Technology
Learning how to write concisely and persuasively certainly benefits any technical communicator, but in order for a technical writer to truly add value to a product development team, the writer must understand current innovations in the technical writing field. The MS-PTC program encourages students to independently explore various technologies with the help of knowledgeable professors.
Several of my classes allowed me to pursue my interest in eXtensible Markup Language (XML) and Content Management Systems (CMS). The following reports were delivered as part of the CMS coursework.
Information Architecture Methodologies with a focus on XML (107KB PDF): A high-level overview of XML, which is restructuring the roles and expectations of technical writers.
Comparison of XML and HTML (50KB PDF): Brief paper that describes XML and compares it to HTML (HyperText Markup Language), which is the predominant markup language used by today’s Web pages.
Drupal Content Management System (160KB PDF): An overview of general Content Management Systems. The second half of the paper focuses on the Drupal CMS.