The secret to user generated and crowd sourced content

Mozilla’s Janet Swisher had a number of useful tips at Technical Communications UK 2012 on how to encourage user generated and community based content: People contribute because they want to learn something and for personal growth. You need to recognise this work. Crowds aren’t smart, communities of peers are. Create a community about the topic… Read more »

Education technology – Is this also the future for Technical Authors?

(Click on the image to enlarge) Edudemic has created an infographic outlining the likely future for education. Other education sites, such as Grockit.com, suggest the future of study will have three main strands: spend some time with experts spend time on your own, and spend time with your peers If education follow this path, will… Read more »

Review of “WIKI: Grow your own for fun and profit”

XML Press kindly sent me a reviewer’s copy of Alan J. Porter’s book “WIKI: Grow your own for fun and profit”. I interviewed Alan earlier in the year (which you can see on the Cherryleaf YouTube Channel), so it was good to see the book that he was mentioning in the interview. It’s important not… Read more »

The wonderful, horrible life of User Generated Content

User Generated Content (UGC), that is user documentation written by users, is growing trend in the world of technical communication. However, although there are enormous benefits from UGC, we’ve found it can lead users to miss professionally written user documentation. The consequence of this can be that users search and navigate down blind allies in a… Read more »

Here’s the link to register for Mindtouch’s European launch event on 9th Sept

We’ve been sent a new link for registering for Mindtouch’s European launch event on 9th Sept, which is being held in Central London on Thursday 9th September. We’ll be presenting on “The seven key challenges Technical Publications departments face today”.  The whole event is called “Your Documentation is your Best Storefront. Are You Open for Business?” Over… Read more »