Growth of the Technical Writing Profession  

This article, reprinted from the January 1958 issue of the STWE Review (the quarterly journal of the Society of Technical Writers and Editors, one of STC's parent organizations), examines the state of the technical communication profession in the late 1950s.

Rathbone, Robert R. Intercom (2002). Articles>TC>History

Herbert Spencer's Philosophy of Style: Conserving Mental Energy    

My article traces the development, chronicles the impact, and explains the essence of Herbert Spencer's "The Philosophy of Style" (1852). Spencer's essay has had a significant influence on stylistics, especially in scientific and technical communication. Although in our generation Spencer's contribution to stylistics is not widely remembered, it ought to be. His single essay on this subject was seminal to modern theories about effective communication, not because it introduced new knowledge but because it was such a rhetorically astute synthesis of stylistic lore, designed to connect traditional rhetorical theory with 19th-century ideas about science, technology, and evolution. It was also influential because it was part of Spencer's grand "synthetic philosophy," a prodigious body of books and essays that made him one of the most prominent thinkers of his time. Spencer's "Philosophy of Style" carried the day, and many following decades, with its description of the human mind as a symbol-processing machine, with its description of cognitive and affective dimensions of communication, and with its scientifically considered distillation of the fundamental components of effective style. We should read Spencer's essay and understand its impact not so much because we expect it to teach us new things about good style, but precisely because: 1) it's at the root of some very important concepts now familiar to us; 2) it synthesizes these concepts so impressively; 3) we can use it heuristically as we continue thinking about style; and 4) it provides a compact, accessible touchstone for exploring--with students, clients, and colleagues--the techniques of effective style for scientific and technical communication. Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler [1, p. 314]. . . . the fewer the words are, provided neither propriety nor perspicuity be violated, the expression is always the more vivid [2, p. 333]. However influential the precepts thus dogmatically expressed, they would be much more influential if reduced to something like scientific ordination. In this as in other cases, conviction is strengthened when we understand the why [3, pp. 2-3]. The psychology of language reception is still very imperfectly understood [4, p. 77].

Hirst, Russel. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2004). Articles>TC>Theory>History

The Heritage of American Heritage

The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2000, is a massive, 2074-page volume with fascinating articles on the roots of the language and current usage. The First Edition appeared in 1969, only eight years after the Merriam-Webster Third New International Dictionary  aroused a storm of protest that resounds to this day. Philip Gove, Webster’s editor, had reduced the number of entries from 600,000 to 450,000, but included 100,000 new definitions, many attached to words like beatnik. He had also used sources like Art Linkletter and TWA timetables, maintaining that not all language is formal. He had decreased use of the 'slang' label and banished 'colloquial' entirely, relying instead on quotations that gave a feel for words in context. Gove was denounced as 'permissive.' He had even included ain’t in the dictionary (with a note 'disapproved by many'). A New Yorker cartoon depicted a Merriam-Webster receptionist responding, 'Dr. Gove ain’t in.'

Bush, Donald W. Lore (2002). Articles>Language>History

The Heritage of the American Heritage Dictionary  

Bush explains the history of the American Heritage Dictionary and discusses how the dictionary has evolved from its first edition, published in 1969, to its fourth, published in 2000.

Bush, Donald W. Intercom (2002). Articles>Language>History

Review: The Hidden History of Information Management

What strategies has society employed to collect, manage, and store information, even with the constant threat of oversupply, and still make this information accessible and meaningful to people over time?

Goodman, Bob. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Articles>Reviews>Information Design>History

His Master's Voice: Tiro and the Rise of the Roman Secretarial Class    

The foundation for Rome's imperial bureaucracy was laid during the first century B.C., when functional and administrative writing played an increasingly dominant role in the Late Republic. During the First and Second Triumvirates, Roman society, once primarily oral, relied more and more on documentation to get its official business done. By the reign of Augustus, the orator had ceded power to the secretary, usually a slave trained as a scribe or librarian. This cultural and political transformation can be traced in the career of Marcus Tullius Tiro (94 B.C. to 4 A.D.), Cicero's confidant and amanuensis. A freedman credited with the invention of Latin shorthand (the <em>notae Tironianae</em>), Tiro transcribed and edited Cicero's speeches, composed, collected, and eventually published his voluminous correspondence, and organized and managed his archives and library. As his former master s fortune sank with the dying Republic, Tiro s began to rise. After Cicero's assassination, he became the orator's literary executor and biographer. His talents were always in demand under the new bureaucratic regime, and he prospered by producing popular grammars and secretarial manuals. He died a wealthy centenarian and a full Roman citizen.

Di Renzo, Anthony. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2000). Articles>TC>Government>History

A Historical Look at Electronic Literacy: Implications for the Education of Technical Communicators    

This article investigates the ways in which a subset of technical communicators acquired electronic literacy from 1978 to 2000, a period during which personal computers became increasingly ubiquitous in the United States in educational settings, homes, communities,and workplaces. It describes the literacy autobiographies gathered from 55 professionalcommunicators participating on the Techwr-l listserv, focusing on the large-scaletrends that these autobiographies reveal. To supplement the findings from these autobiographies,the authors conducted face-to-face interviews with four case-study participants:a faculty member, a professional communicator, and two students of differentbackgrounds majoring in technical communication. The article concludes with observationsabout the development of technical communication instruction in the twenty-firstcentury.

Selfe, Cynthia L. and Gail E. Hawisher. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2002). Articles>History>Online

Historical Patterns in the Scholarship of Technology Transfer  

Offers an historian's view of the development of the scholarship about technology transfer over the past half century, interweaving two primary threads. First, it identifies events and circumstances that have influenced and shaped real-world efforts to move technology in its many guises across boundaries— national, geographic, institutional, organizational, social, or otherwise. These historical situations have had a profound impact on the efforts of American policymakers and leaders in business, government, universities, and nongovernmental organizations who deal with technology transfer. These circumstances have produced significant changes of emphasis in the definition of technology transfer at different points in time.

Seely, Bruce E. Johns Hopkins University (2003). Articles>TC>History>Technology

A History of Copyright in the United States

Since the Statute of Anne almost three hundred years ago, U.S. law has been revised to broaden the scope of copyright, to change the term of copyright protection, and to address new technologies.

Association of Research Libraries (2003). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>History

History of Modern Technical Writing

Technical writing has been around since the first technical writer, Cro-Magnon man, was drawing on cave walls. However, most experts would agree that the golden age of technical writing started with the invention of the computer. Here are some of the major milestones in technical writing history over the past 60 years.

ProEdit (1996). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>History

An History of Outlining (and STOP)

The STOP teams brilliant practical approach to outlining also looks forward to a number of activities that have become more convenient thanks to electronic outlining software--collaborative work on organization, visual display of a verbal structure, an iterative process of research, outlining, and drafting focused on the same document, and the large organizations need for standard templates defining the structure of generic modules. In these ways, the STOP team are forerunners for practices that even today are avant garde.

Price, Jonathan R. DITA Users (1999). Articles>Information Design>Methods>History

A History of Plain Language in the United States Government

Awareness of the need for clear language isn't new in the US government.

Locke, Joanne N. PlainLanguage.gov (2004). Articles>History>Writing>Minimalism

The History of Weblogs

Weblogs are often-updated sites that point to articles elsewhere on the web, often with comments, and to on-site articles.

Winer, Dave. Weblogs.com (2003). Articles>Web Design>History>Blogging

How to Communicate with Employees During War

On 19 March a war with global implications began between a U.S.-led coalition and Iraq. Although some organizations will be affected by this war more than others, the articles below will help any communicator address certain immediate internal and external organizational war-related communication issues.

Davis, Alison. Communication World Bulletin (2003). Articles>Business Communication>Workplace>History

HTML Museum: Font and Page Size

I want to spend some time on a series of articles on web design usability practices. I call this series, the HTML Museum. I hope to update it with articles that address past web design practices and why they are no longer in use.The first exhibit deals with font, text and page size.

Lanier, Clinton R. sense and usability (2008). Articles>Web Design>Typography>History

In the Year 2054...  

Speculates about what the future will hold for technical communicators.

Martin, Maurice. Intercom (2004). Articles>TC>History

Information Architecture: From Craft to Profession

Teaching information architecture as a profession in the process of being born, author and educator, Earl Morrogh, in his new book, 'Information Architecture: An Emerging 21st Century Profession' places information architecture in an historical context analogous to the history of architecture.

Morrogh, Earl. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Information Design>History

January 15, 2002, through April 15, 2002  

This report covers specifications, standards, and amendments received from January 15, 2002, through April15, 2002.

Bach, Claudia. Intercom (2002). Articles>History>TC

Joseph D. Chapline: Technical Communication's Mozart  

Presents a biography of Joseph D. Chapline, noting his role in the founding of IRE-PGEWS.

Malone, Edward A. IEEE PCS (2008). Articles>History

July 1, 2000, through August 31, 2,000  

This report covers specifications, standards, and amendments received from July 1, 2000, through August 31, 2000.

Bach, Claudia. Intercom (2000). Articles>History>TC

July 15, 2001 through October 15, 2001  

This report covers specifications, standards, and amendments received from July 15, 2001, through October 15, 2001.

Bach, Claudia. Intercom (2002). Articles>History>TC

Keeping Tabs

The original tab signaled an information storage revolution and helped enable everything from management consulting to electronic data processing.

Tenner, Ed. Technology Review (2005). Articles>User Interface>Information Design>History

Kill the 53-Day Meme

One frequently finds newspaper or magazine articles about the Internet or the World Wide Web stating that the number of servers on the WWW is doubling every 53 days, 'according to a source at Sun Microsystems.' Well, I am that source, and I don't believe the 53-day estimate any more.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (1995). Articles>Web Design>History