Overview

Many students take their first technical communication course not really knowing much about the realities of the field. You are not alone! The field is changing rapidly, and electronic content delivery is only one external sign of that change.

The tremendous expansion of the Internet has given anyone with a computer and a phone line access to vast quantities of information. Workers in every field are being called on to evaluate and interpret this information in various ways, using progress reports, news releases, product descriptions and specifications, instructions or procedures, funding proposals, feasibility studies, policy statements, and much more. In other words, most employees are being asked to become technical communicators: people who collect, organize, and interpret complex information and present it clearly and efficiently.

Technical communication is user-centered. Documents should be created with an audience in mind. Technical communicators need a broad range of skills and have a wide array of tools at their disposal. Documents can be created using word processing, desktop publishing, Web design, and graphics programs. Technical communicators also must be able to "go interactive" on the fly, using e-mail, voice mail, fax, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, and Web delivery—and yet still function humanely, with personal attention to every task. Workers who become adept with interactive communications media will enjoy greater success writing and build greater credibility in the workplace, especially once they learn to communicate effectively within the global community.