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>Collaboration>Community Building>Online

Business Communication: Managing Information and Relationships

In many ways, the history of human civilization chronicles the increasing centrality of communication. Communication establishes relationships and makes human organization and cooperation possible. Whether you recognize it or not, you have no choice but to communicate. If you try to avoid communicating by not replying to messages, you are nevertheless sending a message, but it may not be the one you want or intend. When you don’t say yes, you may be saying no by default—and vice versa. The only choice you can make about communication is whether you are going to attempt to communicate effectively.

Bowman, Joel P. Western Michigan University (2004). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration

Business Lessons, Italian Style  

Martin shares the intercultural tips and tricks he has learned during his thirteen years of working in Italy, and discusses how they contrast with his business experiences in America.

Martin, Brian. Intercom (2006). Articles>Collaboration>Regional>Italy

But I Don't Know Anyone: Networking 101 for Introverts

'But I don't know anyone is a common response when I give people the advice to build their professional networks. What they really mean is 'I don't know anyone who can give me a job.' This protest and response is missing the point. Networking is not justabout finding work. It's about building a professional network of peers who keep in touch on a professional level, who can help each other out from time to time, share pertinent information, and keeping your mind in shape.

Hamer, Emma C. Hamer Associates. Careers>Collaboration>Community Building

Buxom Girls and Boys in Baseball Hats: Adolescent Avatars in Graphical Chat Spaces  

This paper explores the types of avatars adolescents use in graphical chat spaces and how gender is represented in these avatars. Content analysis found that adolescents predominately utilize publicly available avatars depicting drawn images of Caucasian human forms. Specifically it was found that females adopt postures that indicate subordination to others, while males display psychological withdrawal from the actions around them. The influence of gaming and fantasy is seen in male avatar selection.

Scheidt, Lois Ann. Indiana University (2004). Articles>User Interface>Collaboration>Gender

By the Water Cooler in Cyberspace, the Talk Turns Ugly

Thousands of message boards for individual companies have emerged over the last few years, creating a window on what some employees feel but never say publicly. Often the view through this window is rather ugly.

Abelson, Reed. New York Times, The (2001). Careers>Workplace>Collaboration>Online

Can Academic Partnerships in Technical Communication Work?: Lessons from Minnesota  

Interuniversity partnerships are widely encouraged as a way for public universities to pool increasingly scarce resources, to minimize duplication of academic programs, and to cooperate rather than compete. Joint programs in technical communication have not been widely studied, but they seem especially logical for several reasons.

Black, Suzanne. CPTSC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Education>Management>Collaboration

Can Collaboration Help Redefine Usability?    

A collaborative knowledge space would provide great value to the usability community. In particular it would: Help define the field and give it a presence that provides professionals and the public with a single source for theoretical, practical and speculative information about usability; encourage the integration of research and practice; invite colleagues in related fields to participate and share their perspectives; serve as a platform to advance our understanding of collaboration and knowledge management tools. Most of the tools needed to implement a collaborative knowledge space are already available and there are a number of related activities already underway that could feed into this project. It would be a great deal of work but I believe it would also yield a great deal of benefit.

Kreitzberg, Charles B. Journal of Usability Studies (2006). Articles>Usability>Collaboration

The Care and Feeding of Teams: Strategies for Team Leaders  

Teams, like individuals, go through various developmental stages. Understanding these stages enables a team leader to know if the team is developing normally. Although the team leader’s role and level of involvement vary from stage to stage, there are strategies that the leader can use to spur the team’s growth at each stage.

Hansen, Lauren Y. and Susan M. J. Lester. STC Proceedings (1999). Careers>Management>Collaboration

The Center for the Study of Group Processes

Welcome to the Center for the Study of Group Processes.  We're located in the Sociology Department at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. This site offers access to information about the Center, as well as group processes research, researchers, and events at Iowa and around the country.

University of Iowa (2003). Organizations>Collaboration

The Challenges of Remote Collaboration

Open source development works because of remote collaboration; developers working together despite physical distance. With mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, in-house developers are struggling with the same issues open source developers have addressed. Mark Murphy explains some of the challenges of remote collaboration.

Murphy, Mark. O'Reilly and Associates (2003). Articles>Collaboration>Online

Changing the Center of Gravity: Collaborative Writing Program Administration in Large Universities    

Technical communication practices have been changed dramatically by the increasingly ubiquitous nature of digital technologies. Yet, while those who work in the profession have been living through this dramatic change, our academic discipline has been moving at a slower pace, at times appearing quite unsure about how to proceed. This article focuses on the following three areas of opportunity for change in our discipline in relation to digital technologies: access and expectations, scholarship and community building, and accountability and partnering.

Johnson-Sheehan, Richard D. and Charles Paine. Technical Communication Quarterly (2004). Articles>Education>Writing>Collaboration

Chapter Development Stem Overview  

The Chapter Development Stem offers sessions for all conference participants, not just the STC leadership. We have broadened the scope of the stem to create room for some new and innovative topics that compliment our traditional mix of chapter-related sessions. So take a look at what we have to offer and think about how you can include several Chapter Development sessions in your conference plans.

Hoyt, Thomas B. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building

Chapter Seminars  

Chapter seminars help members by providing current technical communication information, significant additional chapter funding, recruitment of new members, and a proving ground for new leaders. Seminars need a definite organization and leaders need clearly defined responsibilities and authorities. Seminars must provide useful relevant information, either focused or diverse, delivered effectively by skilled speakers. Seminars are not expanded monthly meetings; they must be quiet properly equipped pleasant facilities. Seminar finances must be balanced to provide the desired surplus, or the sting of lost funds will linger long after the sweet success of a stimulating program is forgotten.

Malcolm, Andrew. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Collaboration>Community Building>STC

Charlie Kreitzberg on Web 2.0 and You

This is the recording of the presentation from the Catalyze Community monthly webcast featuring Charlie Kreitzberg on December 13, 2007. Charlie spoke on "Web 2 and You - How Web 2.0 Will Catapult Business Analysts and Usability Professionals into Center Stage" which examined his models for understanding Web 2.0 and explored the vast opportunities for professionals who define and design new software and websites.

Catalyze (2007). Design>Collaboration>User Experience>Web Design

Chinese Home Site Visits: Tips and Hints

You may only get one opportunity in a home visit and good planning and preparation is important. Here are some tips and hints from recent home site visits in both China and Taiwan.

Wong, Josephine. Usability Professionals Association (2007). Articles>Collaboration>Regional>China

Choosing an Intranet Project Sponsor

Numerous surveys across a diverse range of IT projects have identified that the lack of support from senior management (project sponsorship) is one of the biggest causes of project failure. This briefing explores the need for a project sponsor, the role they need to play, and how to choose one.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Design>Web Design>Intranets>Collaboration

Client-Friendly Atmosphere: The Polish and The Lubricants

During the last few years in projects, I interacted with a lot of clients. All these projects were based offshore, where client interaction was mainly through emails or teleconferences. When you do not work face-to-face with clients, communication is key to win your clients' confidence.

Nafde, Yamini. Indus (2006). Careers>Consulting>Collaboration

Client-Vendor Communications: What to Talk About to Get the Job Done  

This progression presents a structured approach to client-vendor communications that can enhance quality; ease frazzled nerves; and result in win-win situations for clients, vendors, end users, and their organizations. Participants will discuss how clear, structured communications can strengthen their roles as clients and vendors of publication products and services. Participants will review the checklist that this vendor developed for use from initial contact to contract to project completion. Discussion will address how participants can develop their own customized checklists.

Shenouda, Judith E. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Business Communication>Collaboration

Cliffnotes To Keep You From Cliffhanging  

Understanding organizational behavior and using creative problem solving are as much a part of being a technical communicator as is expertly applying the English language. Recognizing this, the authors-two senior technical communicators—have identified several typical, but not predictable, organizational problems that involve technical communicators. Solutions will be provided when the paper is presented at the conference.

Modrey, Laurie and Emily A, Sopensky. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Collaboration>Planning

Collaboration Glossary

The following glossary defines terms used in the context of collaboration.

SAP Design Guild (2004). Resources>Collaboration

Collaboration Sessions: How to Lead Multidisciplinary Teams, Generate Buy-In, and Create Unified Design Views in Compressed Timeframes

I have participated in, led, and suffered major website redesign efforts. Whether at process-heavy consultancies, notable product companies, or design studios, all teams experience the same points of pain: late feedback, lack of common design vision, and complaints that individuals or teams didn’t have enough input.

Verhage, Sasha. Boxes and Arrows (2005). Articles>Collaboration>Usability>User Centered Design

Collaboration Via Desktop Videoconferencing: Evaluating Mentoring Environments  

Based on the need for mentoring, we developed a multimedia configuration that fostered one-on-one connections. In this study, we examine these connections in terms of what strategies mentors use when mentoring and how mentors respond to students. The two case studies indicate that neither of the subjects took full advantage of the multimedia system or the environments in which it functioned: neither mentor chose to manage the computer screen so that they could adequately see their student or chose to monitor the environments in a manner beneficial to their students. However, mentors tended to differentiate between weak and strong writers in this environment.

Duin, Ann Hill, Linda A. Jorn and Lisa Mason. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Multimedia>Mentoring>Collaboration

Collaboration Via Desktop Videoconferencing: Implications for Technical Communication  

From our case studies of technical communication college students collaborating via desktop videoconferencing (DTV) with high school students, we learned that DTV requires that collaborators manage a great deal more than text on a computer screen. Collaborators reliant on viewing computers as conveyors of text alone must learn new strategies for connecting interpersonally with people viewed on screen. Collaborators must macro-manage technology while they micro-manage dialogue about writing.

Duin, Ann Hill, Linda A. Jorn and Lisa Mason. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Collaboration>TC>Online

Collaboration via E-mail and Internet Relay Chat: Understanding Time and Technology    

The purpose of this preliminary study was to structure and begin to study how collaborators working across distance perceive and use e-mail and Internet Relay Chat (IRC) to facilitate their collaborative and decision-making processes. Students from the University of Western Sydney and the University of Minnesota worked in pairs to respond to four decision-making scenarios over a four-week period. Using e-mail, students came to a decision more quickly than when using IRC, and when IRC was slow, students reverted to a series of rapid-fire e-mail messages to facilitate their work. Students appreciated the cross-cultural experience; however, they struggled to create a shared communicative context via the Internet.

Duin, Ann Hill and Ray Archee. Technical Communication Online (1996). Articles>Collaboration>Email