http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Civic A listing of the most recently indexed works about Civic in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Civic http://tc.eserver.org/34427.html http://tc.eserver.org/34427.html Many people—especially youth and the previously disempowered—are learning to use cell phone messages, snapshots and videos as a way to express their political views. Certainly that was being demonstrated by the thousands of young people and others drawn into the 2008 Presidential primary campaign. http://tc.eserver.org/33504.html http://tc.eserver.org/33504.html In situations of potential business change, the cooperation of various direct and indirect stakeholders (i.e., employees, customers, shareholders, neighbors) is crucial. The alternative policy courses may all be reasonable, and yet none of them may be clearly best for all stakeholders; support for an option must be cultivated through public rhetoric. Loci communes and Burkean transcendence are two potent rhetorical strategies that can help business leaders publicly weigh and civilly advocate a policy position relative to competing alternatives. This article develops and illustrates that argument by analyzing the public rhetoric involved in AirTran's attempt to build support for its hostile takeover of Midwest Airlines and Midwest's successful resistance to that attempt. Midwest's deft development of the transcendent term value helped it circumvent the initial deadlock between its preferred loci communes (i.e., the existent and quality) and AirTran's (i.e., the possible and quantity). The article advances a rationale and call for rhetorical scholarship to adopt more situated, social practice views of loci communes and transcendence. http://tc.eserver.org/30043.html http://tc.eserver.org/30043.html In the article, 'A Methodology for Testing Voting Systems' (JUS, November 2006, pp7-21), Selker, Rosenzweig, and Pandolfo discuss their methodology for usability testing of voting systems. With so much at stake in the usability of our ballots and voting systems, we can only applaud any research in this field. There is little history of research in this area, so discussions of test protocols are especially valuable. Unfortunately, although this article sets out to compare 'the relative merit in realistic versus lab style experiments for testing voting technology,' it falls short of this goal. If their point is that real-world testing is important because real election environments add burdens that are not present in lab settings, this conclusion is not supported by any of the work described. http://tc.eserver.org/30045.html http://tc.eserver.org/30045.html This paper compares the relative merit in realistic versus lab style experiments for testing voting technology. By analyzing three voting experiments, we describe the value of realistic settings in showing the enormous challenges for voting process control and consistent voting experiences. The methodology developed for this type of experiment will help other researchers to test polling place protocols and administration. Comparing the results from laboratory experiments with voter verification and realistic voting experiments further validates the procedure of testing equipment in laboratory settings. The methodology and protocol for testing voting systems can be applied to any voting technology. This protocol matches the real-world conditions of voting by replicating them for the experiment. http://tc.eserver.org/28627.html http://tc.eserver.org/28627.html Democracy depends upon trust in public officials; yet, trust in government has been steadily falling as instances of local, state, and federal corruption fill the pages of our newspapers. http://tc.eserver.org/27142.html http://tc.eserver.org/27142.html The Web is not a panacea. If businesses, governments, and other organizations that publish information on the Web don't pay attention, the Web's promise of equal access for all could be fatally undermined by the rush to make Web sites technologically slick and visually exciting. http://tc.eserver.org/27014.html http://tc.eserver.org/27014.html Over the past few decades, we have seen a steady expansion in the number of people who design or evaluate the quality of the user experience of digital products. The popularization of the personal computer in business and at home, the explosion of the Web and Internet applications, and the sudden presence of computer interfaces in everything from medical systems to voting stations to home entertainment centers has greatly accelerated the growth of the user experience (UX) movement. http://tc.eserver.org/26609.html http://tc.eserver.org/26609.html Shortly after Martha Stewart was accused by the government of lying to cover up her sale of Imclone stocks, she set up a web site www.marthatalks.com to tell her side of the story Firestone/Bridgestone and Ford took the same step in the wake of their crisis. These corporations and many others use their web sites to tell their own side of the story in a climate where competing news outlets in their rush to be the first to break a story, may sacrifice accuracy. In this paper, we examine the Internet, both as a crisis “activator” as well as an effective tool in crisis management and communication. We use relevant case studies to support the assertion that if used properly, the Internet can be an effective and proactive crisis communication tool. http://tc.eserver.org/24738.html http://tc.eserver.org/24738.html The UPA Voting and Usability project works to create a better elections process by improving the usability of ballots and voting systems. http://tc.eserver.org/24654.html http://tc.eserver.org/24654.html With government getting more involved with healthcare and organizations collecting information about the risks of some diseases, there is a plethora of information about heath risk that must be made accessible to the general public. http://tc.eserver.org/23873.html http://tc.eserver.org/23873.html Beyond just the undeniable importance of a usable form and voting mechanism, is the need to consider the comfort and satisfaction of voters dealing with sometimes radically changed voting systems, especially when the move is from paper-based voting systems to electronic systems. http://tc.eserver.org/23460.html http://tc.eserver.org/23460.html Technological literacy-meaning computer skills and the ability to use computers and other technology to improve learning, productivity and performance-has become as fundamental to a person's ability to navigate through society as traditional skills like reading, writing and arithmetic. In explicit acknowledgment of the challenges facing the education community, on February 15, 1996, President Clinton and Vice President Gore announced the Technology Literacy Challenge, envisioning a 21st century where all students are technologically literate. The challenge was put before the nation as a whole, with responsibility shared by local communities, states, the private sector, educators, local communities, parents, the federal government, and others. http://tc.eserver.org/21873.html http://tc.eserver.org/21873.html UPA's Voting and Usability project is tracking several important trends toward greater usability in voting technology across the globe: Verified voting, The NIST Voting Symposium, FEC Brochures, Voting Developments in the UK and in the Republic of Ireland. http://tc.eserver.org/21094.html http://tc.eserver.org/21094.html The argument most frequently advanced in the United Kingdom in favour of implementing electronic voting is that it will increase turnout. In the UK, the under-25s tend to avoid voting in elections of any type. Local government and European Parliament elections rank among the worst for turnout (below 40 percent) and demonstrate a continuous downward trend in recent years. http://tc.eserver.org/21093.html http://tc.eserver.org/21093.html It's been two-and-a-half years since we started the Voting and Usability Project. This project started as we all realized with some horror that usability problems in our voting systems could affect the results of an election--effectively disenfranching some voters through the design of the ballot, as Susan King Roth put it in the report on her research. Since then, our interest has expanded into a more general interest in the usability of voting systems and usability professionals can help make voting systems more usable for everyone. http://tc.eserver.org/19455.html http://tc.eserver.org/19455.html To explore the barriers to successful communication about environmental risks, a research project addressed the following questions: what do people understand about the terminology and the graphics used in risk messages? what sorts of communication modes and timing do people prefer? Surveys and focus groups were conducted in two towns to explore the level and types of risk (e.g leaking gas tanks) with which people are uncomfortable. The findings extend the discoveries of other environmental communication researchers: People are confused by regulatory language, they do not trust the government, and they want 'true stories,' credible witnesses, and face-to-face interaction with other stakeholders. http://tc.eserver.org/19454.html http://tc.eserver.org/19454.html FOIA has become an indispensable tool for probing actions of government and the companies and people that come into contact with government. Your catch is only limited by your imagination. http://tc.eserver.org/14387.html http://tc.eserver.org/14387.html This paper introduces a two-part grouping of papers on “Ecological Literacy and Advocacy through Technical Communication.” Both technical communication and environmental rhetoric have historical roots in the professionalization of science and government in the late 1800s. The association of technical communication with “patrons” in industry has limited the roles of technical communicators to purveying ecological literacy within the relatively tight constraints of “risk communication.” But with the blurring of contemporary communication genres and the growth of ecological consciousness, technical communicators may follow science writers into roles more closely associated with environmental advocacy. http://tc.eserver.org/13626.html http://tc.eserver.org/13626.html Technological risk and the process of explaining risks to the public have become major public issues. The mention of Bhopal or Love Canal can provoke emotional arguments--not only about the hazards themselves but also about how they were explained to the public. As new laws, the threat of AIDS, and other factors make risk communication more crucial, officials in government and industry are seeking guidelines on how to communicate effectively and responsibly. This volume offers an approach to better quality in risk communication. The combined insight of experts from government, business, and universities, Improving Risk Communication draws on the most current academic and practical information and analysis. Issues addressed include why risk communication has become more difficult in recent decades, what the major problems are, and how common misconceptions often hamper communication campaigns. Aimed especially at top decisionmakers in government and industry, the book emphasizes that solving the problems of risk communication is as much about improving procedures as improving the content of risk messages. Specific recommendations for change include a Risk Message Checklist and a call for developing a consumer's guide to risk. Appendixes provide additional details. http://tc.eserver.org/11897.html http://tc.eserver.org/11897.html Privacy is a concern to all who use the Internet. This article will examine the different approaches that European and American governments have taken toward Internet privacy.