The range of roles performed by technical communicators during the systems development process was identified and published from a 1997 survey of Australian technical communicators. Follow-up case study research investigated the development of 20 information systems. The research sought to quantify the technical communicator's contribution from the external viewpoint of developers and users. The paper describes the major findings from this research. The results support the 1997 survey findings that technical communicators do contribute positively to information systems development. The results quantitatively demonstrate that users are significantly more satisfied with computer systems where technical communicators are involved in the development process.

The profession of technical communication is difficult to define in scope, and the work performed by its members is even more difficult to quantify. The work crosses many disciplines and the skills needed to effectively undertake these tasks are broad. In the area of systems development, technical. Communicators have the skills to perform many tasks, especially those related to human factors, and yet much of their contribution goes unrecognized. A recent survey of Australian technical communicators sought to more clearly identify their work in the area of systems development; this paper presents and discusses the results of that survey.

Business information systems are usually written and presented in English, with graphics designed from a western cultural perspective. Online help and error messages are likewise written and displayed in English. To exploit global marketplace opportunities, business systems must be designed to accommodate a range of cultural conventions, with printed documentation and online help translated into local languages. The paper discusses major considerations in the translation of online documentation from English to Chinese. It describes the particular approach taken by one major software company and evaluates its efforts from the users' perspective.

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