Hoft has written this book as a product of her research and experience in international technical communication over the last decade. The book is written as a practical guide to the strategies, processes, and techniques for creating information products that will be successful in today’s global marketplace. It focuses on developing the skills, the processes, and the product. It does this via a staccato lecture style of lists and topics. The book is a guide and checklist. It deals only with international issues and considerations in technical communication.
The anticipated audience is writers; editors; technical translators and localization managers; technical publication managers; trainers and technical communication professors; graphics professionals; user interface designers; quality assurance, human factors, and usability professionals; marketers; cross-cultural communication consultants; MIS and engineering managers; international managers and international business leaders; international distributors; and students. Questions that are considered include How does one assess the quality of an information product for an international audience? How does one analyze the information needs of users whose language and culture are different from one’s own? How does one identify cultural bias in one’s writings? How does one design a management strategy for international technical communication projects? and How does one evaluate tools for international technical communication projects?
The book is not a textbook. There are no exercises. It could be a useful reference for students and teachers. The book is probably a seminal work. Its length is appropriate for its purpose and style. The presentation style is adequate for those needing the answers to the questions the book discusses. The writing style is professional, crisp, and understandable. The reader can understand new concepts as they are explained. The index is good and probably usable. The references are adequate given that the book is based on the author’s research and experience. The references are mainly footnotes to current periodicals and the like.
The chapter titles include
The Next Generation
Approaches to International Technical Communication
Management Issues
Performing an International-user Analysis
Identifying Cultural Bias
Design Issues
Creating Core Information
Working with Translators
Writing Issues
Online Issues
Graphics Issues
Tools Issues
Assessing Quality
Toward Concurrence
Appendices include worksheets, a sample international user analysis, and a list of resources for international technical communication. The book covers what it promises. It is up to readers to evaluate its usefulness and how well it fulfills its purpose; there are not many books to compare it with. Although it does apply fairly well-thought-out ideas from linguistics, psychology, communications, and related fields, they are filtered and specific to the new area of international technical communication. The book does not include much computer science. It does include some material on computer information systems.
People in the trenches of international service should find this topical book interesting and hopefully useful. It is interesting to observe what is going on by seeing what is talked about and what is recommended.
