Martha J. Kolman-Davidson
236 West Portal #143
San Francisco, CA 94127
(415) 648-4232
editrix@nemasys.com
www.nemasys.com/editrix/portfolioSummary
Senior technical writer and editor with over 20 years of experience, initially as a software engineer, then as a technical publications manager. Areas of expertise include document set architecture and FrameMaker template design; editing documents from other writers for precision, completeness, and consistency; and describing complex software from the perspective of both new users and seasoned developers.
Technical Background
Operating Environments
- Windows NT, 2000; UNIX (SunOS/Motif, Solaris/OpenLook, QNX); MacOSİ7.x- 9.x
Publishing Software
- FrameMaker, WebWorks Professional, Adobe Acrobat, RoboHELP, RoboHTML, Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, DreamWeaver, FrontPage, PageMill; Perforce, ClearCase, Visual SourceSafe, Canterbury
Graphics Software
- Paint Shop Pro, Visio Professional, FullShot; xv, SnapShot, ImageTool
Programming Languages
- C, XML, Java, Pascal
Areas of Technology:
- Data modeling and mapping for semantic interoperability
- J2EE application servers for Enterprise JavaBeans and Web components
- Object-oriented software development tools for client-server applications
- Natural language processing as a front end to relational databases
- Text processing and typography
- Text-to-speech and telephony
- Structured programming and design
Accomplishments
As a Senior Technical Writer:
- Designed, wrote, and indexed user guides, reference manuals, tutorials, quick reference guides, and online help for a variety of technologies.
- Designed and built sample applications to illustrate concepts being documented.
- Designed and implemented single-sourcing strategy, using conditional text and shared source files.
- Created context-sensitive help systems using both WinHelp and HTML help.
- Consistently met projected deadlines, often ahead of the development team.
- Performed peer edits and served as mentor for new writers.
As a Technical Publications Manager:
- Managed documentation projects with teams of 3-5 writers.
- Hired writers, including two interns; edited documents; and coordinated the publication process.
- Wrote documentation plans and maintained aggressive project schedules.
- Designed FrameMaker templates, wrote style guides, and converted documentation sets to use new templates.
As a Software Engineer:
- Designed and coded custom applications, using messaging for inter-task communication.
- Wrote system design documents specifying both the user interface and the functional flow.
- Installed systems and trained users at customer sites.
- Designed user interfaces for a variety of environments, including character-based terminals, voice, and Xwindows GUI applications.
Experience
Senior Technical Writer, Modulant Solutions, San Francisco, CA (5/01 to 11/02)
- Created technical publications department from scratch, from initial template design to a comprehensive documentation plan and three major releases of an eight-volume documentation set.
- Wrote user and reference documentation for the Modulant Contextia interoperability platform, including a user's guide for mapping application data sets to an abstract representation and a Java API developer's guide.
- Reviewed training materials for accuracy, completeness, and consistency with the product documentation.
- Performed quality assurance testing as part of the writing process.
Tools
FrameMaker, WebWorks Publisher, Adobe Acrobat, Visio, and Paint Shop Pro on Windows 2000
Senior Technical Writer and Chief Toolsmith, Persistence Software, San Mateo, CA (12/99 to 4/01)
- Documented command-line tools and XML-based configuration files for the PowerTier application server for Java 2 Enterprise (J2EE) applications.
- Designed and maintained document templates for both FrameMaker and WebWorks mappings to HTML.
- Performed technical, developmental, and copy edits for other writers, and supervised the production process.
Tools
FrameMaker, WebWorks Publisher, Adobe Acrobat, Visio, and Paint Shop Pro on Windows NT
Senior Technical Writer, Sterling Software (originally Synon, Inc.), Larkspur, CA (1/96 to 11/99)
- Wrote online help and reference material for pattern libraries of reusable business objects for COOL:Plex (originally Obsydian), a Windows-based client/server application development tool.
- Designed sample models and build simple applications as examples of using various class library objects.
Tools
FrameMaker, RoboHELP, RoboHTML, Adobe Acrobat, Visio, and Paint Shop Pro on Windows NT
Contract Technical Writer, AirTouch Communications, Inc., Walnut Creek, CA (6/95 to 12/95)
- Designed and wrote end-user guides for UNIX-based client-server software for cellular telephone networks.
- Participated in graphical user interface design and tested the software on Sun SPARCstations using Solaris with OpenLook.
Tools
FrameMaker, Quadralay WebWorks Lite on MacOS; xv, SnapShot, and ImageTool on Solaris
Personal Sabbatical (7/93 to 6/95)
Senior Technical Writer, RATIONAL, Santa Clara, CA (3/92 to 7/93)
- Designed page layouts, built new templates, and wrote style guidelines for manuals for UNIX-based objectoriented CASE tools.
- Converted Ada Reference Manual to FrameMaker hypertext format for online viewing.
- Reviewed menu structure and dialog box design for X11/Motif-based graphical user interface.
Tools
FrameMaker and FrameViewer for SunOS and X-Windows/Motif
Technical Publications Manager, Natural Language Inc., Berkeley, CA (7/90 to 1/92)
- Redesigned multi-volume documentation set; wrote and produced new manuals for Natural Language, a plainEnglish interface to UNIX relational databases.
- Participated in user interface design for the Intelligent Connector, an interactive tool for developing Natural Language applications.
- Created documentation plans and maintained aggressive schedules for two major releases, coordinating the work of four other writers.
Tools
FrameMaker for SunOS and X-Windows/Motif
Senior Technical Writer /Project Lead, Interactive Development Environments, San Francisco, CA (1/90 to 6/90)
- Wrote and edited manuals for UNIX-based object-oriented CASE tools.
- As project lead, created and maintained project plan and schedule for Ada Development Environment documentation.
- Proposed and implemented reorganization of documentation set.
Tools
FrameMaker for SunOS and X-Windows
Technical Publications Manager, Evans & Sutherland Computer Division, Mountain View, CA (4/88 to 1/90)
- Created and managed a three-person technical publications department, which produced an eight-volume set of UNIX/Mach documentation for the ES-1 supercomputer.
- Developed detailed documentation plans and schedules, hired writers, edited documents, and coordinated the publication process.
- Designed standard page layout using FrameMaker on a Sun workstation and wrote style guide.
Tools
FrameMaker for SunOS and X-Windows
Technical Publications Lead /Software Engineer, Computer Aided Systems, Inc., Point Richmond, CA (2/86 to 4/88)
- Designed and documented custom software for a large material-handling application written in C under the QNX operating system.
- Supervised three-person technical documentation team and trained a technical writing intern.
- Wrote design documents specifying both the user interface and the functional flow for each system module.
Tools
WordPerfect and Ventura Publisher for MS-DOS, running as a subprocess under QNX (real-time PC UNIX)
Software Engineer, Speech Plus, Inc., Mountain View, CA (6/84 to 1/86)
- Designed and wrote custom text-to-speech and telephony applications, including the user interfaces.
- Designed, edited, and supervised the production of the CallText 5100 User's Guide and Reference Card.
Tools
SuperWriter word processing software; QNX development environment for C coding
Software Engineer, Sorcim Corporation, San Jose, CA (12/82 to 4/84)
- Designed and implemented enhancements to the spelling checker module of the SuperWriter word processor, and coded a compression scheme for help text for the SuperCalc3 spreadsheet.
Tools
Pascal; 8080 and Z-80 assembly language, for both CP/M and MS-DOS
Graduate School (9/80 to 9/82)
Software Engineer, Quadex Corporation, Cambridge, MA (4/79 to 9/80)
Tools
QPL, a proprietary C-like high-level assembly language on PDP-11 machines
Education
Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA
Bachelor of Arts, Mathematics and Philosophy (1978)
Yale University, New Haven, CT
Master of Arts, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Literatures
Northwest Semitic Philology (1982)Professional Development