott Lind, Bellcore
This presentation covers the logistics to prepare an integrated online learning
support system. It discusses logistics related to the development environment,
personnel, rhetorical considerations, and management perspectives for creating
a single, integ

rated online system. It includes an extended demonstration of the completed
system.

=============================================================

REGISTRATION
ACM SIGDOC '95 Conference
October 1-4, 1995

EMERGING FROM CHAOS:
Solutions for the Growing Complexity of Our Jobs

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* Register before August 1, 1995 and take $30 off the Member or
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Cancellation Policy : A $35.00 fee will be charged for cancellations after
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Mail to: Cathy Eyberger,
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Argonne National Laboratory,
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Argonne, IL 60439.

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