024 Blue Pencil Mar 03
Contents
1. Pace 8 PITTSBURGH CHAPTER HTTP WWW STCPGH ORG Access Database Primer Part 2 continued from page 7 15 Click Finish to create the report You should see something similar to Figure 4 Anmeledge Base Contents Fipa d Hrparibs ee Erpe Deriper vie Click the Print Preview icon at any time to see how the report looks Click the Close icon to return to the Report Designer win dow You can modify just about everything about the report Like forms reports also have properties which are accessed by clicking the black square in the upper left corner see Figure 4 You can also rearrange and resize the fields Left click on a field to select it Once selected you can drag it change its font justification etc Right click on a field to access and change its properties Figure 5 shows the report after I relo cated a few fields and resized the Text field to show two lines of the field s text in the report ile Da e T m ar kfz Fgmr t tjeiiini rra Your report should look something like this Enoniedge Hasr Coutents ADi spea Se a a ee e a i bien bmm ne mbo a T ee lb rar ae ee ee a meen FT a baron A ee a MERTES yet ae et Pe en T a Oe pra ee u ee ge neire os pr t Erle rhi Rebs C i E F J i Tiger d Firid skr la Prier Pree af Aa bkd epee When you re satisfied with the report s appearance save and close it Next month s article will introduce qu2. offer them a benefit set yourself apart e Brand your web site have a consis tent look to it that can be identified as yours have a motto for yourself e Include your contact information e Use good design techniques color and style should project your business image use a simple clean look use small graphics that download quickly e Test your page before publishing it on the web Several of the WorkQuest members ex hibited their own personal job search websites and made some suggestions for items that should be included Some of these suggestions included testimonials from clients case studies either a r sum or a short biography and a list of experi ence areas pictures of items you ve had published lists of awards you ve won and types of projects you ve worked on There was some discussion of whether to list spe cific clients because some of them might not want to be listed and the list could pos sibly be used by your competitors as a source of possible clients WorkQuest was formed as a resource for you Many interesting topics are planned for the next month Notices of the meetings can be found on the WorkQuest web site http home earthlink net workquest Editorial Calendar Please send your submissions to Meg Papa at mvOt andrew cmu edu Meeting Date T Blue Pendil Publication Article Submission Date Monday Deadline Monday Week of April 7 March24 Mar
3. a friend who may be in a position to help you find a job and is willing to talk to you Try to talk to as many people as possible and don t let refusals bother you John then gave some tips about what to do when you make a networking contact e Ifyou can get someone to have a net working meeting with you ask if you can send them a r sum so that they are familiar with you before the meet ing but never force your r sum on a contact The purpose is not to ask the contact for a job at the first meeting but to familiarize them with your back ground and see if they can give you any information that can help you in your job search e When you answer a job advertisement try to call and talk with the company s HR department even if it says not to call in the advertisement Don t ask about a specific job but about the com pany in general When you call a com pany try to identify the HR person who is handling the job you are interested in or even the person who is the hiring manager for the position e When you make a networking contact always offer to return a favor if you re asking for one John suggested talking with people at the Pittsburgh Technology Council Many of them are willing to help people who are look ing for technical jobs January 21 Marketing Materials On this very cold day a small but dedicated group showed up for the meeting includ ing one new member As a followup to our December 1
4. a usability test with all the gad getry of a mobile usability lab we would get to that nor were we there to learn all the background of what makes usability a sought after specialty and a required phase in major product development No we were there to learn in four short hours the ma jor usability activities that would occur ina mock project namely the redesign of the YSU technical communications website After an overview of the website project the attendees divided into groups charged with developing survey questions for po tential users of the site Each group then shared its questions with everyone Ex ample questions were How much does the program cost What classes are offered What background do the faculty have We then broke for lunch but not before getting an assignment we were to create index cards containing categories of infor mation which answered specific questions generated from the previous survey These cards would be used to develop the organi zation of the website Lunch was a very nice buffet with waiter service event and my kudos to the staff who put on a great and HOT meal We were all glad not to see lunchmeat COLD cuts on the menu We even got to take home the leftover food In the card sorting event which followed lunch the user a brave YSU student was seated in front of 50 cards each with a piece of information on it The facilitator instructed the user t
5. down list and click OK The Report Wizard is launched 4 Select the Date Topic Source and Text fields and click the gt button to move them to the report Click Next gt to continue Select the Topic field and click the gt button to create a group Click Next gt to continue 2 ND Mm Select Date from the 1 drop down menu and click the As cending button to toggle it to Descending 9 Click Next gt to continue 10 Accept Stepped as the default layout by clicking Next gt to continue 11 Select Corporate for the style 12 Click Next gt to continue 13 Type a name for the report such as Knowledge Base Con tents 14 Select the Modify the report s design radio button This places the report in the Report Designer where you can modify it if necessary continued on page 9 Pace 7 BLue PENCIL SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION WorkQuest Meeting Summary The Pittsburgh Chapter s WorkQuest group continued its weekly meetings in January January 7 New Year New Approaches to Job Searching At the first meeting of the year members described the changes they planned to make to their job search techniques The plans reflect the variety of people at the meeting and the variety of techniques they employ Some people felt they have been spending too much time at meetings and not enough in making phone calls and sending out r sum s They plan to cut back on meet ings Ot
6. invent the automobile He didn t even invent the assembly line So what did Henry Ford do He learned from other people s experiences as well as his own He took risks He saw failure as a lesson and he applied everything he learned to improve the product the pro cess and the policies that shaped the American automobile industry In short he was a great innovator And because he was so willing to share the lessons he learned he became an inspiration to many others I am running for second vice president be cause in my own way I want to do as Henry Ford did He wanted to learn from other people s experiences as well as his own I want to use the lessons that I have learned in 25 years of management and leadership positions to create solutions that will en sure STC becomes an organization that is vital to the diverse careers of technical communicators One innovative thing I did as a director sponsor 1999 2002 was to attend con ferences and give chapter programs in every region to meet our members and listen to their ideas As a result I have presented 103 conference sessions lead ership workshops and chapter programs in locations from Toronto to Hawaii In addition I have written 30 articles that have been published over 500 times in STC newsletters This listening tour instilled a greater understanding of the unique challenges facing us some of which are addressed in my articles While se
7. or the structured SGML version when you launch it Here are some exciting new features XML related features e Documents have hierarchical structure and element tagging consistent with XML e You can convert to XML and back to FM e Namespaces are supported e Cascading style sheets are supported e Unicode characters can be used e FM7 comes with xDocBook XHTML and WebWords Publisher Standard Graphics support e SVG graphics are supported e You can import Adobe Illustrator files e Youcan import PDFs e You can size a graphic by dpi or percent and Frame remembers the original size Single sourcing features e You can print a book to PDF as a single file or as separate PDFs from the dialog box e File information is now part of the document such as author title This transfers to the PDF e PDF is now tagged that is it has structure information which is useful for keeping a multicolumn flow in its proper order FrameMaker enhancements e Acrobat Distiller 5 05 is included Save as PDF now works e An automated master page lets you apply a master page based on a paragraph style Maximum num ber of master pages is 100 e If you insert a rotated page in a double sided document Frame adjusts to make sure that your right left master pages are correct e The Import Format dialog box now has a Select Deselect button to make it easier to select what you want to import You now must se l
8. 12 384 1966 H keefercj adelphia net oyment Information lle Conover 571 0259 W H 571 2437 Fax icity O Donnell 941 6346 ing Coordinator ene Mullenix 288 8676dmullenix federatedinv com igh School Writing Competition ennifer Bonelli jbonelli kiski net ications Competition hris Keefer 412 384 1966 H nconover sgi net abdul sgi net keefercj adelphia net onsulting amp lndependent Contracting SIG Barbara Stanton 412 893 0383 Bstanton seec com Bpeakers Bureau Historian anis Ramey 412 833 5548 W H riting net hapter Web SiteCoordinator oan Bondira 412 421 9378 H Past President ary Ecsedy 412 422 0213 H ecsedy m worldnet att net Blue Pencil lue Pencil is the official newsletter of the Society for Technical Communication STC Pittsburgh chapter It is published monthly rom September through J une by the Pittsburgh chapter to inform and promote ommunication within the chapter and the Society Material contained in this publication ay be reprinted by other STC chapters provided credit is given Please send a copy of he reprint to the editor Readers are invited to Bubmit ads short articles news reviews and pther material of interest to technical ommunicators by the 10th of the month prior o publication to eg Papa Blue Pencil Managing Editor vOt andrew cmu edu Phone 412 268 8520 eather Lum Assistant Editor lum pobox com Phone 412 243 3151 ancy Carpenter Production Editor a
9. 7 meeting the group discussed marketing materials that you can use to sell yourself We discussed all of the marketing pieces that the members brought Jay Keefer brought some exceptional brochures that he and his wife Chris made up for their businesses They bought their brochure paper from a catalog online company called Paper Direct Most of the members brought their r sum s and the group members commented on good points and made suggestions on possible improvements One member brought a flyer that contained a description of all of the services that they could provide for a client January 28 amp February 4 Setting up a Job Search Website Originally only the January 28 meeting was scheduled to discuss setting up a personal job search website There was so much in terest in the presentation of WorkQuest member Joyce Hall and her husband Jim Gogots that it was extended to the Febru ary 4 meeting The two meetings were very well attended continued on page 12 Manuals Users Guides Reports Articles Grochures Technical Sales Support Catalogs Proposals Training Materials Newsletters Periodicals Procedures Presentations Courses amp Seminars Publications Manning Online Documentation a gt k ac a2 Ll t u le _ 4 a a Y E gi ye e ET g E Ho m 2i a E5 a oe 412 833 5548 ramey itechnical writing met e mail http wea Cechinical writing net website
10. NEWSLETTER OF THE PITTSBURGH CHAPTER SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION VOLUME 39 NUMBER 6 Marcu 2003 blue pencil HTTP WWW STCPGH ORG em gt Chapter Awards Banquet Technical Communication Yesterday Today and Tomorrow Come to the Chapter Awards Banquet to celebrate the Pittsburgh Chapter s 45 an niversary and STC s 50 anniversary We ll be honoring this year s publications competition winners and Distinguished Chapter Service Award winners Thea Teich the current first Vice President and incoming President of STC will be join ing us to talk about the future of technical communication And Chapter Historian Janis Ramey has assembled a fascinating collection of chapter artifacts and an online presentation about the history of the Pitts burgh Chapter Don t miss this chance to commemorate our profession s past present and future Bring a Friend If your friends or co workers are thinking about joining STC but haven t yet done so invite them to the banquet We ll be giving away a one year STC membership to a per son who isn t currently a society member Door Prizes All attendees will have a chance to win STC memorabilia in our door prize draw ing including STC coffee mugs magnetic poetry kits and other good stuff We ll also be raffling off a copy of FrameMaker 7 0 generously donated by Kay Ethier who presented at February s meeting to anyone who is interested
11. arville University Student chap ter and have advised it since then The value that I ve received from my STC membership is immeasurable Through chapter meetings publications and conferences both regional and an nual I have learned so much while developing a professional network as well as a network of friends I began my involvement on the international level in 1992 as manager of Sigma Tau Chi That quickly led to manager of the Jay R Gould Award judging for the Ken Caird Stu dent Article Competition reviewer of pro posals for the STC Annual Conference and onsite judge for the International Technical Publications Competition I am currently serving on the STC Board in my fourth year as Assistant to the President for Academic and Research Programs In that capacity I am responsible for eight committees I was named Fellow in 2001 received the Jay R Gould Award for Excellence in Teach ing Technical Communication and named Associate Fellow in 1996 As full Professor at Cedarville University I have directed the technical and professional communication program since its beginning My responsibilities in addition to teaching a full course load include developing cur riculum securing and supervising fulltime and adjunct faculty advising students su pervising independent studies placing and supervising student internships and ad vising the STC student chapter In addition I have served as an indepen de
12. ay s tech nical communicators The challenge is to help the employers and employees alike to perceive them as the technical communicators they are I believe that all these experiences prepare me to fulfill the responsibilities of the sec ond vice president of STC as well as first vice president and finally the president The Academic Vice President my Dean and Department Chair have pledged their full support should I be elected second vice president This support will be evidenced by a decreased teaching load as well as fi nancial support for the travel involved in the position When it is time to vote in the STC election please take the time to go online or mark your ballot and vote for Sandi Harner STC Second Vice President For more information please see www sandiharner com Pace 10 PITTSBURGH CHAPTER HTTP WWW STCPGH ORG The following individual submitted a statement on her candidacy for STC second vice president This statement is included here for your information Inclusion of this statement in the Blue Pencil does not imply endorsement of the candidate by the officers of the Pittsburgh Chapter STC or of the Blue Pencil staff Statement of Suzanna Laurent Candidate for Second Vice President While visiting Detroit s Henry Ford Mu seum I learned about Ford and the auto mobile he made so successful Many people have the mistaken idea that Henry Ford was an inventor but Ford did not
13. ch ooo Week of May 12 April 14 April 7 Article Deadline The deadline for the next issue of the Blue Pencil is Monday March 3 Please send your submissions to Meg Papa at mv0t andrew cmu edu Pace 12
14. ect the files in the book that you want before you import e There is a Browse button on the Print to File field of the Print dia log box continued on page 5 Pace 3 BLue PENCIL SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION January Membership Pittsburgh Chapter 192 Total STC 22 222 Welcome new members Barbara J Levine Tam A Malloy Deborah S Pollio Society for Technical Communication Pittsburgh Chapter PO Box 133 Pittsburgh PA 15230 Contact Alan Houser Phone 412 363 0387 arh groupwellesley com National Office 901 North Stuart Street Suite 904 Arlington VA 22203 1822 Phone 703 522 4114 Fax 703 522 2075 Notes from the National Office International Communication SIG is Looking for Features Global Talk the newsletter of the Interna tional Communication Special Interest Group SIG of the Society for Technical Communication STC is looking for fea ture articles on intercultural communication for its upcoming issues Features should be short 250 500 word essays commen taries or articles on issues dealing with e Culture and communication e Culture and design practices e Technology and intercultural communication e Translation and localization concepts and practices e Interactions involving clients and co workers from other cultures Individuals interested in either submitting feature articles or proposing discussing ideas for feature articles should contact K
15. ed for our contributions to the workplace By more proactively promoting our field I believe that STC can make a difference in the careers of our members There are other important strategies to con sider as we seek to progress To learn more about my experience and what I have con tributed pertaining to these strategies read the expanded version of this article at http pages prodigy net slaurent or contact me at slaurent prodigy net With experienced leadership and guidance STC can become the catalyst that enables technical communicators to achieve the professional status they have earned When that is accomplished we will have fulfilled my vision for STC to become an organiza tion to which technical communicators feel membership is essential to their careers I would sincerely appreciate your vote for me as the next second vice president because I firmly believe that when a col lection of minds hearts and talents work together great things can happen Pace 11 BLue PENCIL SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION Meeting Details March Awards Banquet Date Tuesday March 11 2003 Location The Engineer s Society of Western Pennsylvania 337 Fourth Av enue Downtown Pittsburgh Maps and directions are available at http www eswp com There are parking lots and garages in close proximity to the Engineer s Society building Schedule Networking cash bar 5 15 6 PM Dinner 6 7 PM Pr
16. eries and how to use que ries as the source for reports You can go to www writemohr com Free Stuff section and download a copy of the database with the enhancements explained in this article Bob Mohr is a senior STC member and author of The Elements of Word He can be reached via e mail at rpmohr writemohr com TechComm Experienced Technical Writer Experienced Researcher Research Proposals Grant Proposals Contract Proposals Research Reports Articles Monographs Training Materials Telephone 412 343 2508 Pace 9 BLue PENCIL SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION The following individual submitted a statement on her candidacy for STC second vice president This statement is included here for your information Inclusion of this statement in the Blue Pencil does not imply endorsement of the candidate by the officers of the Pittsburgh Chapter STC or of the Blue Pencil staff Statement of Sandi Harner Candidate for Second Vice President The position of second vice president of STC is a very important one because the person elected will automatically become first vice president and then president I would appreciate your vote for second vice president of STC My experience with STC began in 1984 when I became a member In 1985 I de veloped the technical and professional communication major for Cedarville University where I have now taught for more than 20 years In 1988 I chartered the Ced
17. esentation 7 8 PM Menu Selections Select one Chicken Riviera Boneless breast topped with sliced tomatoes garlic butter and Asiago cheese Tenderloin of Beef Alexandria Lightly breaded with a sauce of lemon shallots and mushrooms Stuffed Shells Cost 22 00 12 00 students and unemployed RSVP To Darlene Mullenix at dmullenix federatedinv com or 412 288 8676 W by March 7 2003 Include your entr e selection and a daytime phone num ber The banquet cost must be paid in full be fore the banquet All checks must be re ceived by March 7 2003 Make your check payable to STC Pitts burgh and mail it to STC Pittsburgh PO Box 133 Pittsburgh PA 15230 IMPORTANT Cancellations received after March 7 2003 will be charged full price WorkQuest Meeting Summary continued from page 8 A personal job search website is used to present your skills and talents to potential employers It is similar to a website that advertises a business but unlike a busi ness website it would be dismantled once you find employment You can create your website in an HTML editor like FrontPage or even use Word and write your pages out as HTML Some of the points discussed by Joyce and Jim included e Consider cost development time money and maintenance involved in setting up the site e Define your sales message know your target audience address their ques tions about your skills
18. hers felt just the opposite that they had not been spending enough time networking and plan to do much more They thought they would start attending net working groups such as PAPEN or Geek Night or attending other technical society meetings At least one person plans to shift his en ergy away from the survival job he s been doing to focus more on his search for a technical writing job Another person has decided to shift his focus from looking for permanent full time work to collecting enough contracts to keep him busy full time Several people plan to completely redo their r sum s and to create additional sample cover letters so they have something eas ily and quickly adaptable to any job situa tion that comes along One or two people plan to create ajob search website Almost everyone wants to become more organized and to keep better records of contacts phone calls r sum s sent and responses January 14 Human Resource Issues John Gilmore John returned for his second appearance as a guest speaker John is a freelance human resource counselor who also vol unteers at the Carnegie Library Job and Career Education Center This meeting focused on how to network to make con tacts that will lead to a job John and STC WorkQuest member Jim McCarty did some roleplaying of good and bad ways to try to network with someone John suggested for people who don t want to make networking cold calls find a friend of
19. in using FrameMaker and doesn t have a copy What is the Future of Technical Communication Most technical communicators are highly trained very capable and deeply commit ted people who bring a breadth and depth of knowledge and skill to any table Why then is so much technical communications work in danger of becoming a commodity a product differentiated primarily in terms of price How can you turn this per ception and its ramifications around The answer is not simply learning to deal with the latest technology Your STC mem bership is one important component What else is essential for a future in technical communication Let s talk about it on March 11 Thea Teich has more than 25 years of experience in marketing and technical communications and has held positions with nonprofit organizations govern ment agencies and industry Since 1995 she has run Teich Technical and Marketing Communications offering mar keting planning writing editing desktop publishing web content production and indexing services She also teaches market ing communications in the Informational Technologies program at Cincinnati State Community and Technical College Thea is currently 1st vice president of STC and will serve as president starting in June of 2003 She has also held the positions of Region 4 Director sponsor and 2nd vice president She is a past president of the Southwestern Ohio chapter Meeting Ven
20. irk St Amant at stamankr jmu edu KK KK K K K K K K K K Upcoming Telephone Seminars Wednesday March 12 Making the Complex Clear and Pretty Phylise Banner Wednesday March 19 Evaluating an Index Even if You Only Have Five Minutes Seth Maislin All telephone seminars are held from 1 00 2 30 p m EST Members can register for the seminars at www stc org seminars asp Cost for a seminar is per site not per per son U S sites 145 Canadian sites 160 KK K K K K K K K K K K 50 Annual Conference The website for STC s 50 Annual Con ference is up and running at www stc org 50thConf In addition to providing com prehensive information on educational and professional opportunities at the conference the site features an online registration form for members You can also view all the technical sessions scheduled for each day Members are encouraged to visit the site often for the latest information The 50 Annual Con ference will be held May 18 21 in Dallas KK KK K K K K K K K K Deduct Your STC Dues If you pay taxes in the U S you can deduct your STC dues in one of several ways Charitable Expense If you claim your dues as a charitable do nation you can deduct the dues amount minus the portion that goes for tangible benefits For the STC the tangible value of your dues is 30 15 for Intercom and 15 for Technical Communication Business Expense Employees and self employed con
21. liy lasing documena on proca corsebing Training Fonshakar SGML tM FIA Wallaby boal Pitu PA 152 Tet 34098 Fax 2 383 9a82 wwe groupwalen gigo inp aus la fiery CENT May Spring Fling Party date to be de termined XML is our only business Conversion Training Consulting 1 724 942 1912 clearlyonline cam info clearlyonline com Pace 5 BLue PENCIL SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION Access Database Primer Part 2 by Robert P Mohr In last month s article I discussed how to create tables forms and combo boxes In this article P11 discuss how to embellish your forms using form properties and input masks and also how to use the report wizard to create simple reports 1 Begin by opening the database you created last month All of the form enhancements made in this article will pertain to the main input form 2 Click Forms in the Objects list to display all available forms 3 Right click on the Personal Knowledge Base form and se lect Design View from the shortcut menu The Form De signer is displayed as shown in Figure 1 fa Personal Enyaledye Base Farm Figure l Form in the Farm Drvigeer window 1 Double click the black square to view the form s properties The Form s properties box enables you to alter the appearance and function of the form xi F roma cae cert oh a Caplin nie Pervonal Kroeger ETE EEEE Poe a omea Pon Hgt p
22. nes the company s deadline to ship or launch a product get it out the door This impacts the place ment of usability testing in the design e Watching a user generates much more usable data than an interview e Watching how it really is e Interview how the user remem bers it e When asking questions of the user consider what is most important to them not you e What do they want to know e What action do they want to take While the information presented was vital to the understanding of usability practices the timeframe was way too short Mr Bates said that the day s presentation was ab breviated from an eight hour presentation and one audience member from the NEOH chapter told me that she had seen his pre sentation three times and they all felt rushed since there was so much informa tion to cover And while I enjoyed the warm reception by the people in the host chapters I have to say that the facility was not ideal given the thermostat problems I also challenge the leadership of the Pittsburgh Chapter to host a joint event with the Ohio chap ters and engage in an open dialogue with these folks There are many ideas we can share and diverse resources from which we can all benefit FrameMaker7 Demonstration At the February chapter meeting Kay Ethier presented an overview of the latest release of FrameMaker It combines plain vanilla Frame with SGML You can select ordinary FrameMaker
23. nt consultant contract writer and trainer since 1976 In 1997 I received the STC Faculty Internship Grant and worked as a Communications Manager in a tech nical marketing communication firm In 2002 I co authored Technical Marketing Communication part of the Technical Communication Series published by Allyn amp Bacon Longman For almost twenty years my passion has been to prepare young people to make a significant contribution to the profession of technical communication That role has kept me focused on core competencies emerging technologies and communities of practice My current position on the STC board for the past four years has provided many opportunities to work at the Society level with initiatives such as research grants and special opportunities grants as well as chapter level activities in helping to develop mentoring guidelines and education com mittees In the last few years the growth of com munities of practice has broadened our traditional definition of technical commu nication This is evidenced by the sig nificant growth in the STC SIGs which now number more than 20 with a total membership of 26 441 If we are to be effective as the leading professional organization for technical communication we must actively em brace those non traditional groups such as Web designers technical marketing communicators usability experts in structional designers and others who make up the workforce of tod
24. o sort the cards into logical groups These groups were then assigned a name by the user such as fac ulty admissions financial aid etc The sorted cards and category titles were passed on to the next stage the low fidelity proto type Each of the previously formed groups took one or two of the categorized card continued on page 3 PAGE 2 PITTSBURGH CHAPTER HTTP WWW STCPGH ORG Usability Live continued from page 2 groupings and developed web page proto types In the case of our website the prototype was paper sketches no CAD drawings or Flash modules These sketches were what we would use for the actual usability test In the test another volunteer YSU student user was brought in and the prototype put before him He then used the model to achieve two tasks both involved finding infor mation by clicking on the mock up and being directed to the information as it had been designed using the card sort exer cise Our student volunteer did very well and our prototype was successful Bates then demonstrated how his mobile set up would be used during an actual test Cameras audio recorders and software al low for user comments facial expressions and keyboard strokes to be recorded The information could be cataloged on DVD if there were many tests to complete in one remote visit Hints and tips from the presentation included e Time to Market a key concept that defi
25. place holder character if you wish The underscore is the default character 3 Click Next gt to continue 4 Click Finish to complete the Input Mask The Input Mask is displayed in the Input Mask property box 5 Click in the Default Value property box and type Date This causes the current date to automatically fill in You can override this date by entering another date 6 Click the X in the upper right corner to close the properties box Finally set the tab order so you can Tab from field to field 1 Click anywhere in the Detail section s background 2 Select View gt Tab Order 3 Click and drag the fields in the Custom Order list to rear range them or click the AutoOrder button For this simple form AutoOrder works fine 4 ClickOK 5 Save and close the form Open the form and examine the changes Try entering a few records Yov ll need some data to view in the report anyway Using the Report Wizard The easiest way to create reports is with a wizard Access offers several wizards for a variety of reports You can create labels charts and standard reports The following example creates a report of all records in the database organized by topic and by date Once the report is created you can tweak it as much as you want 1 Click Reports in the Objects list 2 Click the New icon The New Report box is displayed 3 Select Report Wizard from the list choose the Text table from the drop
26. roperties have apis Fikes Dit Views Tee J eagle Fen a dran fait Akos Prti T abla Vere Yan Ade Prci hat ra H Somin Beth Foard Dakta a frig Biia Grading Lines kiofi Figi 2 Farw piregercies bere Each property tab has a role to play e Format contains properties to control the form s ap pearance e Data contains properties related to the source of data displayed by the form filtering information and op tions pertaining to data entry e Event contains functions that the form can perform based on one or more events such as when the form opens or closes e Other contains properties for related help files toolbars menus and the form s modality e All all properties from all tabs are displayed in a single list Changing any of the properties is simply a matter of clicking on them and selecting from the list of available options For this form the changes are few 1 Change the following Format properties Format property Change to Allow Datasheet View No Allow PivotTable View No Allow PivotChart View No Scroll Bars Neither Record Selectors No 1 Click the X in the upper right corner of the box to save and exit the properties Now change the background color of the Detail section of the form 1 Right click anywhere in the Detail section of the form and select Properties from the shortcut menu Another proper ties box is displayed 2 Change the Back Color prope
27. rpentn genco com Phone 412 820 2221 ramey technical quacker usaor net Chapter Online Competition Award Winner Award of Merit Five Star Development Inc and McKesson Automated Healthcare Title McKesson AcuScan RX End User Training Category Training Usability Live By David Caruso On a cold winter morning we made the trek north No this is not the start of a Jack London tale but rather how to best start the story of the joint meeting of three STC chapters hosted by Youngstown State University YSU The meeting held January 18 was a presentation entitled Usability Live given by Mike Bates Manager of the Information Architecture team at Rockwell Software and STC Region 4 Director Sponsor Representatives from the three chapters involved Pittsburgh Northeast Ohio amp YSU student chapter numbered around 45 and we were a lively bunch We had to keep moving as the temperature in the au ditorium barely reached 50 C the whole time we were there But there was hot cof fee and a chance to see everyone in their winter finery Who says proper environ mental conditions are a pre requisite for an effective meeting The four activity highlights were 1 Prepare customer surveys 2 Conduct card sorting activities 3 Design and evaluate low fidelity prototypes 4 Conduct live usability tests Right at the start Bates set the expecta tions for the group we were not there just to watch
28. rty under the Format tab a Click the Back Color property s button A color palette is displayed b Choose a new color from the palette c ClickOK d Click the X in the upper right corner of the property box The form s background color changes Try changing the background color of the form s Header section using similar steps The last change to make to the form is to add an input mask to the Date field Input masks make good visual references to clue us ers in on how data should be entered Input masks can also save time and improve consistency in data entry because they can provide certain default characters continued on page 7 PAGE 6 PITTSBURGH CHAPTER HTTP WWW STCPGH ORG Access Database Primer Part 2 continued from page 6 1 Right click on the input box portion of the Data field and select Properties from the shortcut menu 2 Click in the Input Mask property under the Data tab 3 Click the Input Mask s property button to launch the Input Mask wizard mit lack Wizard itech irigat imis mabotees Fer oi saan data bo boo To see hor a seeded mack works u the Try Ik oor Te charege the Trput Marsh list click Wa Edt List buthor Input Maske Data Louz oc M eeue exe cis i _ on Figure 3 Input Mask wirard 1 Select the Short Date option To see what the mask will look like click in the Try It box 2 Click Next gt to continue Here you can alter the
29. rving as director sponsor I gained a thorough understanding of the issues and concerns about STC at many levels Work ing individually with leaders and other members is an invaluable experience that is crucial to being the most effective leader in the presidential chain of offices Ford also took risks Failing to be inno vative and leaving things at the status quo is a risky business for STC and tech nical communicators We must make it part of our role as technical communicators to show the value we add We must continue to learn more do more and be more It is important that STC become the premier organization for technical communicators One way we can do that is by listening to what our members want because the orga nization that best meets the needs of its members is the one that retains its members and attracts new ones Ford saw failure as a lesson and applied everything he learned to improve Dur ing the process of defining STC s brand we discovered where we were making our mistakes and that we were not being per ceived as we wanted to be so we ve made changes to correct some of those miscon ceptions As we seek new ways to prosper we must improve our processes and the quality of our member services STC members work in more diversified environments than ever before with ex perience skills and talents that vary widely Nevertheless we share the desire to be recogniz
30. s when you update or correct Help through the Help button e On line e User s manual e XML Cookbook e FM7Reviewer s guide e Overview of new features e Workgroup guide a feature used for document control e Tutorials e Structured templates You also can order from www adobe com a CD copy of the Guide to Enterprise Pub lishing which describes how various in dustries use FrameMaker STC Chapter Meeting Schedule Mark your calendars Here are topics and tentative dates for the remainder of the 2002 2003 meeting calendar More details on each meeting will be published as the dates draw closer YOU PUT BLOOD SWEAT AND TEARS INTO YOUR WORK SO DO WE Call for information about our new state of the art digital equipment and how it can help make your technical projects shine Sir Speedy PRINTING COPYING DIGITAL NETWORK 20411 Route 19 LaSalle Plaza Cranberry Township Voice 724 776 2711 Fax 724 776 3522 S887118 aol com STC Member 2003 March 11 Tuesday Chapter 50th Anni versary Party and Awards Banquet Thea Teich and Janis Ramey April 8 Tuesday Robohelp Leslie Johnson GROUP WELLESLEY Documentation services for technology industries Awthoring User mono online help sug adningkation guided marketing collated Technical Electronic docursent delivery deakiop publishing igaitea fomea conversa single source publishing SGAL RML sapport wiabi
31. sultants may claim the full amount of dues as a busi ness expense Miscellaneous Expense Those who do not fall in the categories about can claim their dues as a miscella neous expense Check your tax information booklet or con sult with a tax representative for exceptions limitations and other regulations KKK K K K K K K K K ok Don t Lose Touch with STC The Society Office encourages all STC members to update their membership infor mation with home addresses home phone numbers or home email addresses Many members provide only their work contact information and the office often loses track of these members when they change jobs To update your membership information complete the STC address change form at www stc org address change asp or con tact the office at 703 522 4114 PAGE 4 PITTSBURGH CHAPTER HTTP WWW STCPGH ORG FrameMaker7 Demonstration continued from page 3 e There are 12 Running H F vari ables You can customize headers and footers to your heart s con tent e UNIX font management is included e Save as MIF Maker Interchange Format a format that any version of Frame can open FM6 PDF Word Word Perfect HTML XML SGML e Tables now come across Special Structured FrameMaker features e Jn a numbered list if you move Number1l Frame renumbers for you No need to adjust the para graph styles e Formats are in the template EDD No need to import format
32. ue The meeting will be held on Tuesday March 11 at the Engineer s Society of West ern Pennsylvania For details please turn to the last page of this newsletter Contents Chapter Awards Banquet Technical Communication Yesterday Today and Tomorrow 1 Chapter Online Competition Award WINNE ae anp ape ra a 2 Usability Live aececi 2 FrameMaker7 Demonstration People NEWS ccecce Notes from the National Office STC Chapter Meeting Schedule Access Database Primer Part 2 WorkQuest Meeting Summary Statement of Sandi Harner Candidate for Second Vice Pr sident cccccecs sees seen ees 10 Statement of Suzanna Laurent anusBR RW HY H society for technical communication Candidate for Second Vice President cccccceeeee seen eee 11 Meeting Details March Awards Banquet misni o Pasi 12 Editorial Calendar ecce 12 Article Deadline ccecce 12 Pace 1 BLue PENCIL SOCIETY FOR TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION U U LUU STC Pittsburgh Officers President Alan Houser 412 363 0387 icePresident ancy Ott 412 784 0254 vielottfamily hotmail com becretary ancy Carpenter 412 820 2221 reasurer Darlene Mullenix H12 288 8676dmullenix federatedinv com Region 4 Director Sponsor ike Bates 440 646 7548 pbates software rockwell com Committees arh groupwellesley com ngcarpenter hotmail com ember ship icky Bleiel nableiel software rockwell com ember Liaison hris Keefer 4
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