TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
David: I think I still have Peter Kent's book; it was helpful when I got
started.
On Google: When your search results come up, over in the upper right corner
of the page, you'll see a pair of icons. The default setting is the little
head-and-shoulders icon indicating personalized results. Click the globe
next to it, and you'll see what you used to see. In a search for technical
writing (no quotes), the Top 5 results were the same for me: Two Wikipedia
articles, the Bureau of Labor Statistics article, Techwhirl's "What is
Technical Writing?" page (which I think Connie wrote), and a PDF for MIT's
Basics of Technical Writing, Part 1.
Now if you click on that link to TechWhirl, you wouldn't know that there's
a mailing list associated with the site. You would know there's a forum,
because it's in the navigation. Perhaps that's a hint as to "where the
youth are." Similarly, there's no "Subscribe to TechWr-L" button. There's a
link to the archives, but ... perhaps there's a conclusion to be drawn, but
I won't go there.
Mike McCallister
Coming in 2014: *Build Your Author Platform: The New Rules* (w/Carole Jelen)
Notes from the Metaverse: http://metaverse.wordpress.com
On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 9:58 AM, David Renn <daverenn08 -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> The only reason I found this listserv is because this past summer I picked
> up a book by Peter Kent called *Making Money in Technical Writing*. It just
> so happens that this book was published in the 90s. I'm relatively new to
> the industry having only been in tech writing for 5 1/2 years, so when it
> came to searching for material about our industry, I would basically stick
> with STC and all things affiliated and a few blogs, most namely by Tom
> Johnson and Mark Baker. It took me 5 years to find techwr-l.
>
> I think the format of the listserv is a bit 90s still, which may be why
> it's tough to find. Although, to be honest, techwr-l might be my favorite
> source of industry information these days, and it's nice to be able to post
> a quick question and receive 5 enthusiastic responses within an hour.
>
> I think the listserv is tough to find because when you typically search for
> technical writing-related material, STC pops up first and is basically the
> dominant industry community. I like Techwhirl better, but it's much tougher
> to find. I feel like people need to stumble into it by chance to find it.
> Then the listserv is even tougher to find, and it has an outdated feel,
> which may turn away some prospective members.
>
>
> On Thu, Feb 13, 2014 at 10:40 AM, Milan DavidoviÄ <milan -dot- lists -at- gmail -dot- com
> >wrote:
>
> > Also, in search results for "technical writing" (with or without
> > quotes), where does this list (or the site) appear? When I do the
> > search on Google, I don't see it on the first page.
> >
> > --Milan DavidoviÄ
> >
> > Sent from my Commercial Visible 6
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 3:51 PM, Dan Goldstein <DGoldstein -at- cytomedix -dot- com
> >
> > wrote:
> > > In theory, someone other than the moderators could volunteer to spread
> > the good word.
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> > Doc-To-Help: new website, content widgets, and an output that works on
> any
> > screen.
> >
> > Learn more: http://bit.ly/1eRs4NS
> >
> > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >
> > You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as daverenn08 -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
> >
> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> > techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >
> >
> > Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> > http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> > info.
> >
> > Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
> online
> > magazine at http://techwhirl.com
> >
> > Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> > email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
> >
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Doc-To-Help: new website, content widgets, and an output that works on any
> screen.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/1eRs4NS
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as workingwriter -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doc-To-Help: new website, content widgets, and an output that works on any screen.
