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VR Communications, Inc.
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Multichannel Communications Solutions

Anna van Raaphorst, Content Specialist
Richard H. (Dick) Johnson, Technology Specialist

Clients/Projects

Clients/Projects

Last updated: February 8, 2008

Page Contents

Self-initiated projects, consulting:
DITA Open Toolkit User Guide | DITA consulting | El Dorado Hills Handbook |
Research Paper: Business Impact By Women in Science and Technology |
Communicating Effectively in the Global Marketplace | Rsf-Earthspeak Website |
Consulting for CERN, IN2P3, and KEK | Website analysis | Reuse case study
Works-for-hire:
Acta Technology | Avid Technology | IBM (technical) | IBM (marketing) |
IBM (product development) | IBM (competitive) | Integrated Systems |
Mercury Interactive | Pillar Data Systems | Siebel Systems | Skytide |
Stanford University | University of California at Santa Cruz

DITA Open Toolkit User Guide

Project: Architected, wrote, and produced a document titled DITA Open Toolkit User Guide as a contribution to the OASIS open-source community. Processed the DITA (XML) files to 9 target output environments: DocBook, Eclipse content, Eclipse help (and Eclipse Infocenter), HTML Help (chm), JavaHelp, PDF (using both FOP and XEP), troff, Word RTF, and XHTML.

The document comes with two sets of sample (demo-level) DITA files, "garage" and "grocery shopping," which include annotated Ant scripts to build them to all output targets.

In conjunction with the documentation project we also wrote a set of PHP scripts that do debugging, link-checking, reporting, and custom file processing. The debugging and link-checking scripts help to answer the following kinds of questions:

Which directories contain files used by a given ditamap?
Which files in source directories are not used in a ditamap, and therefore could be erased?
For a given file referenced in a ditamap, what type of file is it, who was its author, how big is it, when was it last changed, and what is it about?
What are all the linked connections from one file to another used by a given ditamap?
Which URLs are referenced in the files used in a ditamap?

The reporting tools help to answer the following kinds of questions:

Who are the authors and copyright holders?
Which IDs were defined in the source file and were any of them duplicates?
Which keywords were used in the source file <prolog> elements?

Portfolio items:

DITA Open Toolkit User Guide
( pdf image , opens new window)

To download additional free DITA resources, see our resources page.

DITA consulting

Recent (2007-08) DITA consulting projects include the following:

For a global corporation delivering a wide variety of products (including document imaging equipment), created a customized prototype, delivered a three-day workshop, and did follow-on coaching for a content migration project
For a company creating application delivery software, provided a customized DITA seminar to lead information developers in Florida and the UK
For an organization providing online payment software and services, coached a technical documentation team as they created their first DITA project
For a company creating virtualization products, did an analysis of legacy content targeted for a conversion to DITA
For a company creating RFID solutions, delivered a three-day workshop and created a highly customized Eclipse Infocenter that involved extensive XSLT scripting
For a start-up storage company, did a legacy content conversion using Arbortext/Astoria

Community Vision of El Dorado Hills, CA

Role/Project: Board member. Press activities. Designed and directed implementation of a master community calendar that featured photos taken by local residents.
Organization: Nonprofit public benefit corporation that provides leadership in identifying and meeting the needs of the community of El Dorado Hills (located in the Sierra foothills, east of Sacramento).

El Dorado Hills Handbook and Community Website

Project: Created a community resource package (book and companion website) titled The El Dorado Hills Handbook, the definitive source of information about the Sierra foothills community of El Dorado Hills, CA.
Book contents: Fast facts and frequently asked questions, community resources, social history, natural history and environment, local and regional issues, and cultural resources. Over 300 pages, 100 photos and drawings, fully indexed.

Testimonials:

"I was overwhelmed at the book's thoroughness and readability. And the cover is great!"
"I found the book absolutely fascinating, and got through most of it on one of my rare nights off several weeks ago."

Portfolio items:

EDH Handbook and book cover (100mb: very large file!)
(zipped PDF files, right-click to download)

EDH book cover

Related Project (with some content reuse): Board member responsible for press activities for Community Vision, a nonprofit public benefit corporation that provides leadership in identifying and meeting the needs of the community of El Dorado Hills. Designed and directed implementation of a master community calendar that featured photos taken by local residents.

Research Paper: Business Impact by Women in Science and Technology

Role/Project: For Women in Technology International (WITI), managed public relations and wrote marketing material. Wrote a major research paper titled Business Impact by Women in Science and Technology. The paper was featured in Computer and Engineering Horizons. Paper contents included:

In-person or telephone interviews with six women executives in the high-technology field
Email interviews with 75 other professional women employed in high-technology companies
Summary of a focus-group discussion with women managers at Autodesk
Survey by Ziff Davis Media on attitudes of women and men executives on what it takes to be a successful senior manager

Location: International organization, with headquarters in the U.S.
Organization: Professional organization for women in science and technology.

Portfolio item:

Business Impact by Women in Science and Technology (complete research paper)
( pdf image , opens new window)

Communicating Effectively in the Global Marketplace

Project: Co-wrote (with Ellen Livengood) a book for technical writers about writing material that will be globalized or localized.
Target audience: Writers and managers in communications organizations, and organizations operating in multiple geographies.

Book Contents:

Important characteristics of the global marketplace, and the bottom-line benefits that can be derived from effective multicultural and international communications
Linguistic and cultural awareness as a basis for effective communications
Roadmaps for effective multicultural and international communications
Key business and cultural characteristics of the non-North American marketplace

Content reuse: The book and related material were used in a professional training program for technical writers at San Jose State University, and a workshop in the International Business Certificate Program at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Current status: The printed book is being updated and converted to an ebook.

Portfolio items:

Translation chapter ( pdf image , opens new window)

Roadmaps chapter ( pdf image , opens new window)

translation drawing

Copyright VR Communications, Inc.

RSF-EARTHSPEAK (www.rsf-earthspeak.org)

Project: Did a legacy website conversion to make this site more lively, interactive, and attractive.
Location: Scotts Valley, CA.
Organization: Professional and parent speech training programs for people with surgically corrected cleft palate.

Portfolio Item:

Current rsf-earthspeak website

CERN, IN2P3, and KEK High Energy Research Organizations

Project: Consulted with these organizations to create a collaborative, interactive environment for high-energy physics computing.
Location: CERN (Conseil Europeanne pour la Recherche Nucleaire) is in Geneva, IN2P3 (Institut National de Physique Nucleaire et de Physique des Particules) is in Paris, and the KEK High Energy Accelerator Research organization is in Tokyo.
Business: High-energy physics research.

CERN

CERN in Geneva, Switzerland

Website Analysis

Project: This project (completed as part of the content management certificate program at the University of Washington) analyzes the website of a nonprofit organization.

Portfolio item:

Website analysis ( pdf image , opens new window)

Case Study in Event Management and Informal Content Reuse

Project: This case study (which contains a complete set of model content) describes the processes of content creation, content management, and event coordination used to plan and implement a professional meeting held in April 2005.

Portfolio item:

Content reuse case study (opens new window)

Acta Technology, Inc. (Now Business Objects)

Project: Wrote and edited technical and marketing documents for the ActaWorks product. Designed, developed, and conducted training courses in the U.S., Canada, and Europe.
Location: Palo Alto, CA.
Business: Software company developing ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) software, including an extract/transform/load product and prepackaged data marts.

Portfolio item:

ActaWorks Installation Guide sample text ( pdf image , opens new window)

Copyright Acta Technology
Used by permission

Avid Technology, Inc.

Project: Managed a technical documentation project for the AvidNews broadcast news product.
Location: Palo Alto, CA, and Tewksbury, MA.
Business: Multimedia applications for the mass communications industry (primarily broadcast and film).

Portfolio item:

AvidNews Operations Manual sample text ( pdf image , opens new window)

Copyright Avid Technology
Used by permission

IBM Corporation (Technical Writing, Management)

Project: Wrote technical manuals for database (DB2), language compiler, and storage management products. Manager of technical writing, technical editing, and production departments. Consultant. Business partnership manager.
Location: San Jose, CA.
Business: Software and hardware.
Example items: Technical manuals, presentations, white papers, and training material. Example titles: DB2 Database Administration Guide, DB2 System Administration Guide, Distributed Data Recovery, and Hierarchical Storage Management.

IBM Corporation (Marketing Communications)

Project: Wrote a worldwide communications plan and managed an international marketing communications team consisting of three independent advertising and public relations agencies in the U.S. and Europe.
Location: Boulder, CO.
Business: Software manufacturing.
Example items: Press releases, marketing kit, executive presentations, advertising copy, and newsletters.

IBM Corporation (Product Development)

Project: Did software architecture and led a team of 20 engineers in implementing common portable device support for hundreds of storage devices.
Location: San Jose, CA.
Business: Storage software and hardware.
Example items (partial list of the over 690 devices supported):

TSM devices

IBM Corporation (Product Competitive Assessment)

Project: Wrote a technical marketing guide comparing database management systems (including DB2, Oracle, and Sybase).
Location: Palo Alto, CA.
Business: Database sales and marketing.

Portfolio items:

Solutions Through Teamwork (table of contents) ( pdf image , opens new window)

Solutions Through Teamwork (sample text) ( pdf image , opens news window)

Copyright IBM Corporation
Used by permission

Integrated Systems Inc. (Now Wind River Systems Inc.)

Project: Designed and wrote technical documents for pRISM+, a development suite for the embedded environment.
Location: Sunnyvale, CA.
Business: Real-time embedded operating system (pSOSystem) and development suite (pRISM+).
Example items: White paper, installation manual, programming guide, online help system.

Mercury Interactive

Role: Information architect and technical writer.
Projects: Designed and created a documentation home page and over 15 technical documents for two product releases. Also wrote a style/process guide for the department.
Location: Mountain View, CA and Tel Aviv, Israel.
Business: Software company developing business technology optimization (BTO) software. Mercury IT Governance Center is built on a three-tier architecture containing an Oracle database.

Portfolio items:

Style/process guide for writers ( pdf image , opens new window)

Pillar Data Systems (Product Development)

Project: SAN MPIO software on Windows and AIX.
Location: San Jose, CA and Longmont, CO.
Business: Storage subsystems (Pillar Axiom Storage System).

Siebel Systems, Inc. (now Oracle)

Title/Role: Principal technical writer, reporting to senior directory of information development. Information architect, release manager, and technical writer.
Projects: Led documentation planning/release efforts for a major product release (approximately 80 books, over 20,000 pages) for a multi-site group of 75 writers, editors, and production staff.
Example projects/titles:

Edited Bookshelf for Siebel eBusiness Applications (electronic product documentation)
Wrote Siebel Documentation Roadmap (winner in the Touchstone 2000 competition sponsored by the Society for Technical Communication)
Wrote the following application development books: Siebel Tools Guide and Siebel Object Types Reference
Wrote the following white papers: What's New in Siebel 7: A Guide for Administrators and Developers and eBiz Implementation of Siebel 7: A Case Study
Developed and delivered in-house training on Siebel Tools

Location: San Mateo, CA.
Business: Software company developing Siebel eBusiness Applications, a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) suite of products.

Portfolio item:

Siebel Documentation Roadmap ( pdf image , opens new window)

Skytide, Inc.

Title/Role: Member of technical staff, reporting to founder/vice president. Information architect, technical writer.
Projects: Designed and created DITA-based product documents built around a comprehensive core vocabulary, and that feature extensive content reuse and tight integration with the Java- and XML-based product software.
Location: San Mateo, CA.
Business: Software company developing the Skytide Analytical Platform, which enables the analysis of nonrelational data using traditional BI (Business Intelligence) techniques without requiring transformation of the data into relational format.

Stanford University

Project: Legacy website and content conversion for the Graduate School of Business.
Location: Stanford, CA.

University of California at Santa Cruz

Project: Taught a workshop (Communicating Effectively Across Culture and Technology) in the International Business Certificate program. The workshop included participants from Denmark, Brazil, Argentina, Thailand, and Japan. The course focused on:

General "culture-bridging" techniques useful in international business situations
Tips and techniques that can be applied to U.S. American business communications like voicemail and email; proposals, memos, and letters; resumes; oral interviews; and group meetings

Content reuse: Material from Communicating Effectively in the Global Marketplace was reused for this course.
Location: Palo Alto, CA.

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