E-Writing and Editing

Joanne JacobsBrisbane Graduate School of

BusinessQueensland University of

Technology

Scope of the Workshop

• How people read multimedia, differences between print and electronic media, structuring and prioritising

• When to use multimedia, content trends and captioning, attracting an audience

• Editorial procedures, proof-reading and quality control

• Editing exercises, best practice and maintenance

E-Reading

• Dependent on the format of the publication• Dependent on the penetration of the technology• General acceptance of the electronic publication

is subject to significant change over time• Important to understand the variations of

electronic writing before considering the appropriate format of writing

Variations of Interface

• Hard Media– Floppy disk– CD ROM– DVD

• ‘Soft’ Media– Portable drives– Server-oriented network storage

Floppy Disk

• 1.44MB capacity• Useful for text-based information and databases,

simple models and “front pages” for web interface

• Cost between 20cents - $1 per disk• Also “zip” disk format (requiring special

hardware readers) available, storing up to 100MB data

• Best for text-based publications (duplicating print writing style)

CD ROM

• Between 600MB - 750MB data capacity• Access rates range from single speed

(150KB/second) to 32 speed (4800KB/second)• Useful for high multimedia product• Cost of production has reduced dramatically in

the last six years, now around $1/disk• Best for multimedia-enhanced writing. Some

editing of print based product required.

DVD (Digital Video Disk, or Digital Versatile Disk)

• Minimum 4.7GB capacity (up to 17G)• 600KBS access rates• Ideal for high-multimedia film product• High cost of production with a limited market (mainly due

to hardware constraints)– Computers with DVDs are not ideal for watching films– DVD Players are internationally subject to zoning constraints

• Best for graphically rich content and multimedia-enhanced content. E-writing may require varying levels of editing.

‘Soft’ Media

• Portable HDDs (still technically ‘hard media’) do not have content-oriented market for electronic publishing

• Server-based network resources (most commonly associated with WWW content) are a growth market for e-publishing

• Based on screen-reading. Writing must be readable in digital format.

Who has access?

• Information technology demography required to understand likely target market and genuine market research on the penetration of the electronic publication required.

• It is insufficient to assume that the writing style used for one audience is appropriate for all audiences.

IT Demography (Internet)

• Nielsen Netratings says there are 580 million users worldwide (Feb 2003), projected to grow to 709.1 million by 2004 (Cyberatlas).

• 4.3 million registered subscribers in Australia as at November 2001 (NOIE Current State of Play)

• 51% of all men in Australia have regular internet access, and 44% of all women (Source: ABS)

• The average amount of time spent online per day is 57 minutes (Source: Media Metrix)

Changes to Demography

• Since August 1998, the number of households with home internet access has more than doubled.

• Globally, internet growth rate is slowing, but given the statistics for internet growth in 1994 were >341,000%, there is still high growth

• Increased growth means a much broader audience interest base

Difference in Market Acceptance

• Traditionally, the internet and new technologies generally were the playthings of a young, male and technologically enthusiastic population

• Since 1998, audiences have been described as becoming “decidedly mainstream” (Source: Pew Research Centre)

• Internet surfing is increasingly being recognised as something you do while you’re doing something else (Eg: watching television, listening to music, working)

Implications?

• Growth in mainstream access to electronic publications means that multiple writing styles (and possibly multiple access regimes are considered in the preparation of an electronic publication)

• E-writing should be cognizant of multitasking as a feature of reading online. Content should be based on the dig-down approach

Usability

• Major reference, Jakob Nielsen’s UseIt resource, http://www.useit.com/

• Hard media useability is about speed of data access, and product longevity (see next week’s topic). Internet useability is about the identification of the lowest possible access ratio (for data download) and the greatest possible cross-referencing between sites

• Useability is also applicable to site design, cultural acceptance and appropriateness of media choice.

Evaluating e-publications

• Necessary to gauge ‘hit rate’ of publications• Assists in understanding trends in design and

adoption• Allows strategy development to garner audience

interest/customer service• Is consistent with Best Practice behaviours in

the public sector (see later today)

Criteria: Hard Media

• Longevity– Cost benefit of the publication– Reusability– Installation, cross-platform accessibility

• Practical use of the medium• Audience identification

– Linked to cost-benefit

• Ease of access to complex data such as video and audio content

CD ROM Publications

• Note: CD ROM games and system software are *NOT* considered electronic publications

• Greatest market success in CD ROM publications rests with educational and business application CD ROMs

• Best use of the medium tends to be directory-oriented

Criteria: Internet

• Cost of production• Currency

– Site revisitation potential– Updates, user response

• Practical use of the medium• Audience identification• Interactivity/interactive elements• Downloads

– Linked to both medium practicality and audience identification

Economic Issues

• Cost benefits– Do the production costs outweigh the market

potential?– Does the rhetoric surrounding internet-oriented

‘cheap’ market access have credibility?

• Medium longevity– Is the medium likely to be superseded in the life of the

publication?

• Govt/Industry development funding – Are there other advantages for publishing?

Distribution Issues

• Hard media– Retail contracts (positioning)– Pirating– Local jurisprudence (censorship, local trade protection

issues)– Public education

• ‘Soft’ media– Marketing– Network integrity (& audience hardware performance)

Hybrid texts

• Multi-medium (the original specification for ‘multimedia’) texts can be productive– CD ROM-WWW publication could allow updates for

content, could provide interface to on-line data, or could act as a system checker for ‘static’ installed data

• Requires maintained investment

Value Addition

• It is insufficient simply to offer a digitised version of written texts– Eg: Project Gutenberg offers digital literature for free

(value addition)

• Must provide a reason for medium choice– Examples: Yellow Pages, EB, Menu selector,

Business tax information

Interactivity

• Various formats– User demand (VoD)– Simple form submission (search engines, directories)– User response (feedback)– Hypertext (user choice for content direction)– Customisation (audience interests)– User-oriented content contribution (bulletin boards, user site

pages)– Live fora (chat sites, expert-audience interaction)

• Implementation issues (cost-benefit, defamation, liability)

User Response

• Value of– Audience survey, statistical analysis– Changing needs– Community orientation– Customer loyalty

• Implementation– Understandability– Currency– Administration– Cost

Evolution of e-communication

• Means of communication based on a combination of literary and verbal protocols

• Economics theory of knowledge:– Information – flow concept. – Knowledge – stock concept. – Thus e-publications should be regarded as value additions

rather than mere information archives

• Information extraction (IE) systems– Examples: http://www-nlp.cs.umass.edu/software/badger.html

http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/project/ai-repository/ai/areas/0.html

Literacy transformations

• Primitive symbol systems• Complex oral language• Early writing• Manuscript literacy• Print literacy• Video literacy• Digital/multimedia/hypertext literacy• Virtual reality(From Bruce (1997) Literacy technologies: What stance should we take?

Journal of Literacy Research, 29 (2), 289-309)

Variations of the lexicon

• Business (transactional)– Uses email and some instant messaging systems.

Ends to be more formal than the latter categories but this is changing over time

• Chat/Newsgroups/Message lists – Beyond social chat, these for a ar being used for

customer relationship management, support and e-commerce cybercommuning

• Blogging– Whinge, whinge, whinge, whine, soapbox, blog.

The Rise of Blogging

• Success of blogging in the ‘hobbyist’ arena now recognised by business.

• Public sector ideally suited to the phenomenon– Moderation?– Legal implications– Maintenance considerations

• Annotated content useful in the support of knowledge management

• Series of tools and formats available

Blogging tools & formats

• Tools– Movable Type– Grey Matter– Blogger.com– Other tools (open source code)

• Formats– Personal journal (http://livejournal.com/)– Annotated links (http://slashdot.org/)– Notebook-style editorial (most news media)

Advantages/disadvantages of new lexicon for e-publications

• Dedicated ‘style’ means that the integrity of existing communications styles will remain

• New lexicon is unlikely to dramatically influence literacy skills among our young people (contrary to popular scare-mongering)

• The nature of the technologies is that change in style occurs rapidly and often, thus it is difficult to pinpoint a specific e-writing style or lexicon for any given period of time

Reading Onlineexcerpted from E-Writing: 21st-Century Tools for Effective Communication [Pocket Books]

Strive For a Style Somewhere Between Stuffed-Shirt Writing and T-Shirt Writing: Just as the business casual dress code has some people stumped, so has the business causal writing style. Some writers confuse the screen for a t-shirt slogan.

Avoid Knee-Jerk Responses: E-mail's greatest benefit can also be its greatest drawback: speed. We open. We read. We reply. Then we think-or don't, as the case may be.

If You Don't Have Something To Say, Don't Say It: On the street, when someone you know speaks to you, etiquette requires that you return the greeting. Not so with e-mail.

Check It, But Don't Be Chained To It: Instead of being constantly distracted, let the e-mails pile up and check them only once or twice a day.

Use The "So What?" Prompt To Turn Information into Communication: Imagine your reader asking, "So what?" Then add the answer: Draw conclusions. State the action you want.

Avoid Stream-Of-Consciousness Rambling: Just as the penny is the basis for our monetary system, the sentence is our basic unit of thought. If your e-mail wasn't all that interesting to read the first time, imagine forcing people to slog through it a second time to catch your meaning.

Tune into the Tone of Directives: Brief is good. Blunt is not.

Guard Against A Trigger-Happy 'Send' Finger: As a safety measure, don't enter the recipient's e-mail address until you have the e-mail ready to go-with all attachments. Then if your trigger finger goes off, your e-mail is still safely in your hands.

Make Sure "Anytime, Anywhere" Doesn't Mean "No Time, Nowhere": Many organizations advertise that they're available anytime anywhere. But the reality is that that expectation disappoints all too often. Email goes unanswered for days and weeks.

Know When To Phone Instead of Writing E-Mail or Letters: People are typically less guarded when speaking than writing. Choose according to your purpose.

Be Wary of Humor or Sarcasm: Comedy writers earn big bucks. Either make sure your humor works or don't try it.

Understand Your Liability for Personal E-Mails on Company Systems: Inexpensive software packages can scan up to 50,000 e-mails an hour for objectionable words (unfair, performance review, copyright, breast, resume, angry) and forward those messages to a designated person. Consider that your e-mail may be retrieved for any number of things that keep people awake at night.

SOURCE: Dianna Booher, Top 10 Tips for E-Writing

Structuring and Prioritising

• Navigation through and around e-writing is vital for:– Appropriate use of the technology– Readability– Traffic management (bandwidth considerations in and

out of pages of a site)• Slashdot and the war• Trackback facilities on blogs

• Prioritising information within content should mimic journalistic ‘inverted pyramid’ structure

Break for Morning Tea

Please return by 11:00am

Content trends

• Broadcast-style copy– Less is more– Conversational– Camera-ready copy

• Content segmentation– Navigation by topic and then across/through topics

through hypertext links

• Style of content delivery dependent on the transactional or content-driven aspects of the organisation

Static Versus Interactive

• In hard media productions, ‘static’ written content needs to have longevity– Consideration for printing from hard media– Searchable indexes– Hybrid media updates for content?

• Internet based (dynamically interactive) copy needs to be updated and adequately archived– No necessity for printing (consideration still worthy)– Searchable indexes– Long term storage and replacement issues

Evolution of Websites

• Level 1: Information publishing – www.ngtechnology.com.au

• Level 2: Transaction based systems– www.ebay.com.au

• Level 3: Mass customisation– www.amazon.com

Copy must reflect the functionality of the site.

Content Versus Transaction

Captioning

• Breaking up content is crucial to draw the eye, without distracting

• Captions should contextualise content, not repeat content

• Cascading style sheets and captioning– Don’t use font changes – Use ‘built-in’ font styles– Use CSS tools to create consistency (also easier for

maintenance purposes)

Attracting an audience (internet content)

• Register websites– Dmoz.org– Google

• Webrings and portals• Mailing lists and discussion groups• Promotional literature MUST include addresses• Providing short/long-term community services

and events• Responding to queries• Linking to appropriate industry partners

Don’ts

• Spam lists/groups• Talk about a revolution

– Multimedia isn’t new– Internal discussions and constant promotion of new

media copy reduces its effect

• Become notorious as a “hanging judge” editor for written copy

• Fail to archive content • Install search mechanisms and tools that are

counter-intuitive

Break for Lunch

Please return by 1:30pm

Editorial procedures

• Copy writing• Copy review:

– Proof reading– Formatting (typesetting) – Copy editing

• Captioning and headline writing• Formatting and layout• House styles (images, fonts and language)• Going live, responding to feedback, following up

Proof reading

• The responsibility for finding errors during typesetting or formatting

• Basic proofreading– Check copy against a marked-up draft

• Editorial proofreading– Check for errors in word usage – Grammar correction and inappropriate punctuation– Completed on a ‘finished’ product

Copy editing

• Light– Picks up from proof reading and checks grammar rules

• Medium– Adds consideration of house style

• Heavy– Alters text to improve flow and to enforce uniformity of

expression, tone and focus

• Global– Frames content in terms of international cultural contexts

• Faux pas (Engrish.com, Language & Advertising)

– Considers international publishing issues (legal and language)

Language and Advertising• The original ad slogan that the Swedes packaged for their Electrolux vacuum cleaner

was "Nothing Sucks Like Electrolux!" • In Seoul, South Korea, the government received so many complaints about taxi

drivers that it had to set up a telephone hotline for passenger who encountered rudeness or dangerous driving. To advise customers of this service, a sign was posted on the inside rear door notifying English-speaking passengers of the availability of an "Intercourse Discomfort Report Center."

• We chuckle at such clumsy translations, yet we don't realize how equally susceptible are we English speakers and writers. Despite endless boardroom cogitation, many a multi-national corporation has ended up with its brand name or slogan on its face. Global slip-ups remind us that few words and idioms can be literally translated.

• More than others, the automobile industry seems to be prone to linguistic accidents. The classic story of vehicular misnaming is associated with General Motors. As the literal translation of the Nova to Spanish means "star," why then, GM wanted to know were Hispanic Chevrolet dealerships so unaccommodating to this model? That's because when spoken aloud, Nova sounds like no va -- which means "It doesn't go." GM changed the name to Caribe.

• Ford Motor Company's Caliente turned out to mean "streetwalker" in Mexico. Ford came up with a second flat tire in Japan, where Cortina translated as "jalopy." The company discovered that a truck model it called Fiera means "ugly old woman" in Spanish. As if this was not enough, it turns out that Pinto is a slang term meaning "small mail appendage."

• Even the luxurious Rolls Royce company found out the hard way that in German, Silver Mist means "human waste."

• Here are a dozen more classic cross-border marketing misfortunes: • The colas of the world have been shaken up explosively by mistranslation. When

Pepsi-Cola invaded the huge Chinese and German markets, the effort initially fizzled. The product's slogan, "Come alive with the Pepsi generation," was rendered (or should I say rent?) into Chinese as "Pepsi brings back your dead ancestors" and into German as "Come out of the grave with Pepsi."

• Coca-Cola also discovered in Taiwan that the Chinese characters chosen to sound like its name mean "Bite the Wax Tadpole." Fresca's brand name fizzled in Mexico, where its name turned out to be slang for "lesbian."

• Perdue Chicken's slogan "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" read, in Spanish, "It takes a sexually stimulated man to make a chicken affectionate."

• Braniff Air Lines, promoting its comfortable leather seats, used the headline "Sentado en cuero," which was interpreted as "Sit naked."

• A beer company slogan "Turn it loose" became in Spanish, equivalent to "Suffer from diarrhea."

• 3M translated its Scotch tape slogan, "Sticks like crazy," into Japanese and came up with a sticky problem. The slogan translated literally into Japanese as "It sticks foolishly."

• The Kellogg Company encountered a problem when it introduced its Bran Buds to Sweden. The name translates loosely into Swedish as "Burnt Farmer."

• Vicks had to change its product name to Wicks before entering the German market when it was discovered that Vicks sounded like a German expletive.

• Colgate Palmolive had to discard Cue as the name for its toothpaste in France. Cue is the name of a widely circulated French pornographic magazine.

• Even the wrong nonverbal cue can wreak havoc with a product's reception in a far-off land:

• Gerber Baby Food initially packaged their African product just the same as in the U.S. -- with a cute baby picture on the jar. They didn't realize that because so many Africans cannot read, nearly all packaged products sold in Africa carry pictures of what is inside. Pureed baby -- horrors!

• Muslims in Bangladesh rioted and ransacked Thom McAnn stores when they mistook company's logo on some sandals for the Arabic letters for Allah. One person was killed and 50 people were injured before the melee ended.

Copy Editing Rules

• Challenge the copy:– Be sceptical about figures, words and reference

consistency– Ensure consistency of style throughout a site or

media production (language, formatting, house style)– Double entendre– Editorialising (ensure it doesn’t occur except where

appropriate)

• Check references• Change where necessary (only where

necessary)

Copy Editing Resources

• Style Manuals– Microsoft Manual of Style– American Psychological Association Style Guide– AGPS Style Manual

• HTML Writers Guild– http://www.hwg.org/

• Columbia Guide to Online Citation– http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cup/cgos/idx_basic.html

• Editing for the Web– http://www.towson.edu/~lieb/editing/

• E-Write Online– http://www.ewriteonline.com/

• Jakob Nielsen’s ‘How Users Read on the Web’– http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9710a.html

Quality control

• Global editing and cultural sensitivities• Distinct roles for proof-readers and copy editors crucial

to avoid errors of judgement• Feedback systems should be in place with rapid-

response correction capacity (ie: provide write access to the worker charged with responding to feedback)

• Peer review processes• Character sets and resources for obscure characters

– http://www.natural-innovations.com/boo/doc-charset.html

Break for Afternoon Tea

Please return by 3:30pm

Best practice

• Codes of practice• Industry associations (HTML Writers Guild)• Reviewing and monitoring• Knowledge management rules

– Six tenets of KM

• Resources:– NOIE Documentation– AIMIA– IIA Code

Maintenance

• Frequency of updates and maintenance dependent on content

• House style will also need editing (CSS style sheets) more frequently

• Archives need to be maintained on a regular basis – advanced KM and annotation systems may need to be

employed for longer documents

• Feedback and maintenance roles for e-media editors– Write access– Call centres and control of electronic interface– Testimonials and guarantees

Volunteer editing

• Advantages– Reduces load on paid staff– Provides an outlet for students/retired copy editors to

exercise skills

• Disadvantages– Coordination – Skill level of volunteers– Duplication of editing

• Call for volunteers usually produces good results– Case Study: On Line Opinion

(http://onlineopinion.com.au/)

Group work and exercises

Reporting back at 4pm

Exercises

Any questions?

Contact Joanne Jacobs at:Phone: (07) 3864 2065 Fax: (07) 3864

1299 Mobile: 0419 131 077 Email: joanne@joannejacobs.net Internet: http://joannejacobs.net/