Introduction

The Internet has become a useful medium for the exchange of information between individuals and businesses (Pitkow, 1997). Despite this, international companies are increasingly monitoring their employees' usage of Internet facilities (Dowling et al., 1999; Reichard, 1998; Walker, 1998). In some cases employees are allowed to have full access to the Internet and its facilities. In other cases, employees are only allowed a simple e-mail account. It is therefore conceivable that technical communicators (TCs) may, in some cases, need to justify their use of Internet facilities to their employer.

While the literature abounds with criteria for determining a "good" website (e.g. Hackos and Stevens, 1997; Nielsen J, useit.com [all linked pages]; Rosenfeld and Morville, 1998; Schriver, 1997; Williams and Dujardin, 1999; Woodland, 1996)) there is little information available to assist one in actually determining the usefulness of the Internet for TCs, per se. Rajani and Rosenberg (1999) discuss the usefulness of the Internet with a focus on the World Wide Web (Web); however, the user subjectively determines usefulness.

This report looks at the usefulness of the Internet for TCs by considering their possible needs and the Internet facilities that may be available to them. Taking into consideration the needs of TCs, as well as the reliability of information and the ease with which it is accessed, criteria are proposed to determine the usefulness of the Internet for TCs. Based on these criteria the TC may then evaluate and if necessary, justify, the usefulness of the Internet in their workplace.

Needs of the Technical Communicator

To evaluate the usefulness of the Internet to TCs, it is important to define their needs (Williams and Dujardin, 1999). My first paper for this course considered the needs of a good TC (Appendix, not provided in this copy of paper). Drawing from this work and that of others (e.g. Burnett, 1997; Coe, 1996; Molisani, 1999; Williams, 1998), one can state that technical communicators need:

• To have good writing and communication skills, including interpersonal communication.
• To be kept up to date on standards in their profession.
• To have the necessary tools and resources to perform their work well.
• To have the necessary skills in using the tools of their trade (software packages, HTML language, etc.)

Thus, for the Internet to be useful to a TC, its usage must result in one of the following:

• Enhancement of writing, general communication and interpersonal skills.
• Provision of updated information on the standards of the technical writing profession.
• Provision of tools and resources that contribute to and improve one's work performance.
• Information that adds to one's software/technical skills in the workplace.

Internet Facilities Available to Technical Communicators

Most people think of the Web when the Internet is mentioned. However, the Web is but one resource available to Internet users. Other facilities accessed via the Internet include personally generated or Listserv generated E-mail, newsgroups (via Usenet), Telnet, and FTP (Swadley, 1994; Williams and Dujardin, 1999). Combined, these facilities enable worldwide communication such as networking, and access to professional information.

Networking can be accomplished through judicious use of e-mail (private or via Listserv) and newsgroups (Archee, 1998, 1999a, 1999b; Cornett, 1998). Networking also facilitates access to professional information, as do other Internet facilities such as telnet, FTP and the World Wide Web (Web) (see for example Appendix B of Coe (1996)).

While some of the literature indicates that the Web is the most useful aspect of the Internet for technical communicators (Williams and Dujardin, 1999), the other Internet facilities should not be ignored.

Telnet and FTP can be useful for transferring large amounts of data. This facility is sometimes impeded, however, in larger companies that utilize "Firewalls" on their servers (Swadley, 1994). Firewalls can also prevent access to certain websites. Some companies now require special permission in order to access newsgroups. For example, my place of work requires special approval for all newsgroup subscriptions. In other cases, utilization of resources via Listserv could be discouraged due to the large volumes of e-mail that are generated. Some companies also monitor Web usage by employees (internal document, J&J Intranet, 1999).

From the business perspective, the bottom line is cost (Blain and Lincoln, 1999; Carliner, 1997). Internet access is limited because employers perceive it as inappropriate - however that may be defined (Reichard, 1998; Walker, 1998). Thus, while the Internet has many facilities that are useful, not all are available in the business situation. Even if an employee has access, that access may be monitored and need to be justified.

In this context, TCs need to evaluate the usefulness of Internet facilities in relation to their needs; this in turn can enable them to justify, if necessary, the usefulness of the Internet in their workplace.

Setting Criteria for Usefulness of the Internet to Technical Communicators

There is little information available in the literature regarding criteria for determining the usefulness per se of information accessed using the Internet. Factors that a TC might consider when determining the usefulness of Internet facilities are the reliability of the information accessed as well as ease of retrieval.

Reliability of Information Available via the Internet

A TC needs to determine if the information accessed on the Internet is both reliable and professionally useful. Nevertheless, the literature on hand has little to say regarding the reliability of information on the Internet. Shuler (1999) provides a checklist for evaluating a website and includes issues related to professionalism, writing and content. Nielsen's study on how user's read on the Web (1997) includes issues related to the reliability of information.

Extrapolating from the work of Shuler (1999) and Nielsen (1997), and taking into consideration the needs of TCs in the workplace, Table 1 proposes criteria for determining the usefulness of Internet facilities. Note that for TCs, reliable content (section B) is not enough in determining usefulness - the content must also meet a TCs needs in the workplace (section A).  Thus, if several criteria are met in section B of Table 1 but only marginally met in section A, the TC might reconsider the usefulness of the information (e.g. cancel a Listserv or newsgroup subscription). Alternatively, if the criteria in section A are strongly met, in conjunction with the criteria in section B, the TC could consider that particular Internet facility and the information accessed to be useful in the business context.

Table 1: Proposed criteria for determining the usefulness of the Internet for technical communicators based on the needs of technical communicators (A) and the reliability of accessed information (B).

Ease of Retrieval

For the purposes of this report, ease of retrieval includes all factors relating to organization and design. The Internet facility most affected here is the Web, thus, discussion of ease of retrieval is limited to this Internet facility.

When considering ease of retrieval, organization and design are of primary importance, as evidenced by the abundance of related literature (e.g. Hackos and Stevens, 1997; Nielsen, http://www.useit.com [all linked pages]; Rosenfeld and Morville, 1998; Schriver, 1997; Williams and Dujardin, 1999; Woodland, 1996). Since Web pages can utilize both hypertext and hypermedia, organization and design of a website go hand-in-hand (Hackos and Stevens, 1997; Rosenfeld and Morville, 1998; Williams and Dujardin, 1999). A Web page designed with only HTML and no additional elements will load within a matter of seconds but may be poorly organized. On the other hand, a page heavy in graphics, scripts, videos or sound clips could take minutes to load yet be well organized. By nature, websites enable organization of information in varieties of non-linear hierarchies (Rosenfeld and Morville, 1998), but if the information is buried deep within a site or inconsistently organized it will be hard to locate. Failure to include good navigational tools in the design of a website, or overuse of color and illegible fonts further impede access to information (Hackos and Stevens, 1997; Rajani and Rosenberg, 1999; Schriver, 1997). A website, then, is only as useful as it is well organized and designed.

Table 2 proposes criteria for judging the usefulness of a website based on ease of retrieval. These criteria are based on the available literature (Reference field of Table 2 ) and are divided into three sections: Section A relates to the needs of TCs, Section B relates to ease of access, and Section C to access time. The positive answers in sections A and B, together with the total access time (Section C) can provide the TC with reasonable criteria for determining the usefulness of the website in the workplace.

Discussion

Judicious use of all Internet facilities may be most useful to a TC. Figure 1 presents an example of how Internet facilities can be used to meet a TC's needs. In this example a TC has received information about a tool (e.g. Java) via a newsgroup. From this point information is accessed in a variety of ways (e-mail, newsgroup, website, FTP), in no set order. However, the ability to meet a need is not the same as usefulness. Tables 1 and 2 therefore presented criteria by which a TC can better determine the usefulness of the Internet in their workplace, based on needs, reliability of information, and ease of information retrieval.

Table 2: Proposed criteria for determining the usefulness of a website based on the needs of a technical communicator and ease of retrieval (organization and design + time to access). The user should enter the number of positive (Yes) criteria in sections A and B, and the total access time (section C) in the fields at the end of the table. The more positive answers in sections A and B, in conjunction with a low access time, the more useful the site to the technical communicator.

*The references listed are representative and not to be considered as exhaustive.

The needs criteria presented in Tables 1 and 2 have some limitations. While the scores provide indicators that a TC's needs are met, and hence of usefulness, actual fulfillment of a need as defined in these tables, requires subjective scoring. Also, the criteria for information reliability in Table 1 are somewhat subjective, and the last three criteria of Section B relate more to professional criteria, than reliability. It is assumed here that meeting professional standards is a reflection of reliability, but this may not be so. The issue of the reliability of information available on the Internet, and how to determine this factor, merits further investigation.

Balanced against these factors is the evaluation of content and ease of access according to professional standards in the literature, and a consideration of the time required to access information on the Internet. By considering usefulness according to these criteria, the TC may discover that the desired information meets their needs and is reliable, but difficulty accessing it in the workplace (too long to download, too hard to read on the computer screen) may well render the information useless.

All of the criteria might be better determined if they were rated, rather than judged by hard yes/no responses. However, calculating the results could be cumbersome and might discourage one from actually trying to use these criteria at all.

Finally, the proposed criteria should be tested by TCs, in order to determine if, indeed, they are an aid in determining overall usefulness in the business context.

Conclusion

Evaluation of the usefulness of the Internet for TCs must take into consideration their actual needs and the Internet facilities available to them, as well as the reliability of information, and the ease in which it is accessed. In today's business context, the TC must also consider company policies that monitor and/or restrict use of Internet facilities.

This report has not attempted to evaluate the usefulness of Internet facilities as a whole, but rather discuss usefulness from the perspective of a TC in the business context. To that end, criteria, based on the literature (see Table 2) were proposed for evaluating the usefulness of Internet facilities to TCs.

This report indicates that the definition of usefulness per se and the determination of accuracy of information available on the Internet merit further exploration.

The criteria offered in Tables 1 and 2 have not been tested. Many of the criteria require subjective judgment. Nevertheless, they provide an initial guide that could be used by TCs to evaluate the usefulness of a particular Internet facility. Having evaluated usefulness in this manner, the technical communicator may be better able to justify their use of Internet facilities in the business context.

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