Why I’m concerned about libel law reform

Posted on 11 April 2010 by David Farbey

On the face of it, having a law against libel seems a sensible idea. You shouldn’t be allowed to go around damaging people’s reputation by writing things like “Mr X is an arsonist” or “Ms Y is addicted to cocaine” just because you feel like it. And if you do write or say such things, it seems fair that Mr X or Ms Y should have the right to challenge you in court and receive financial compensation from you. Continue reading →

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Social Media in Technical Communication

Posted on 21 March 2010 by David Farbey

The Spring 2010 edition of the ISTC‘s quarterly journal, Communicator, has a special supplement (sponsored by Adobe) on The role of social media in technical communication.
While acknowledging that social media can be used for frivolous time wasting, the four articles in the special supplement look at the professional and business uses for social media, and in particular at the advantages the use of social media can bring to technical communications professionals. The contributors are Noz Urbina of Mekon, Gordon McLean from Sword Ciboodle, and RJ Jaquez of Adobe. I have the privilege of being the fourth contributor. Continue reading →

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Don’t be normal!

Posted on 14 February 2010 by David Farbey

Microsoft Word is a wonderful product, and I’m not joking at all. It’s easy to forget that not so long ago, back in the days of BW (“before Word”), creating documents for any purpose was a long and tiresome process. Microsoft Word has made things a lot easier for many people who produce many kinds of documents, from school homework to business letters. Microsoft Word is great many kinds of documents, but it isn’t suitable for everything.

If you do find yourself using Microsoft Word there are a few things you do well to look out for. Two of those things are called “Normal”, and my advice is to stay away from both of them. Continue reading →

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Farbey’s Law of Document Stability

Posted on 29 January 2010 by David Farbey

The other day, I was making final revisions to a group of Microsoft Word documents that were needed for an imminent product release. I placed an updated version of a document on our document management system and sent a link to my manager for him to review it. In the copy he opened every single cross reference, including the Table of Contents, had been replaced by Word’s “Error! Bookmark not defined” message. Embarrassing for me? Yes. Time consuming to fix? Yes. Completely unexpected? Definitely not. Continue reading →

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London Tech Writers Social, February 2010

Posted on 24 January 2010 by David Farbey

The first London Tech Writers Social of 2010 takes place on 25th February 2010. Here are the details:

Date: 25th February 2010

Time: 6:30pm

Venue: Garrick Arms, 8 – 10 Charing Cross Road, London WC2H 0HG

The Garrick Arms pub is 2 minutes walk from Leicester Square station (Northern and Piccadilly lines) and less than 10 minutes walk from Charing Cross main line station.

We should have an area of the bar reserved for us (ask for the London Tech Writers Group), and as before, you will be able to buy your own drinks and snacks or meals at the bar.

This is an informal social meeting, supported by both the ISTC and the UK and Ireland Chapter of the STC, and open to everyone. If you are thinking of taking part, please email me, or leave a comment below so we can let the venue know how many people we are expecting.

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The pre-history of Information Design

Posted on 17 January 2010 by David Farbey

I have a personal recollection of the St Bride Library from many years ago, when it was a public library with a specialist collection, and was very convenient for the school I went to, which at the time was on the Embankment at Blackfriars. My old school has moved, and the Library has reverted to being a specialist institution, and has been extensively refurbished.

Located adjacent to one of Sir Christopher Wren’s finest churches, itself built in the ruins of older places of worship going back to Saxon times, and just a few yards from Fleet Street, once the home of Britain’s newspaper industry, the St Bride Foundation hosts the St Bride Printing Library, one of the most significant collections of typography and historical printed reference in the world. Continue reading →

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Please don’t read this book

Posted on 1 January 2010 by David Farbey

I enjoy attending conferences, whether I am making a presentation or not. You get to meet interesting people, hear interesting talks, and see how other people give their presentations. From the point of view of watching and learning from other people, the TCUK09 Conference was enlightening. I was grateful for some positive feedback from my own session, but I was aware that I was doing my presentation in a pretty conventional way. Mainly text, with bullet lists, numbers and percentages, some graphs – you get the idea. I took great care not to put too many words on each slide, and not to read the slides but to use them for the main points or for key quotes and to talk around them. But still, I reckon it was a pretty routine presentation, and quite a few of the other presenters I saw were not much different. Good content, well presented, but lacking in … something. Continue reading →

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A little more advice for job seekers

Posted on 5 December 2009 by David Farbey

The topic of finding work as a technical writer came up on a mailing list I subscribe to recently, and I want to share some advice here. I have been a job seeker in this market many times, and I was also involved in recruitment for a while some years ago, so I have literally been on both sides of the desk in the recruitment process.

As a result, I have seen dozens of CVs (resumés) from technical writers and my first piece of advice is to make sure that your CV is as near to flawless as you can make it. Not only does it need to be relevant to the job you are applying for, it needs to look good as well. I know some recruiters and agencies use keyword searches to screen candidate CVs and don’t actually read most of them, but if you are lucky enough to get your CV in front of a hiring manager you want your piece of paper to stand out. Don’t be scared to use white space to create a clean, uncluttered layout. It can make a difference. If nothing else, it shows you’re a professional. Continue reading →

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