HCi Journal

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Lessons in project management: an HCi Project Manager uses a number of real projects to show how to avoid common pitfalls

The manager, his assistant, the QA manager, the accountant, and the multi-national strategist: these are the players in a drama about implementing a continuous improvement program

Don't lose control of your product manuals: a cautionary tale on the dangers of giving up control of your product documentation

Accommodating Users from Different Cultures: Guidelines for Web Developers: Eiman Elnahrawy from the Department of Computer Science at Rutgers University in the US contributes a comprehensive run-down on catering for a multi-cultural world on the web

Customising your Disaster Recovery Plan : your business is unique, your DRP should be too

Hanimex and HCi; a long term relationship: looks at our relationship with Hanimex over the years and its mutual benefits

Second Quarter 2003: Contents page

HCi launches a new writing course: for the first time HCi offers public courses in its unique writing methodology.

Feng shui your stale documentation: in eight easy steps you can be rid of documentation clutter and enhance your corporate well-being.

Achieving Operational Effectiveness by leveraging knowledge: this is the second in our series of articles on Operational Effectiveness. It demonstrates how knowledge management plays a key role.

Neglecting systems documentation courts disaster: there is much more to disaster recovery than just keeping backups.

The Polish sausage syndrome, or if all else fails read the manual : a primer on how to write good user manuals that shows how to save users from themselves.

White paper - Does your ERP documentation look like this?: many ERP implementations struggle because users have to rely on unfriendly and inadequate system-based support documentation instead of user friendly task-based documentation. This white paper provides a 'before' and 'after' view of the problem.
( PDF format).

First Quarter 2003: Contents page

Getting up to speed with employee self-service: an overview of the employee self-service concept associated with the HR Kiosk

The key to successful e-learning is b-learning: explains how blended learning, or b-learning, can ease the path to e-learning

Information security - the iceberg or just the tip: the author delves below the surface to uncover all the key information security issues

Systems documentation explained - the Data Dictionary: the first of a series of articles on systems documentation

Knowledge management at the crossroads: this article looks at the different paths that this important management concept has taken

Metadata update: following our recent article on Metadata, National Archives of Australia has kindly provided an update on the Australian Government Locator Service (AGLS)

HCi scores Technical Writing honours: HCi won two awards for Excellence and one for Merit in the second annual Technical Publications and Online Publications Competition

November 2002:

Strategy is wasted without "operational effectiveness": the first of a series of articles on the concept of "operational effectiveness".

The ideal Document Management System: here is a wish list for your DMS

HCi endorsed for Mentor: an additional capability for HCi 

Fast-tracking web development with an HTMLHelp wireframe: develop a detailed specification cum mock-up before coding up your site

September 2002:

Metadata: what it is, and how can it help with document management

Choosing writers for equipment manuals: depends on the type of documentation

E-learning - just training online?: a summary of what it is and what it is not

So you want to be a technical writer?: a light-hearted look at the profession

July 2002:

From $5 bn to zero in four months: why policies and procedures are worth spending money on

No process, no improvement: if you don't know what you're doing, you can't improve it

Subject matter interview techniques for technical writers: tips and tricks for writers

How to fix the intranet: three common problems, and their solution

May 2002:

Avoiding shelfware: how do you stop decay in online procedures?

How to get a budget for code documentation: proof that code documentation pays

What to put in software maintenance documentation: applying audience and task analysis

How to use roles to simplify staff reorganisation: a simple and valuable technique

March 2002:

Spreading the cost: capitalising documentation costs: perhaps you're trying to pay for documentation out of the wrong budget?

Simple metrics for documentation: just how good is your existing material?

How to upgrade to ISO9001:2000: the countdown has begun.

Software requirements analysis, and why it doesn't work: DeMarco: "Ill-specified systems are as common today as they were when we first began ..."

January 2002:

Compliance management: Australia has over one million pages of legislation, but by simple organisation and a little automation, organisations can live with all of that and still get on with the job of serving customers.

Convergence: where should the application end and the documentation begin?

AQTF Standard 1: Registered Training Organisations have to deal with a new quality regime from this month.

Call for papers: the HCi Journal is now open to all!

November 2001:

Knowledge Management primer part 3: the final part - how to actually implement a KM strategy.

Feral computing: what can happen when users take computing into their own hands.

A simple intranet model: start with something simple, like this, and then build from there.

Avoiding software development failure: why some major projects fail, and what you can do to avoid it.

Privacy special issue - October 2001:

Privacy Act: The changes to the Privacy Act affect every organisation in Australia outside Government.

September 2001:

Knowledge Management primer - part 2: part 1 set out why KM was important; part 2 says what needs to be implemented

HCi Style Guide publicly available: with the internal release of version 3.2 of our style guide, we've decided to make it available for public use

Control of documents under ISO9000:2000: organisations that already have ISO9000 certification will soon need to upgrade them

How to write a franchise manual: franchise systems have special documentation requirements

July 2001:

Knowledge Management primer - part 1: an introduction that ties the new ideas to those you're already familiar with

List of document management software: a useful list of packages and where to find out more about them; also an important announcement: HCi first MediaManager Certified Implementer

Proposed new international standard for user documentation: there is already one international standard for user documentation; do we need another one?

Context-sensitive help for a mainframe application: how to add Winhelp or HTML to a mainframe app without modification

May 2001:

Benefits of QA: how do you map the requirements of the ISO9000 standard to bottom line benefits?

Estimating a data dictionary: how do you estimate how long it will take to reverse-engineer a data dictionary?

Classes of software for intranet implementations: what's the best approach?

What makes a technical writer?: what are the characteristics of today's tech writers?