Communication

Communication Aids, part 2

This page provides links to useful resources and tools for communicators. Note: All links going to other Web sites will open in another window if you have Javascript turned on. Otherwise, they will open in the current browser window.

Not all items have been put in a category yet but they are included in alphabetical order. Discover something new!

Writing and Editing Aids for Authors

Answers to Question: "What is Communication?"
Answers to Question: "How Can I Become a Technical Writer?"
Answers to Question: "What Are Some Good Reference Books?"
Audio-Forum —alphabetical list of language resource publishers
Alumni Net find old friends from high school and college
Amazon.com's Technical Writing books
ARA Content a feature article distribution service (mat service)
Association for Computing Machinery, Inc. Special Interest Group for DOCumentation (ACM SIGDOC)
alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb
Avoid using jargon in scientific and technical writing Robert Day's jargon replacement list
Awards
- Clio advertising awards
- Oscar movie awards
- Emmy television awards
- Tony theater awards
Biography Center search engine with 10719 biographies (5362 biographies in English) in several languages.
Biography find search engine with 25,000 of the greatest names, past and present, at your fingertips
Biography Information Guide
BookManager IBM's electronic documentation solution for electrifying reading
Bookstores online
- Amazon.com Books
- O'Reilly Books the animal books
- Powell's Books
- Reiter's Scientific and Professional Books
Books Online
- Bartleby Library from Adams to Yeats
Books on tape
- Audio Books on Compact Disc, Inc. audio books and spoken word recordings in many subject areas, in compact disc format
- Books on Tape sales and rentals of unabridged audio books
- Recorded Books, Inc. unabridged audiobooks: best-sellers, mystery, history, romance, biography, suspense, and classics
BookWire Best Bets Index with a link to insults from Shakespeare
British Library's Online Information Server
Calendars
- Browntrout
- Sornami (only works in IE)
Chomskybot foggy, semantic mumbling
Center for Plain Language
Clarity an international association promoting plain legal language
Common Errors in English Usage plus spelling differences between British, Canadian, and American English and non-errors
ComTech Dr. JoAnn Hackos
Competition
- Art Deadlines list a list of competition, contests, call for entries and papers, grants, fellowships, jobs, and internships in the arts or related areas (painting, drawing, animation, poetry, writing, music, multimedia, journalism, cartooning, dance, photography, video, film, sculpture, and so forth)
- Competitions Around the World
- International Association of Audio Visual Communicators (IAAVC) the International CINDY (Cinema in Industry) Competition
Copyrights
- CANCOPY Canadian copyright laws
- Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. — CCC Online
Community Networking
- Association for Community Networking
- Community Informatics Research Network (CIRN) Inc.
- Community Networking Movement
- Writers.com an online community for writers of all ages, interests and skill levels. Anyone may create a free portfolio and exchange feedback with other writers.
Creative Thinkers discussions on thoughts, literature, living, creativity, writing & media
Data Powers of Ten
Dialectizer
- Convert any Web page to Pig Latin
- Valley Girl
Dialogue and Prose Generators
- Automatic Complaint Letter Generators
- Lorem Ipsum
- Lorem Ipsum in different languages: Esperanto, German, Old English, Icelandic, Morse Code, Spanish, etc.
Definitions: Dictionaries
- British to American dictionary —available the 1st week of each month
- British, Canadian, and American Vocabulary
- Computer dictionary with a searchable index
- Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE)
- Dictionary of Symbolism
- DoD Dictionary of Military & Associated Terms
  - DoD Dictionary of Military Terms PDF format
- DoD Electronic Library
- Engineers Edge engineering definitions from acoustic to welding
- e-word definitions
- Global Glossary Collection Sun Microsystems, Inc.
  - Glossary of Java Related Terms
- Hacker's Jargon
- Hyperdictionary: Medical Dictionary
- IBM Glossary and Terminology consolidates the terminology from many IBM products and services in one convenient location
- Insurance Jargon
- Latin Dictionaries
- Marketing Glossary for Internet marketing and advertising
- MedlinePlus Dictionary
- MedlinePlus Encyclopedia
- Merriam-Webster Online dictionary, encyclopaedia, and thesaurus
- Military Definitions
- New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Glossary
- OneLook Dictionaries
- Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Word of the Day
- Photonics Dictionary is a comprehensive reference of terms, words, definitions, illustrations, industry abbreviations, acronyms, symbols, of optics, lasers, imaging, fiber optics, electro-optics and optoelectronics.
- Printing Glossary
- Promotional Items Glossary
- Reverse Dictionary can't think of the word? Enter the definition to get a list of words
- Semantic Rhyming Dictionary
- Systems and Software Engineering Vocabulary (SEVOCAB) from the IEEE Computer Society offers current terminology for software and standards developers, engineers, and students
- TechEncyclopedia define IT terms
- TECHtionary an animated technical dictionary
- Telecommunications: Glossary of Telecommunication Terms; Federal Standard 1037C
- Wordsmyth English Dictionary-Thesaurus
- Word Spy devoted to lexpionage, the sleuthing of new words and phrases
Definitions: Reference Resources
- Acronym Finder over 125,000 acronyms/abbreviations from all subjects, with a focus on computers, technology, telecommunications, and the military.
- Antagonyms
- BABEL: A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms
- HighBeam Library Research research without legwork
- Encyclopedia of Banking & Finance
- Filename extensions
- HomeworkSpot a free homework information portal that features the very best reference and news information for K-12 students
- IBM Globalization Resources links to global Web statistics, country/region information, currency, population growth, and languages
- Internet Public Library
- Latin Abbreviations commonly used by writers
- Latin Abbreviations compiled by the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO)
- Latin Lookup —is a search-box where users may search for Latin-to-English and English-to-Latin terminology and phraseology in the most widely used Latin words and expressions from legal and scientific jargon.
- Lookup —is a search-box where users may either search for terms in a database of over 1,300 dictionaries, encyclopedias, and glossaries in 50 languages.
- Library of Congress Online Catalog
- Noise in the Communication Process learning tool from the University of Wisconsin by Rosie Bunnow
- PeopleSpot an information resource about people
- Translating Dictionaries
  - 24 Languages translating dictionaries
  - Dictionarist is a free online multilingual and talking dictionary service which can provide translation in English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Russian, Turkish, Dutch, Greek, Chinese, Japanese and Korean.
  - German-English translating dictionary
  - " The Awful German Language" by Mark Twain
  - Mega Converter convert Roman stadia to inches and more
  - Spanish Medical Translations
  - Word2Word —Language Dictionaries and Translators
- Units of Measurement
- Units of Measurement Converter
- Visual Thesaurus
- Whatis?com the most current IT-related words
- A.Word.A.Day provided by Wordsmith.org
- Yahoo! Reference Libraries
Editing
- American Copy Editors Society
- Editing and proofreading tips
- Editorial Resources a great list of Canadian and American resources for writers and editors
- Editorial Experts, Inc. (EEI)
English Language
- English as a Foreign Language (University of Sussex Language Institute)
- English Grammar FAQ
- English Language Reference provided by UsingEnglish.com
- ESL/EFL/TESL/TEFL Links Pages (Many TESL/TEFL/TESOL/ELT Links)
- ESL vocabulary quizzes for foreign students
- Etymology of Names
Francis Ford Coppola's Zoetroppe Magazine with online writing workshops
Grammar Hotlines in the USA and Canada
GrammarLogs (Q&A about English grammar from 1994-current year): http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/grammarlogs.htm
Guide to Grammar and Writing: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/
Greeting Cards and party supplies
- Electronic greetings
- Gift wrap – Sally Foster 50% of sales are donated to the school of your choice.
- Paper Catalog
- Pomegranate art and greeting cards, calendars, posters, and bookmarks
- Party Block
HTML Writer's Guild
ID Blog an information design weblog
IEEE Professional Communication Society (IEEE PCS)
iLoveLanguages (formerly the Human-Languages Page)
Information Process Maturity Model (IPMM) Quiz
Test the maturity of the publication products in your organization.
IUPUI University Library Reference and Research Tools
Labels
- Guide to Common Home Laundering & Drycleaning Symbols
Foreign Languages
- Foreign Languages for Travelers
- Language and Linguistics
- Learn Spanish in Peru - travel to Lima and learn Spanish at El Sol, who offers six levels to study Spanish, homestay, volunteer opportunities, and more.
Libraries
- Library of Congress
- Literary Arts WebRing
- Literary Criticism
- Literary Search Engine selective literary search engine about authors and poets
- Science and Technology Virtual Libraries
- University of Maryland's Book Collection for faculty and staff only
- The Vintage Library a specialty bookstore featuring a unique selection of hundreds of paperbacks, collector's editions, e-books, magazines, fanzines, and other formats that captures the spirit and excitement of the early to mid 20th century world of fiction.
Marketing and PR Sources Online
Multimedia Search find movie trailers, itunes, music, and more
Old-Time Radio Digest
The Paley Center for Media examines the intersections between media and society.
Palindromes in alphabetical order
Plain Language Action Network
Plain Language Association INternational (PLAIN)
Public Relations and Event Announcement Resources
- EventCrazy.com
- Public Relations services from Gebbie Press mailing label database of TV and newspapers, etc.
Publishers' Catalogues & Book Sources
Purdue's Online Writing Lab
Quotations
- Bartlett's Familiar Quotations
- QuotesDB
- World of Quotes
Reference desk
Resources for Technical Writers
Rubber stamps
- Stampington & Company
Society for Technical Communication (STC) headquarters
- STC Washington, DC - Metro Baltimore Chapter
Style Guides
- Citation Style Guides
- The Elements of Internet Style
- Elements of Citation compares MLA, Chicago, and APA citation styles
- Elements of Style
- Beyond the AP Stylebook: Language and Usage Guide for Reporters and Editors from Ragged Edge Online
- MLA Documentation Guides
- MIL-SPEC and MIL-STANDARD resources
- Military Specifications, Standards and Related Publications—DoD's Single Stock Point
Technical Writing:
- Documentation Samples and Templates
- CMS Watch
- Docsymmetry; Become a Great Technical Writer even if you are not a great writer. Information for writers and managers about what technical writers need to know.
- Technical Writing: A Practical Approach Sixth Edition Companion Website
- Teaching Technical Communication Journals list
- Timelines Database: Who, What, Where
- Keep up with Tina the Techwriter and other office characters from Dilbert.com
- Washington Independent Writers
- Writer's Almanac, The a daily program of poetry and history hosted by Garrison Keillor
- Writer's Block Tips
- The Writer's Center
- Writer's Resource Center
- The Writers' Source
- Writing Abstracts
- Writing Argumentative Essays tutorial
Washington Speakers Bureau for celebrity speakers
Technical Tools & Resources
See also Art, drama, and literature

WDC-MB Exclusives

Chapter Information

Partners & Sponsors

Current Partnerships

Annual Conference

STC Connections

Research Tools

Local Information

Site Information

Communication

Communication Aids, part 2

Writing and Editing Aids for Authors

Related Links