Talk:Technical Communication
From TCPwiki
General Discussion
How are these pages any different from the pages on Wikipedia? In Wikipedia, there are pages for Technical Communication, etc. --BillAlbing 12:37, 12 July 2007 (EDT)
The difference between TCPwiki and Wikipedia, for example, is that everything on the site is related to technical communication. So, articles about translation will relate to having a document converted from one language to another, not about DNA. An article about SOAP will be about Simple Object Access Protocol, not a substance used to wash your hands. Thanks! Lisa Gielczyk 19:47, 12 July 2007 (EDT)
But Wikipedia has a page on SOAP already -- type in SOAP, all caps, and you get Simple Object Access Protocol. Where there is more than one context, you have a disambiguation page. So for any topic related to tech. comm. you can simply add info and say "In the context of technical communication ...". I'm still not sure why you can't put all this content on Wikipedia. It looks like a silo when the goal should be to break out of silos. Of course, if you're offering another way to develop the content or the deliver the content, that would be of value, but if you're using MediaWiki the same way that Wikipedia does, I don't see a distinction.--BillAlbing 20:27, 12 July 2007 (EDT)
This site, as I understand it, is for a smaller community ... specifically for those in the Technical Communication industry. Here we can ask and answer questions in a less formal environment than on Wikipedia where there are very strong community requirements to posting information. This site should be much less restrictive ... what the TCP community chooses to have it be rather than the whole Wikipedia community.
There will be some duplication, as there is with any major project of this type, but there are content areas that we can delve into and explore that would be blocked rather quickly on Wikipedia. Bob 21:40, 12 July 2007 (EDT)
That sounds good. It's good to have a focused community in mind, and an informal place is good too. Perhaps on the About TCPwiki page, you could mention this.--BillAlbing 07:09, 13 July 2007 (EDT)
Specific Programs
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute also has online courses related to TechComm, UA, and Usability but they are completely down due to a recent storm. I'm adding this here as a reminder to go get the info. :-) - techcommdood (aka Bill)
Well, I could mention that you don't have North Carolina State University and East Carolina University, both of which offer Masters degree programs, but rather than trying to keep a list yourself, there must already be a list out there that you can link to. Can someone like Kirk St. Amant tell us where we can find a list? There are directories such as:
That's my two cents.--BillAlbing 20:41, 12 July 2007 (EDT)
