atw: Re: eBooks (WAS: Vale technical writing?)
- From: "Christine Kent" <cmkentau@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:08:25 +1100
I have developed EPUB documents and all the instructions were to avoid tables.
I’ll check out the Castro book, thanks.
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Howard Silcock
Sent: Tuesday, 28 February 2012 10:12 AM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: eBooks (WAS: Vale technical writing?)
> e-readers as yet cannot manage tables
I know this is peripheral to what you were saying, but it'd be more accurate to
say that some e-readers cannot manage tables. Elizabeth Castro's book EPUB:
Straight to the point has a whole section on how to create tables and so does
Joshua Tallent's book Kindle formatting: the complete guide. The Kindle (later
versions) and the iPad both handle tables, though you need to do some work to
get them to. Those readers would account for a large slice of the market
between them.
Howard
On 28 February 2012 08:10, Christine Kent <cmkentau@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Just to clarify, you can produce your eBooks in Word. I do. You can read them
on both a reader and a computer and print them from the e-reader on your
computer or the Word file.
I have never touched XML except through Word. From a design point of view, you
do not need to simulate the reader layout when you are writing the material,
but I do because I like to work WYSIWYG. I have created an e-reader template
and have learned to design the chunking of my content to fit on an e-reader
page within the formatting limitations of the tools I use. In a way it just
adds another constraint to Information Mapping – the page size. From my point
of view, the real limitations are that e-readers as yet cannot manage tables,
and that font sizing is limited to HTML options.
Other than that, my documents are built like any other documents in Word.
I doubt this is what Tony is talking about – particularly in relation to
content management, but I do notice that many of the replies do not seem to
understand that we can remain Word junkies if we want to. We can build our
content any which way we like and modules can be any size required. It can all
work the same way it currently works – if we want it to.
Christine
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Anthony Self
Sent: Monday, 27 February 2012 11:14 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: Re: Vale technical writing?
Hi Bill
I think I am in almost total agreement with what you've written. Handcrafting
requires lots of effort to produce the fancy stuff. Automation does not. That's
the efficiency that I am talking about... better products with less effort.
Where I might disagree is where you say your boss in Houston wants the report
in Word. He might also want it in a format he can read on his eBook or iPad or
mobile phone while on a plane or on the toilet.
It's interesting that you mention SOPs, because in my actual talk (not the
version that Geoffrey divined from the synopsis) I do spend some time talking
about the role of standards.
Cheers
Tony
>>> Bill Parker <bill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> 26/02/12 12:55 PM >>>
I think Tony Self has no contact with the real world.
I am dealing with scientists and engineers who need to deliver plain documents
in Word, and if their readers cannot read them, that's a failure in
communications straightaway.
Here's an example. Your firm manages an FPSO. A seriously large converted oil
tanker that has a drilling rig at one end, a helipad and storage tanks. You are
in the thick of complex procedures, safety requirements. You write SOPs, you
write reports from the broken rail to the serious accident.
Where's the time to get into the fancy stuff when the boss in Houston wants a
report in Word that he or she can read ASAP? The KEY issue is clear, correct,
comprehendible writing produced in the quickest way possible. These guys do not
have time to scratch themselves, and many are FIFOs. And Australia is currently
dependant on them and their colleagues in ore mining to keep some semblance of
an economy going.
Bill
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