Background update

 Writer, editor, and communicator with a broad base of experience. Some of my recent titles in Lines & Letters (the newsletter of the NEO STC) and related publications include:












Sample Titles 
  • Advanced Digital Gating Operator's Guide (Cardiac Applications)
  • Edge Magnetic Resonance Imaging Application Guide
  • Edge Magnetic Resonance Imaging User's Manual (2-volume set)
  • Effects of Aquatic Therapy and Exercise on Patients with Parkinson's Disease
  • Explicating the Fit of Individual and Environmental Characteristics in Healthcare Information Technology (editing sample, elance)
  • Gerontology. 2004 Sep-Oct;50(5):265-90. (editing sample)
  • Preparing for Your MSI (Magnetic Source Imaging) Exam
  • Recommended Practice for Preparing User Documentation
  • OnCall Physician's Diagnostic Assistant Operator's Guide
  • MRI Spectroscopy User's Manual
  • MSI Presurgical Mapping User's Guide
  • Stratix 6000 Ethernet Managed Switches - Installation Instructions
  • Transmissibility of Chronic Wasting Disease of Elk to Humans (editing sample)
  • Vista Magnetic Resonance Imaging HPQ Operator's Manual (6-volume set)
  • ViStar Medical Imaging Online Help
  • ViStar Medical Imaging Supercomputer Operator's Guide
  • Manufacturing Processes and Production (lecture slides, several modules, elance)

  • Community-based Water Quality Monitoring in the Euclid Creek Watershed
  • CompactBlock Guard I/O EtherNet/IP Safety Modules Installation Instructions (Rev.A)
  • Electrical Grounding Specifications and Practices
  • Encoder/Counter Modules User Manual (Rev. B)
  • Engineering Logbook Specifications
  • Equipment Labeling Specifications and Practices
  • EtherNet/IP Safety User Manual (Rev. B.)
  • Faculty Guide for Recording with Camtasia Relay
  • Foundations of Manufacturing (lecture slides, documentation, processes, assignments)
  • Paint Standard Specification
  • POINT I/O DeviceNet Adapter Installation Instructions (Rev. A)
  • POINT I/O Digital/Analog Modules and POINTBlock I/O Modules User Manual (Rev. D)
  • POINT I/O Terminal Base Installation Instructions (Rev. A)
  • Precautionary Statement Practices and Specifications
  • Process for Secure Remote Proctor Use
  • Recommended Practice for Preparing Service Documentation
  • Reducing Application Guide Costs
  • Specification for CCF Charges between LASTWORD and CEP (CCF)
  • Technical Report Standards
  • Tri-C Title III (http://title3.wordpress.com/ contributor)
  • Web Conferencing: Application Considerations (white paper, Tri-C)
  • Workplace safety/standards courses (sample topics:  compressed gases; gas detection; overhead cranes; work at temperature extremes, transport of dangerous good)
  • White Papers: Support Adoption of Technology and Initiatives (Tri-C)
  • Project Management: Steps that Lead to Project Success (white paper, Tri-C)
  • Web Conferencing: How Technologies Can Help (white paper, Tri-C)
  • Storyboards: Applications in Academic and Instructional Design Environments (white paper, Tri-C)
  • Open Educational Resources (white paper, Tri-C)
  • Tri-C's Dev Ed Math MOOC (editing sample for this online class where Cuyahoga Community College received a grant from the Gates Foundation)
  • Teach for Online Learning (editing sample for the online course--Planning, Teaching, and Managing Your Course--and the 2014 best of show winner in the 2014 NEO STC Technical Communication Competition)
Sample Links
Publications and Presentations
Clients (partial list)
  • School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Department of Pathology - Technical writer for scientific grants (neuroscience and aging related) and National Prion Surveillance Center, including editing (several authors with English as a second language)
  • Cleveland Clinic Foundation (Office of Clinical Interfaces) - Documentation consultant - Provided documentation support for an IT group
  • Cuyahoga Community College - Instructor in Technical Communications certification program (Professional Development Institute, Workforce and Economic Development Division) and Introduction to Computers (Women in Transition Program), technical writer/analyst Office of eLearning and Innovation
  • Philips Medical Systems - Senior Technical Writer, Senior Standards Engineer
  • Rockwell Automation - Senior Information Developer
  • Cunningham Baron - freelance work - various industrial clients
  • Elance - freelance work as a ghost writer for blogs and articles for several clients, completed course development and projects on a variety of topics including health information technology, manufacturing processes, search engine optimization, and project management
    • Digital marketing dimensions for success
    • Responsive web information online and what customers want
    • A different kind of marketer works best today
    • Account management and the marketer today
  • Society for Technical Communication - Articles in Intercom, the magazine of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and Lines and Letters, the newsletter of the Northeast Ohio chapter of STC
Work Background

Philips Medical Systems - Senior Technical Writer - Wrote documentation for medical imaging products including medical imaging workstations, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanners, medical imaging laptop, investigational applications such as advanced cardiac imaging

  • Supported FDA submissions for products such as new MRI systems, medical imaging workstation, cardiac imaging applications, clinical spectroscopy, MEG sources imaging
  • Developed, edited, and produced first-ever applications guides concerning use of medical imaging techniques, working with clinical applications groups and research scientist
  • Developed literature on investigational medical imaging techniques including brain imaging, clinical spectroscopy, brain attack lesion/tissue intensity imaging, and cardiac imaging
  • Designed and produced, as part of a team, two online help systems, one HTML based, for clinical users of medical imaging equipment
  • Wrote departmental style guide, presented writer's workshops, organized and conducted surveys of users of medical imaging equipment
  • Recruited and supervised student interns

Philips Medical Systems - Senior Standards Engineer - Developed technical manuscripts/work instructions/standards

  • Covered subjects including user and service publications (developing a corporate template), technical reports, invention disclosures, patents applications, engineering logbooks, environmental practices, product specification practices, architectural practices, precautionary statement formats, grounding practices, equipment labeling, paint standards, requests for proposals (standardizing the process corporate-wide)
  • Promoted use of international/industry/internal standards as corporate committee chairperson
  • Developed manuscripts by working with inter-company functions such as Engineering, Regulatory Affairs, Law Department, Service, and Information Technology
  • Supported project management initiatives, assisted in project management database administration
  • Provided IT support for web pages on life cycle management, corporate engineering standards, corporate policies and procedures, and enterprise project management (Artemis)
  • Assisted management with development of corporate policies and procedures

Rockwell Automation Wrote documentation for users of factory automation equipment, managing multiple priorities and evolving departmental processes over time

  • Developed conceptual, reference, and task-type technical content elements and entire information products as defined in departmental models and guidelines
  • Worked with a variety of functions and levels of personnel in marketing, engineering, quality, and other disciplines to gather and interpret source information
  • Used the hardware and software product itself to gather information, obtain a customer perspective, and verify that content elements are complete and accurate
  • Worked closely with teams to apply standard analyses to define content elements and design information products according to department model; created/provided oversight on developing graphical elements/illustrations
  • Wrote article with another department member for trade publication describing the content reuse program initiated by the group to include working in task forces and implementing change at a pace where current deliverable commitments were met with success
Cuyahoga Community College, Office of eLearning & Innovation Create technical documentation to support faculty, student, and system needs
  • Learn systems from a user perspective to determine best way to present how to documents
  • Support document management systems
  • Determine best ways to communication information using a variety of modalities
  • Maintain existing and new document with regard to order, clarity, conciseness, priority, style, and terminology
  • Works with subject matter experts to gain undertanding of workflows, processes, and procedures
  • Assists director and process owners with developing documentation requirements including outlines and drafts for review and approval and ensuring documents meet applicable standards
  • Develops well-structured system for managing documents
  • Takes steps to ensure the orderly safeguard of technical documents and communicates the steps as appropriate

Case School of Medicine, Department of Pathology Completed freelance work for several groups including grant and article writing (neuroscience and Alzheimer related) and assignments for the National Prion Surveillance Center (Mad Cow related)


Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Office of Clinical Interfaces Completed freelance work for an IT group

Coursework (Continuing Education)
  • Blended Learning: The Perfect Balance of the Art of Teaching with the Science of Technology
  • Cognition and Learning Theory
  • Human Resource Issues in Technical Communication
  • Information Development Process
  • Interactive Hypermedia
  • Interactive Multimedia
  • Internationalization of Technical Communication
  • Introduction to Instructional Design
  • Introduction to Teaching for Online Learning - Workshop on Enhancing a Course
  • Online Information Development
  • Usability Evaluation Process
  • Introduction to Factory Automation and various related courses
  • MRI Technologist Training
  • Project Management (Baldwin Wallace College)
  • Benchmarking/Customer Surveying/Continuous Quality Improvement Processes
  • Rhetoric and Teaching of Writing (Case Western Reserve University)
  • HTML (certified by Brain Bench)
Course Development Projects (partial list)
  • Bone and joint health (when shoulder and knee surgery is required)
  • Conscious moderate sedation (upwork) 
  • Difficult patients (upwork)
  • EKG interpretation (upwork)
  • Electrical safety for the home and small business (upwork)
  • Emergency room best practices
  • Foundations of manufacturing (elance)
  • HIT Pro exam preparation (elance)
  • Hyponatremia
  • Introduction to technical writing (21 modules, elance)
  • Manufacturing process documentation (elance)
  • Medication regimes related to bone and joint surgery (upwork)
  • MDMA (upwork)
  • New treatment options in rheumatology (upwork)
  • Pre-algebra MOOC (Tri-C/Gates grant funded)
  • Programmable controller basics (upwork)
  • Safe work at temperature extremes (elance)
  • Safe work for agricultural workers (elance)
  • Safe work with box cutters (elance)
  • Safe work with compressed gas (elance)   
  • Safe work with overhead cranes (elance)
  • Teach for online learning (Tri-C/best of show award--NEO STC)
  • Transport of dangerous goods (elance)
  • Understanding learning styles (elance)
  • Workplace violence (upwork)
Computer Skills

  • Adobe Acrobat, Framemaker, and Illustrator
  • Artemis Enterprise Project Management
  • Buffer Social Media Management
  • Blackboard, Cornerstone
  • Corel Office Suite (WordPerfect, Presentations), Corel Draw
  • Frontpage, Unix, SharePoint
  • Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Blogspot
  • MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Access), Powerpoint
  • Visio, Endnote
  • Wordpress
Educational Background

  • M.S., Technical Communication Management, Mercer University
  • B.A., Education, University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana
Volunteer Work
  • Friends of Euclid Creek (scholarship coordinator, secretary)
  • Highland Heights Green Task Force (treasurer, secretary)
  • Lions International (director, web master) 
  • Cuyahoga Community College (Women in Transition) 
  • Cleveland Food Bank (worked on conveyor line)
  • NEO STC (newsletter editor, scholarship coordinator) 

Contact Information

Jeanette Evans
5680 Hawthorne
Highland Heights, Ohio 44143

440 565 7056 (telephone)
jeanette.evans@sbcglobal.net

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Edublogs and Blogs: What Is Good Blogging Today?

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Effective Storyboarding (adapted from the original)
By Jeanette P. Evans, Associate Fellow, and Gillian McKnight-Tutein
How can storyboards help you with your projects and what are the qualities of a good storyboard? This article describes storyboards and how you can effectively use them for your projects.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm25_WNGugk


What is Storyboarding?
One definition of storyboarding is that of a highly interactive, visual process that combines both creative and analytical thinking, also known as “displayed thinking,”, as defined by Grace McGartland of Thunderbolt Thinking. She also notes continues by noting that a storyboard can be a screen-by-screen sequence of frames detailing what learners will see, hear, and/or do during a specific type of experience. Elements of a typical traditional storyboard with multiple elements include:
  • Project information
  • Objectives
  • Audio/narration
  • Video clips
  • Graphics
  • On-screen text
  • Navigation and interactivity
  • Relevant notes
Some basic reasons to use storyboarding include that storyboarding can:
  • Facilitate Facilitating communication within a working team
  • Preventing costly errors
  • Allowing everyone to share ideas
  • Promote Promoting buy-in and consensus
  • Identifying problems before anything is developed
  • Helping to generate new ideas
History of Storyboarding
Leonardo da Vinci was the first person thought to have used formal “storyboarding” in planning his artwork. It is also believed that his rival Michaelangelo also took up the practice. There are earlier accounts of the practice of mapping planned attacks and architecture captured in cave drawings.
Modern use of storyboarding began with Walt Disney and his cartoonists in 1929 with the making of “Steamboat Willie,” the first animated cartoon feature. The visual planning model pioneered and perfected by Disney is used in many other industries today, such as marketing and, instructional design, and of course movie making. It has become an inexpensive way to present ideas and gather valuable input before the final product is created.
An example of how Disney uses storyboarding is at “Finding Lady: The Art of Storyboarding,” at ( http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2412052664775629371).
How We Can Apply a Wide Definition
If we look at Wikipedia, we see a wide understanding of storyboarding. This wide definition shows storyboards as any graphic organizers. This can include a series of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic, or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity.
In terms of adapting storyboards to business, the Wikipedia entry notes that storyboards were adapted from the film industry to business, purportedly by Howard Hughes of Hughes Aircraft. Today they are used by businesses industry for planning ad campaigns, commercials, a proposals, or other projects intended to convince or compel to action.
A “quality storyboard” is a tool to help facilitate the introduction of a quality improvement process into an organization.
One advantage of using storyboards is they that it allows in film as well as business the developer to experiment with changes.
The process of visual thinking and planning allows a group of people to brainstorm together, placing their ideas on storyboards and then arranging the storyboards on the a wall. This fosters more ideas and generates consensus inside the group.
Storyboards in this wider definition can appear in many applications, from books to instructions to proposals to processes. If you want to make an idea understood, a storyboard format, or related presentation such as a flow chart or time line, can help. Placing sticky notes on a wall to show the elements of a project— – a set of instructions or project, for example— – is also a possible form of visual representation or storyboarding. A team can view this and rearrange and discuss elements in a convenient form with this approach. Moore explains a related application, which we can also imagine in an electronic format through a spreadsheet: .
A storyboard is a tool used by teams to write documents. Information needed to create the document is posted on cork boards or walls in a designated room accessible to all team members. In this room, the document grows from outline, to draft, to a thoroughly reviewed, /final document. During its growth, the document can be tracked using a simple flagging system.
Why Technical Communicators Should Use Bother with Storyboards
As described by Wiens, those unsomeone not familiar with storyboards often asks the question, "Why bother?" In response, some benefits as related to design for web-based training WBT courses and other applications designs are that storyboards:
  • Effectively document elements, communicating all components in one document
  • Set a scope
  • Permit a collaborative approach
  • Clearly communicate to all team members
  • Set expectations
  • Save time
  • Mitigate costs
  • Are easy to manage
  • Act as quality assurance

Certain technical communication classes include storyboarding as part of the class. One example is at Purdue University where English 421 (: Technical Writing) lists these steps of storyboarding.:
  1. Find or create a storyboard template that you can use to draft your outline.
  2. Each frame of your storyboard should represent a unique page, a step in a sequence, or some other individual component of your work (such as a PowerPoint or Keynote slide, a keyframe in Flash, or a Web web page).
  3. In each frame, identify your content. Use shorthand to describe the content (including images and audio) that you want to include and approximately where it should be placed.
  4. Add notes to each frame in your storyboard on design, source files, material, and anything else that will help you remember what each frame should contain and how it should be presented.
  5. When you have completed a rough draft of your storyboard, read back through it to see whether it has an order that makes sense and includes the multimedia you want to use. Move frames around as necessary.
Whether your project could use a storyboard to show a group the details of a Webweb-based tutorial, or you are working with a group to define a process, - or you have another project where you need collaboration and visualization, - storyboarding is a creative tool that could be helpful towards achieving successful completion.
References
Moore, S., “Storyboard Tracking.”, Conference Proceedings, Society for Technical Communication, 1997, 482-483.
Wiens, A., “Using Storyboards to Design Web-based Training.” Intercom, September/October 2004 (Sep/Oct 2004):, 10-13.

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Thoughts on White Papers (Excerpt, Lines & Letters)

Ways to get started

Here are some questions to answer to get started in writing a white paper.
  • Why should someone read this white paper?
  • What is the message of the white paper?
  • Who are the target readers?
White Paper Boot Camp at http://www.whitepaperbootcamp.com/
provides ideas about how to approach writing with a 10-step process. Here are the first five steps.
  1. Clarify the topic.
  2. Identify the ideal reader.
  3. Decide on an objective.
  4. Develop an outline.
  5. Interview the experts.
Write as a team: pros and cons

Advantages and disadvantages exist when it comes to writing as a team.

Disadvantages include that the process can:
  • take more time than individual writing
  • lead to interpersonal conflict
  • yield a disjointed document and inequitable workloads
  • lead to thinking that promotes conformity and make an inferior document because no one wants to ask tough questions
Advantages include that the process:
  • draws on a greater knowledge base
  • benefits from a greater skills base
  • can provide a better idea of how the audience will read the document
The primary author of the white paper should weigh the pros and cons and decide what is best (pros and cons adapted from Markel, Technical Communication, St. Martin’s Press).

Recommendations for Jeanette Evans

“Jeanette is a detail-oriented technical writer who is committed to being flexible, nimble and high standards. She has worked with others in the department to co-write and publish articles that are of interest in the elearning industry. She is also a team player and has assisted other departments in their quest to have documentation put in place.”
    Gillian McKnight-Tutein, Assistant Vice President Academic Affairs/Director, Distance Learning at Colorado Mesa University

“I have had the pleasure of serving with Jeanette on the academic relations committee of the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Society for Technical Communication since 2007. Jeanette has volunteered -- without a break in her service -- in a number of capacities with the chapter, and she is able to call on these wide-ranging experiences to benefit the chapter. She has an uncanny ability to lead and to "get things done," but she does so in such an unassuming way. I've enjoyed working with Jeanette to promote the chapter's scholarship and conduct outreach to local technical communications programs. Jeanette is an adept project manager, as well as a dependable team member who never lets me down.”
    Sarah Burke, Co-Manager, Academic Relations Committee, Northeast Ohio chapter for the Society of Technical Communication

“Jeanette is a highly accomplished author, instructor, and mentor. I've had the pleasure of working with Jeanette in the Northeast Ohio chapter of the Society for Technical Communication. She has been a steadfast, dedicated volunteer by organizing conferences, initiating student mentorships and scholarships, and promoting others' accomplishments. She shares her knowledge freely through articles, mentoring, and presenting at conferences. I am always impressed with her dedication and unwavering enthusiasm.”
Tricia Spayer, President, NEO STC, Society for Technical Communication (STC)
"Jeanette was very much a team player and quick study. She was able to successfully get her drafts through the engineering standards review and approval process and cover topics such as user documentation, service documentation, engineering logbooks, environmental standards, and electrical grounding procedures. She also assisted with preparing and managing corporate policies and procecures drafts."
David Peavey , Manager (former), Engineering Standards, Philips Medical

“This project was great from start to finish, the final deliverable was thorough and met all my requirements.”
Elance feedback
  
“Did an amazing job delivering content and milestones ahead of schedule, and working with our team to develop additional details and insights.” Elance feedback (Build and create new web, blog, and instructional content focused on the technical writing space)
"Is great to work with! Always asking the right questions, responds to emails/messages very quickly, and projects are always on time!"
Elance feedback

"This course turned out well and we are appreciative of your work. This was a pleasure to review." Elance feedback
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Storyboard presentation

Click the following to see a short presentation on storyboarding -




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