Required Texts
We'll be using texts from the web. I'll link to most of them below.
I will ask you to student the Good Documents web site and know this material well. We'll probably have several quizzes on the material just to help you commit some of this to memory.
Also these on-line articles on web writing:
Jakob Nielsen web site.
Nielsen, Jakob. January 24, 1999. "Differences Between Print Design and Web Design." <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990124.html>.
Content Development ClickZ's regular column by Susan Solomon. Quite a few articles online, more added each week. Read them at the site, or also subscribe to receive them each week via email.
Contentious The e-zine for people who create or publish content on the web. Good sections on writing. Be sure to look in the "archives" section of the magazine.
Sun Microsystems - Writing
for the Web
Sun Microsystems' section with numerous articles on writing for the web,
developing content, navigation, design, scannability, and more. Important
source.
Nielsen, Jakob and John Morkes. "Concise, SCANNABLE, and Objective: How to Write for the Web." <http://www.useit.com/papers/webwriting/writing.html>. [empirical study]
Nielsen, Jakob. October 1, 1997 "How Users Read on the Web." <http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html>.
"Good Documents: How to write for the Internet." A web-site that discusses how to create good business documents in the linked, on-screen environment. <http://www.gooddocuments.com/homepage/homepage.htm>
Troffer, Alysson. "Editing Online Documents." <http://www.contentious.com/articles/V2/2-4/feature2-4a.html>.
Failure to Communicate It's ironic that, as professionals dedicated to clear communication, information architects and user interface designers are having such trouble communicating with each other.
Gahran, Amy. "Cut the Fluff!" <http://www.contentious.com/articles/1-1/cip1-1/cip1-1.html>.
Gahran, Amy. "Context: Web vs. Print Writing." <http://www.contentious.com/articles/V2/2-2/editorial2-2.html>.