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Catherine A. (Hampton) Jefferson

964 E. Badillo St., PMB #233 * Covina, CA 91724 * +1 (626) 476-0086 * champton@devsite.org

Objective

A position as a technical writer that will allow me to use my extensive background and wide-ranging skills to produce electronic and printed documentation for a high tech, healthcare, or scientific research institution.

Availability

• Currently available only for short-term, part-time contracts, either remotely or in the Los Angeles, California area. (I am currently employed full-time.)

Summary of Qualifications

• Experienced Technical Writer and Editor. I have been writing and editing technical documentation for the high tech, healthcare, and electric and gas utility industries for over fourteen years.
• I write clear, coherent prose.
• I know how to gather information on technical subjects from engineering and product development documents, interviews with product managers, engineers, and others who know the product, and hands-on use and testing of the product.
• I have written several book-length technical documents from scratch, including API documents and other highly technical material intended for an engineering or other technical audience, as well as documents intended for end users and non-technical audiences.
• I have performed detailed edits of documents written by other technical writers and researchers, in some cases documents with multiple authors, to produce a final document that is technically accurate and reads smoothly.
• I am thoroughly familiar with Adobe FrameMaker and Microsoft Word, and have written book-length documents and developed templates using both programs.
• I have developed single source document sets in FrameMaker, using FrameMaker's variables, conditional text, and referencing capabilities.
• I have a good working understanding of high tech industry, healthcare, and electrical engineering concepts, acquired on the job from engineers, medical researchers, and scientists working in these fields.
• I understand programming concepts, and read and understand code written in JavaScript, PERL, and Unix shell script. To a lesser extent, I also read and understand Visual Basic, C and C++.
• I am a competent technical illustrator with a good grasp of where an illustration will help a user understand what I am describing, and a touch for developing simple, clear conceptual artwork.
• Experienced WWW Site Developer. I have been developing WWW sites for the high tech, healthcare, and electrical and gas power industries for seven years. In addition to my skills as a technical writer, I bring the following skills to my web development work:
• I have strong design skills, and understand how to organize information on a computer screen so that users will be able to find the information they need without wasted time.
• I write HTML, DHTML, CGI using Perl and Unix shell scripts, and JavaScript.
• I know and use Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, CorelDraw, and other common graphics programs.

Related Experience

Lead Technical Writer
CITRIX SYSTEMS, APPLICATION NETWORKING GROUP, Sunnyvale, CA
November 2005-present

• Develop and write documentation for ANG firewall-related products. Citrix Systems, Inc. acquired Teros in November 2005, and is integrating the former Teros line into their Application Networking Group (ANG) product line. I am responsible for tracking this process closely, developing and producing appropriate electronic and printed documentation for the new integrated products.
• Maintain the legacy Teros documentation. During the rebranding of the Teros APS to the Citrix Application Firewall in May 2005, I updated the documentation with the new company and product names. In addition, I updated the documentation with information on new and improved product features.
• Assist with other ANG documentation as needed. I documented the Rewrite feature and thoroughly edited other documentation for the ANG NetScaler 7.0 product release in August 2006.

Principal Technical Writer
TEROS, INC., Sunnyvale, CA
February 2002-November 2005

• Wrote the Teros APS Installation and Administration Guides from the ground up, and maintained and expanded these documents through three years of product releases. To do this, I interviewed the product design team, reviewed existing engineering and technical services documentation, and then installed and used the APS product.

The APS is a specialized type of firewall called an application-level firewall that sits between a company's web servers and their router or main firewall to the Internet. Installing and using it requires significant technical background.

• Designed the FrameMaker templates used for writing print documentation, electronic documentation, and online help. This required extensive work designing a look and feel for the documentation that harmonizes with the company's logo and marketing collateral, but is also appropriate for technical material. I set up appropriate styles, chose fonts, and set up the HTML tables to output the documentation to the correct format for web-based help.
• Set up and maintained documentation archives containing all past final versions of the Teros documentation, and beta versions of documentation currently being written or revised. I wrote a web interface for the documentation, and set up and hosted the archive on the Intranet.
• Produced most technical and conceptual artwork used within Teros.

Senior Technical Writer (Contract)
CLOSEDLOOP SOLUTIONS, INC., Redwood City, CA
August 2000-July 2001

• Developed online help for three web-based financial applications using a combination of Adobe FrameMaker+SGML, Photoshop, and HTML authoring tools. The online help provided an introduction to each product, step-by-step procedures for performing business and administrative tasks, a list of frequently asked questions, an extensive glossary, animated java-based tutorials, and release notes. This required learning to use each product and testing it extensively, and working with product managers, development engineers, quality assurance engineers, technical and expert services, and customer education to obtain product information and to review the documentation.
• Developed single source documentation system using Adobe FrameMaker+SGML. This involved developing a number of FrameMaker templates with tightly coordinated styles and macros.
• Developed and implemented procedures for producing online help, since Closedloop had no previous technical writers on staff.
• Edited and occasionally wrote material for Marketing and other departments as needed.
• Developed templates for use in Marketing and Product Management in Microsoft Word 2000.

Senior Technical Writer
SIEBEL SYSTEMS, San Mateo, CA
April 1999-July 2000

• Thoroughly revised the Siebel Installation Guide, an approximately 500-page manual that explains how to install Siebel Enterprise Applications, Siebel Systems' core product line. This required interviewing various software engineers who wrote the installers for the Windows NT and Solaris operating systems, obtaining information from Marketing Requirements Documents (MRDs) and other internal documentation, performing a series of installations on different hardware platforms, and managing documentation reviews, all on a demanding four-times-yearly release cycle.
• Thoroughly revised the Siebel Upgrade Guide, an approximately 120-page manual that explains how to upgrade Siebel Enterprise Applications.
• Thoroughly revised the Siebel Marketing Guide, an approximately 350-page manual that explains how to install, use, and configure Siebel Marketing, Siebel Systems' business analysis and campaigns software.
• Built a single source document encompassing four different versions of the Siebel Marketing Guide, with conditional text tags and variables that allowed several books to be edited and produced from one set of FrameMaker files.
• Wrote the first edition of the Siebel eScript Guide, an approximately 120-page reference to Siebel Systems' implementation of the JavaScript scripting language.
• Wrote the eMarketing chapter to the Siebel .COM Applications Guide, an approximately 40-page chapter describing how to set up and use Siebel's eMarketing application.

Senior Technical Editor and Webmaster
VARIAN ASSOCIATES, Oncology Systems, Palo Alto, CA
January 1995-February 1999

• Wrote and revised VARiS Link Programming Guide, an approximately 300-page API guide which explains how to use the SQL programming routines built into VARiS^®, Varian's flagship information systems product.
• Reviewed and edited technical documentation for a range of Varian hardware and software products, including Varian's Clinac^® linear accelerators (high and low energy).
• Wrote and edited service technical bulletins (STBs) for Varian service personnel in the field, and customer technical bulletins (CTBs) for Varian customers.
• Developed and maintained Oncology Systems Images and Presentations CD-ROM, and worked with various contractors and outside partners on other CD-ROM products. This included OncoSource^TM, an Oncology treatment database reference product produced in collaboration with Mayo Clinic and the University of Rochester.
• As webmaster, developed original World Wide Web site for Oncology Systems and maintained it for four years, though annual interface upgrades and constant updates to the information on the site. Designed site, developed graphics, wrote text, developed HTML pages, and implemented on Sun Sparc server running SunOS and, later, Solaris.
• Managed alpha- and beta-test of Interwoven TeamSite^TM web production and version control system.

Technical Writer and Technical Editor
PACIFIC GAS & ELECTRIC COMPANY (PG&E)
Research & Development, San Ramon, CA
January 1992-December 1994

• Research Associate for Distributed Utility Valuation Project, a multi-million dollar collaboration between PG&E; the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado; the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI); and Pacific Northwest Laboratories (PNL) in Richland, Washington.
• Research Associate for Solar and Distributed Technologies group.

CATHERINE HAMPTON CONSULTING, Walnut Creek, CA
1990-1992

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY SHERIFF-CORONER/Martinez Detention Facility, Martinez, CA
1989-1990

Education

• Bachelor of Arts in German Literature, 1983. Reed College, Portland, Oregon.

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Last modified on Thursday, October 23, 2008 at 8:40 AM PDT.