#27181
#30998
404 File Not Found: Citing Unstable Web Sources 
Researchers, including students, must accommodate to the mutating character of hyperlinks on the World Wide Web. A small study of citations in three volumes of BCQ demonstrates the phenomenon of 'URL rot,' the disappearance of sites cited in the sample articles. Digital technology itself is now being used to create pockets of permanence, but with the understanding that preservation of content is only one ingredient in the mix of media and format migration. Databases like JSTOR offer digitally preserved copies of many scholarly journals. Online journals and search engines may offer their own archives. In general, researchers should cite digital articles in databases where possible and consider avoiding references to online journals with print editions.
Griffin, Frank. Business Communication Quarterly (2003). Articles>Research>Style Guides>Online
#29152
The Added Value Features of Online Scholarly Journals
Online scholarly journals have become an important tool for the generation of knowledge and the distribution and access to research. The purpose of this article is to analyze the features of online scholarly journals and to determine whether they incorporate new Internet-enabled features and functions which help to meet the needs of the members of the scholarly community more effectively. Drawing on Taylor's concept of added value [1], the features of online scholarly journals were classified into the following types: features which enhance ease of use and facilitate access to data, features that provide selected information and thus reduce noise, features which improve quality, features which address specific user needs, and features which contribute to time or cost savings. The analysis revealed that, although some online journals operate in the same way as print journals, there are others which incorporate innovative features which are transforming the journal to make it a more effective tool for scholarly activity.
Luzón, María José. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2007). Articles>Research>Publishing>Online
#18539
Aggregated Article Databases: Research Beyond the Internet 
Introduces aggregated article databases—searchable collections of magazines, newspapers, and journals—and explains their relevance to the research work of technical communicators.
Sheffield Hulick, Jennifer L. Intercom (2003). Articles>Research>Online
#18817
Analysis of Tools Used in the UK by Technical Communicators
During March and April 2003, Cherryleaf carried out an online survey into the current trends in technical communication. One of the questions we asked was: Which software tools do you personally use to do your job? The respondents were able to select more than one tool from the list provided. We filtered our results to find the most popular software tools used by technical communicators in the UK.
Cherryleaf (2003). Articles>Research>Software>United Kingdom
#31979
The Application of Rhetorical Theory in Managerial Research: A Literature Review
Recent management research imports rhetorical scholarship into the study of organizations. Although this cross-disciplinarity is heuristically promising, it presents significant challenges. This article interrogates management's use of rhetoric, contrasting it with communication studies. Five themes from management research identify how rhetoric is used as an organizational hermeneutic: The article demonstrates that management research conceptualizes rhetoric as a theory and as an action; as the substance that maintains and/or challenges organizational order; as being constitutive of individual and organizational identity; as a managerial strategy for persuading followers; and as a framework for narrative and rational organizational discourses. The authors argue that organizational researchers who study rhetoric characterize persuasive strategies as managers' most important actions.
Hartelius, E. Johanna and Larry D. Browning. Management Communication Quarterly (2008). Articles>Management>Research>Rhetoric
#25683
Professionally our methods of transmitting and reviewing the results of research are generations old and by now are totally inadequate for their purpose.
Bush, Vannevar. Atlantic Monthly (1945). Articles>Collaboration>Research>History
#30714
Beyond Google: How Do Students Conduct Academic Research?
This paper reports findings from an exploratory study about how students majoring in humanities and social sciences use the Internet and library resources for research. Using student discussion groups, content analysis, and a student survey, our results suggest students may not be as reliant on public Internet sites as previous research has reported. Instead, students in our study used a hybrid approach for conducting course-related research. A majority of students leveraged both online and offline sources to overcome challenges with finding, selecting, and evaluating resources and gauging professors' expectations for quality research.
Head, Alison J. First Monday (2007). Articles>Education>Research>Online
#30717
Beyond Google: How Do Students Conduct Academic Research?
This paper reports findings from an exploratory study about how students majoring in humanities and social sciences use the Internet and library resources for research. Using student discussion groups, content analysis, and a student survey, our results suggest students may not be as reliant on public Internet sites as previous research has reported. Instead, students in our study used a hybrid approach for conducting course-related research. A majority of students leveraged both online and offline sources to overcome challenges with finding, selecting, and evaluating resources and gauging professors' expectations for quality research.
Head, Alison J. First Monday (2007). Articles>Education>Research>Online
#31600
Regardless of the cause for your company’s resource crunch, focus on getting small wins as often as possible throughout your involvement in a project. This is a fairly common piece of advice that crops up time and time again, but it’s very much worth repeating. And it applies just as readily to both situations where time is short and those when there’s just not enough of you to go around.
Baty, Steve. UXmatters (2008). Articles>User Experience>Research>Methods
#20117
Bring the lnternet into Your Documents on Budget and on Time
Technical communicators can mine the Internet for fresh approaches and information to prepare documents with efficiency and minimal expense.
Murphy, Avon J. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Information Design>Research
#31622
Budgeting for Communication Research
To determine what amount to budget, discuss with an outside consultant the ballpark ranges for the types of research you want to conduct. Use the high-end numbers, plus estimated expenses, as your first budget recommendation. After the budget is approved, ask the consultant for a written, detailed proposal that will match the final amount that was allocated.
Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (1999). Articles>Management>Financial>Research
#25659
Building Web-Based Scholarly Communication Forums
Scholarly communication is the root of scientific progress. Research on how to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the scholarly communication system is being carried out worldwide, particularly with respect to electronic journals which can and should be constructed as communication forums. Refereeing new contributions for these forums is a major means for their quality control and for the acceptance of the new media. We have implemented a web-based electronic refereeing system for an electronic journal (RIS - Review of Information Science) whose many value-added features are described in detail. Faster communication and enhanced interactivity between referees, editors and authors will be achieved by the use of this Web based electronic refereeing system. In order to ease access and browsing, articles already published will be integrated and managed in a database-based open hypertext system, in this case in KHS (Konstanz hypertext system). Finally, we describe the advantage of a real time communication system for authors, referees, editors and the domain-specific public. Further research will focus at improving the communicative features of this preliminary web-based communication forum and at evaluating it from a user point of view.
Kuhlen, Rainer and Zhongdong Zhang. ISRDP in Digital Libraries (1997). Articles>Research>Community Building>Social Networking
#29214
The CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication: A Retrospective Analysis
This article presents the history, purposes, outcomes, and significance of the CCCC Outstanding Dissertation Award in Technical Communication during its first five years. It analyzes the topical areas and research methods of the 34 dissertations nominated for the award from 1999 to 2003, as well as the evaluations of the judges. Methods of the nominated dissertations are interpretive (41%) and empirical (59%), but many dissertations combine methods. In the empirical category, qualitative methods (17) outnumber quantitative methods (3). The most frequent topical areas are workplace practice (8), rhetoric of the disciplines (7), and information design (6). Topics that are not widely investigated include issues of race and class and international communication.
Selber, Stuart A. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>Research>TC>History
#21244
Communicating About Scientific Research Over the Internet: A Case Study
University communicators specializing in science and technology are making increasing use of Internet resources to supplement traditional methods of producing and publishing their work. These resources include electronic mail; the text-only interface called Gopher; and, most recently, the World Wide Web. This paper describes some of the specific ways that communicators are using these Internet tools. It also includes a list of advantages and disadvantages that we have discovered in our work at the Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) and seen at other technological institutions. These 'lessons learned' may benefit our counterparts who wish to begin or enhance their organizational 'presence' on the Information Superhighway.
Davis, Nancy E., Mark Hodges and Leigh F. McElvaney. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Scientific Communication>Research>Online
#24581
Competitive Analysis: Are you Gathering Information or Intelligence?
Finding online information about your competitors is easy--The difficult part is finding meaning. When researching the competition, you can avoid pitfalls by seeking 'intelligence' instead of 'information.'
Janisch, Troy. Icon Interactive (2004). Articles>Research>Business Communication
#14231
A Computing Research Repository: Why Not Solve the Problems First?
The Computing Research Repository (CoRR) described by Halpern is potentially a powerful tool for researchers in computing science. In its current form, however, shortcomings exist that restrict its value and that, in the long term, might strongly undermine its usefulness. Important aspects that have insufficiently been taken care of are (1) the quality and consequently the reliability of the material stored, (2) the still restricted submission of material,which implies that other sources have to be consulted by researchers as well, (3) the still unsound financial basis of the project, and (4) the confusion that may easily arise when a preliminary version is stored in the CoRR, while a different final version is published in a journal.
van Loon, A.J. Journal of Computer Documentation (2000). Articles>Knowledge Management>Research>Online
#25722
Crafting a User Research Plan, Part II
The most difficult part of setting up a schedule for your user research plan is integrating it into the existing development system.
Kuniavsky, Mike. Adaptive Path (2003). Articles>Usability>Research
#22930
This essay summarizes the editor's views of publication in the field of human-computer interaction. Digital technologies have begun changing the way journal articles and conference papers are produced, reviewed, published, accessed, and used. This period of profound change presents challenges and opportunities for both new and existing channels of scientific and technical communication.
Grudin, Jonathan. ACM TOCHI (2004). Articles>Research>Publishing>Online
#31786
Cruel Theory? The Struggle for Prestige and Its Consequences in Academic Technical Communication
Some struggles for prestige in academic technical communication are self-defeating and wasteful because of the clash between the material (or positive-sum) economy of the workplace and the positional (or zero-sum) economy of the academy. Some professors of technical communication create disrespect for themselves and their specialities because they create degrading representations of working people and their artifacts, they promote impossible standards, and they advance discredited or misleading theories. More profitable approaches to gaining prestige for academic technical communication include recognizing that not everyone can be the top person in the positional economy, studying works on the economics of prestige, and promoting the genuinely good works that already exist in academic technical communication.
Moore, Patrick. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2008). Articles>TC>Research
#31619
Cultural Differences And Research
Before conducting research beyond your own country’s borders, it’s important to consider a number of cultural differences that have significant implications for the success of the research. Angela Sinickas outlines some potential issues to consider.
Sinickas, Angela D. Sinickas Communications (2005). Articles>Research>International>Cultural Theory
#30423
Current Research: An International Perspective
Research provides the basis for technical communication practices. Such research, conducted in the United States, is readily available to STC members through the Proceedings, Technical Communication, and other technical communication journals. However, research being performed in other countries is not so readily available to those in this country who may need it.
Warren, Thomas L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Research>International
#30424
Current Research: STC's Research Program
This interim report shows that the research program sponsored by STC in its publications is becoming more annecdotal each year, relying less and less on research for support of its generalizations.
Warren, Thomas L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Research>STC
#30883
Data Mining and Predictive Analytics, Part 1
The cluster analysis process looks for groups of visitors in the data, where the people within the groups have something in common but the commonality is different from group to group.
Mason, Neil. ClickZ (2007). Articles>Web Design>Research>Log Analysis
#30884
Data Mining and Predictive Analytics, Part 2
In part one of this series, I examined visitor segmentation, a data-mining technique. Now, let's look at how data mining can be used to understand important visitor behavior over time.
Mason, Neil. ClickZ (2007). Articles>Web Design>Research>Log Analysis
