Steve Burnett

Steve Burnett

Technical Writer | Information Developer

Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina Area

Past

see less...

13 more...

Education
  • North Carolina State University
  • North Carolina State University
  • North Carolina State University
Recommended
Steve has 20 recommendations 20 people have recommended Steve
Connections
154 connections
Industry
Information Technology and Services
Websites

Steve Burnett’s Summary

I am a technical writer with a background in system administration located in the Research Triangle Park area of North Carolina. I have developed documentation for various systems management applications including Tivoli, Opsware, and HP products, as well as multiplatform application suites such as SAS. I have authored, co-authored, or edited several books on operating systems and related topics.

Much of my work has been writing task-based procedural documentation. Working as a system administrator helped me understand how best to write for a reading audience of system administrators, and writing such baseline books as Mac OS X Panther in 10 Steps or Less kept me aware of audiences with other backgrounds and levels of experience.

I helped found the technical social networking groups Internetworkers, TriLUG (Linux), and TriJUG (Java) here in the Research Triangle Park area in the mid-1990s, I served on the NC System Administrators Steering Committee for eight years, and I also maintain a website of Technical User Groups in RTP.

I perform improvisational music and create sound art under the name Subscape Annex, working in the areas of ambient soundscapes, field recording and phonography using analog electronics and signal processing. I also volunteered at WXDU-FM (Duke University, Durham NC) from 1998 to 2009.

If I can contribute to a new or existing project, let me know.

Steve Burnett’s Specialties:

task-based procedural documentation, interviews, information architecture, structured documentation, Internet applications, systems administration, systems integration, SGML, XML, usability testing, user research, interaction design, question analysis, Linux, OS X

Steve Burnett’s Experience

  • Information Developer

    Hewlett-Packard

    (Public Company; HPQ; Computer Hardware industry)

    November 2007 — April 2009 (1 year 6 months)

    (HP acquired Opsware effective November 2007.)
    Created install, user, and administration guides for HP SAR (Service Automation Reporter, formerly Opsware OMDB) and HP Live Network (formerly TON) on Linux, Solaris, VMware, and Windows platforms. Sole author and documentation project manager for OMDB 1.0 (another author also contributed to the 1.0.2 release), SAR (7.0, 7.50), and HP Live Network connector (1.0 to 1.30). Performed Web QA for the HP Live Network Portal.
    Tools: FrameMaker 7, WebWorks, ClearCase, subversion, RapidSVN, Eclipse, Bugzilla, HP Quality Center, Collabnet, BIRT Report Designer, WebEx, Microsoft SharePoint.

  • Senior Technical Writer

    Opsware

    (Public Company; OPSW; Computer Software industry)

    January 2007 — November 2007 (11 months)

    Created install, user, and administration guides for Opsware OMDB (Operational Management Database) and TON (The Opsware Network) on Linux, Solaris, and Windows platforms. Worked with Technical Support on content management system selection and setup. Hired into HP as part of the acquisition of Opsware.
    Tools: FrameMaker 7, WebWorks, ClearCase, subversion, Bugzilla, Quality Center, Collabnet, BIRT Report Designer, WebEx.

  • Technical Writer

    SAS

    (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

    November 2005 — January 2007 (1 year 3 months)

    (Contract through Apex Systems)
    SAS Technical Support: Internal and external documentation, including assisting engineers preparing for patent applications.
    Tools: SAS, SIRIUS, SOS.
    SAS R&D: Internal and external documentation, primarily internal white papers for SAS R&D.
    Tools: SAS, WebLogic, Xythos, SQL.

  • Systems Administrator

    SAS

    (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

    March 2005 — September 2005 (7 months)

    (Contract through Apex Systems)
    SAS Solutions: Provided Linux, Windows, Solaris, and HP-UX server system administration, technical support, and internal training for an ASP (application service provider) team. Developed internal procedural documentation for the system administration team, assisted in project management.
    Tools: Linux, Solaris, Veritas NetBackup, puTTY, vi, Hummingbird Exceed, Atlassian JIRA, Visio, Big Brother (system/network monitor), PERC.

  • Technical Solutions Manager

    IBM

    (Public Company; IBM; Information Technology and Services industry)

    August 2003 — December 2004 (1 year 5 months)

    (Contract through Analysts International)
    Researched and developed documentation for IBM Director, IBM Remote Deployment Manager, and IBM ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit systems management applications on Linux and Windows 2000. Sole author of the IBM ServerGuide Scripting Toolkit documentation. Managed documentation teams on a project basis.
    Tools: FrameMaker 7, Frame2000, ID Workbench, CMVC, Lotus Notes, Visual SlickEdit.

  • Author

    Self Employed (Self-employed)

    (Self-Employed; Writing and Editing industry)

    1995 — 2004 (9 years )

    Author or Co-author:
    Mac OS X Panther in 10 Steps or Less, Wiley. 2004.
    Mac OS X Bible, Jaguar Edition, Wiley. 2003.
    Windows 2000 and UNIX Integration Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill. 2000.
    Special Edition: Using Linux, Fifth Edition, Que. 1999.
    Special Edition: Using Linux, Fourth Edition, Que. 1998.
    Windows NT Backup and Recovery, Osborne/McGraw-Hill. 1998.
    Windows NT and UNIX Integration Guide, Osborne/McGraw-Hill. 1997.
    Netscape Navigator 3 Starter Kit (PC), Que. 1996.
    Netscape Navigator 3 Starter Kit (Mac), Que. 1996.
    Netscape Navigator 3 Starter Kit, Que. 1996.
    Special Edition: Using Netscape 3, Que. 1996.
    Special Edition: Using Netscape 2, Que. 1995.
    Client/Server Programming with RPC and DCE, Que. 1995.

    Technical Editor:
    Ball, W., Teach Yourself Linux in 24 Hours, Que. March 1998.
    Gunter, D., and J. Tackett, Special Edition: Using Linux, Third Edition, Que. 1997.

  • System Administrator

    webslingerz Inc.

    (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

    September 1999 — December 2001 (2 years 4 months)

    (Consulted part-time June 1996 to hiring in September 1999.) Provided Macintosh, Linux, Windows and Solaris system administration and technical support including DNS, mail, web, application server, router, and firewall administration. Managed a writer team authoring the online help for the smartASK online survey tool. Responsible for usability testing, cross-browser compatibility (created testing setup), bug tracking, other development and QA testing issues for smartASK web survey tool. Co- authored client proposals.
    Tools: Linux, Macintosh OS, Apache, bind, Oracle, Cisco IOS.

  • Documentation Developer

    SAS

    (Privately Held; Computer Software industry)

    February 1998 — September 1999 (1 year 8 months)

    (Contract through AdvaCon / Advanced Concepts)
    Created internal online documentation for core SAS libraries and APIs, working directly with the C and C++ source code. Sole author of the SAS/ACCESS Interface to [SAP] R/3 Usage and Reference Guide, Release 2.0, First Edition, both printed documentation and online help. Also tested and QA'd online help for the SAS System for the V8 beta release.
    Tools: SAS 7, SAS 8, HP-UX, vi, C, C++.

  • Senior Systems Test Engineer

    GTE Government Systems

    (Public Company; GTE; Defense & Space industry)

    July 1997 — February 1998 (8 months)

    (Contract through TechAid)
    Developed systems test procedures for the ISYSCON integrated communications network management system. Assisted publishing test procedures and status reports.
    Tools: Solaris, Remedy ARS, Interleaf.

  • Course Developer

    Tivoli

    (Public Company; IBM; Computer Software industry)

    November 1996 — July 1997 (9 months)

    Developed training courses for the Tivoli Management Environment (TME/10) systems management environment. Authored the Installation and Configuration of TME/10 five-day training course for UNIX and Windows system administrators. Assisted in developing Tivoli's education program curriculum.
    Tools: TME/10, TME scripting, FrameMaker, Solaris, vi.

  • Information Developer - System Administration

    BSG

    (Privately Held; Information Technology and Services industry)

    April 1996 — August 1996 (5 months)

    (BSG acquired Imonics in 1996.) Wrote installation and operation manuals using FrameMaker for system, network, and database administrators of client/server transaction processing systems on Solaris networks. Helped design an SGML-based documentation database system.
    Tools: FrameMaker, ForeHelp, DCE, CDE (Common Desktop Environment), DocBook.

  • Documentation Developer

    Imonics

    (Information Technology and Services industry)

    September 1995 — April 1996 (8 months)

    (Contract through HSI)
    Authored several task-oriented online help guides and printed-format procedural guides for end-users of custom client/server medical billing systems on Solaris and DCE. Defined corporate online help development procedures and trained other writers in online help authoring. Assisted the Editing and Standards Department in defining corporate documentation standards. Conducted usability testing of user interface designs. Wrote an online tutorial for HTML frames development for the Documentation Group.
    Hired fulltime at expiration of contract.
    Tools: FrameMaker, ForeHelp, DCE, CDE (Common Desktop Environment), DocBook.

  • Escalation Control Group

    AT&T

    (Public Company; T; Telecommunications industry)

    October 1994 — August 1995 (11 months)

    (Contract through AT&T, part-time October 1994 to May 1995, full-time thereafter.) Defined and documented AT&T's PersonaLink (Tier I & II) electronic mail network Help Desk procedures using Remedy on an HP-UX network. Trained Tier I staff in Help Desk procedures. Defined customer usage policy for the PersonaLink and WorldNet networks. Debugged hardware and software issues involving the Motorola Envoy, Sony Magic Link, General Magic’s Magic Cap operating system, and the AT&T PersonaLink network.
    Tools: FrameMaker, Remedy, vi, Magic Cap operating system.

  • Technical Editor

    RTware

    (Information Technology and Services industry)

    January 1993 — May 1995 (2 years 5 months)

    Designed, wrote, edited, published, and maintained complete documentation set (multiple volumes, approximately 900 pages) and online help for the ControlCalc programmable logic controller (PLC) emulator development environment. Developed and implemented a QA testing program for the development environment.
    Tools: MS Word, OS/9 and OS/9000 operating systems, vi, G-Windows (X-Windows clone).

  • Instructor

    Wake Technical Community College

    (Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

    September 1994 — November 1994 (3 months)

    Created and taught a ten-week course in the classroom on artificial linguistics, (Continuing Education Department, Foreign Languages section). Tools: MS Word, PageMaker.

  • Report Writer

    Entropy Environmentalists

    (Information Technology and Services industry)

    January 1992 — December 1992 (1 year )

    Wrote and edited air emissions quality test protocols and reports.
    Tools: MS Word, Windows.

Steve Burnett’s Education

  • North Carolina State University

    M.S. , Technical Communication , 1989 — 1991

  • North Carolina State University

    B.A. , History , 1984 — 1989

    Archaeological fieldwork in the Middle East on the Limes Arabicus Project, El-Lejjun Roman Legionary fortress, Kingdom of Jordan, summer of 1987.

    Activities and Societies:
    judo (team), archery

  • North Carolina State University

    B.A. , Economics , 1984 — 1989

Additional Information

Steve Burnett’s Websites:

Steve Burnett’s Interests:

information architecture, Internet technologies, social networking applications, field recording, improvisational music, audio processing, typography

Steve Burnett’s Groups:

USENIX, SAGE, ISSA, TriUPA, Leonardo/ISAST, HASTAC, SLSA, SOTA, TriJUG, TriLUG, IGDA

  •    International Game Developers Association
  •    Triangle Linux Users Group
  •    Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)
  •    Technical Writing Professionals
  •    USENIX Association
  •    SAGE: The USENIX SIG for Sysadmins
  •    North Carolina State University Alumni Group
  •    Scrum Practitioners
  •    The Maven Group
  •    Refresh - Promoting design, technology,and usability.
  •    Triangle Tweetup
  •    Social Carolina
  •    Social Media Today
  •    User Experience
  •    Tweeple
  •    Linking Raleigh, NC
  •    HP Connections
  •    Opsware Professionals
  •    North Carolina Systems Administrators
  •    TriJUG
  •    Science Communicators of North Carolina (SCONC)
  •    Innovation in RTP Speaker Series
  •    RTPconnected
  •    TechShop Durham
  •    TriangleTech Connect
  •    Linked Local in the Greater Raleigh, NC
  •    TriangleNetwork

Steve Burnett’s Honors:

Emergency Medical Technician (1992-2000)

Multi-Vendor Distributed Network Management Training (IBM/Tivoli) March 1997

SAS 9.1 Foundation Hands-On Training for Multiple Machines (SAS 9.1.3 Foundation/BI Server Platform Installation and Configuration) May 2006

Seminars/Conferences:
Presenting Data & Information with Edward Tufte, 30 January 2004

Infosecon (ISSA) 2007, 2008, 2009

Pushing Boundaries in Information Visualization, RENCI, 13 September 2008

Effective (UI) Prototyping, Todd Zaki Warfel, 15 September 2008

Reboot Your Work (GTD/43 Folders), Matthew Cornell, 13 January 2009

Computer Management Group Southern regional conference, 24 April 2009

Triangle Game Conference, 29-30 April 2009

Sketching for Interaction Design, David Malouf, 24 June 2009

Summer XML 2009 Conference

Modeling Concepts: New IA Techniques for a Web 2.0 World, Dan Brown, 8 September 2009

DITA Conference, September 2009

Steve Burnett’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

  • career opportunities
  • consulting offers
  • new ventures
  • expertise requests
  • reference requests
  • getting back in touch

View Full Profile

Public profile powered by: LinkedIn

Create a public profile: Sign In or Join Now

View Steve Burnett’s full profile:

  • See who you and Steve Burnett know in common
  • Get introduced to Steve Burnett
  • Contact Steve Burnett directly

View Full Profile