Developmental Editor -- Sun Microsystems
Principal Editor -- Ashton-Tate
Technical Editor -- Scitex
Other Experience
Education
Publications
October 1991 - present
Developmental Editor
Sun Microsystems, Inc. (Santa Clara, CA)
- Have autonomous editorial responsibilities for documentation projects,
including serving as an editorial and tools resource for writers. Projects include structural and copy editing for product documentation, online help, wiki content, technical white papers, and online articles for Java applications, Solaris development software, security software, and portal server products.
- Served as the project lead for several updates of an international award-winning internal editorial style guide, and also as the project lead for its publication as a third-party book widely regarded as an industry standard (Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry).
- Took over the writing of several internal manuals, including one
documenting an SGML/XML word processing tool and Document Type Definition
(DTD).
- Am the editorial representative on the team that developed and maintained the DTD used for published documentation, the tools maintenance team, and strategy teams for the future direction of online help and of World Wide Web documentation strategies.
- Helped develop a three-day internal course to teach an XML-based word processing tool (Epic), co-taught the ongoing class, and maintain the course material, documentation, and related informational web site, which I also designed.
- Serve as co-editor of the Information Products division's web site, maintain a company-wide editorial resources web site, and manage the editorial group's web site and blog. Co-created a style guide for Web documents. Provided a redesign for the Sun intranet "construction kit" of tools, which was adopted.
- Was the editorial project lead for a cross-company team (including IBM and
Hewlett-Packard) developing the documentation and online help for the
Common Desktop Environment (CDE). Wrote the editorial style guide and
online help style guide for the project. Built writing and editing
processes and schedules for use across all the participating
companies. Helped modify FrameMaker templates for use in shared
documentation. Helped create sample online help volume for writers.
- Developed training material from the Sun Editorial Style Guide, including a description of editorial process and procedures.
- Received several internal project bonuses, and several Society for
Technical Communication (STC) documentation awards.
April 1986 - September 1991
Principal Editor
Ashton-Tate Corporation
(Torrance, CA, and San Jose, CA)
- Had autonomous editorial responsibilities for documentation projects,
including involvement in the initial planning of the documentation set,
developmental editing, serving as a resource for writers, structural
and copy editing of hard-copy documentation and online help and
tutorials, scheduling, proofing, intermediate and final production
versions, and checking bluelines.
- Took over the writing of some manuals, including an award-winning
standalone guide. Also wrote, maintained, and implemented company and
project style guides; was instrumental in developing editorial and
production processes. Products included business software for the DOS
(dBASE, Framework), Macintosh, and NeXT platforms.
- Received several STC documentation awards.
June 1984 - December 1985
Technical Editor
Scitex Corporation (Herzliya, Israel)
- Edited, wrote, and rewrote operator's manuals for this leading prepress
computer graphic equipment manufacturer, and for related scanners.
Served as a liaison to the development teams. Trained department
personnel in personal computer equipment and software.
Other experience includes positions as an academic editor, typesetter, and graphic artist.
Education: B.S. in Journalism with Honors (Editing major), University of Florida, 1976
Certified Internal Trainer on Epic, an SGML/XML tool from Arbortext
Presentations and Papers
- Presentations:
- Invited speaker on style guides, TECH*COMM Conference 2001
- "Updating a Corporate Style Guide: Process and Reality" (with Alysson Troffer), 55th International Technical Communication Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 2008
- Papers:
"Developing a Company Style Guide" (Proceedings of the 44th International Technical Communication Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 1997, p. 469)
"Making Technical Reviews More Efficient" (Proceedings of the 46th International Technical Communication Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 1999, p. 342)
"Establishing an Editorial Forum" (Proceedings of the 47th International Technical Communication Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 2000, p. 459)
"Editing in a Single-Source Environment" (Proceedings of the 48th International Technical Communication Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 2001, p. 522)
"Avoiding Traumatic XML/SGML Transitions: Moving to XML/SGML Without Losing Your Writers Along the Way" (Proceedings of the 50th International Technical Communication Conference, Society for Technical Communication, 2003, p. 1)
This page brought to you by Janice Gelb. Last updated June 6, 2008.