#32633
Yesterday and Today: Remembering the Old Waxing Layout Process
I think of those earlier processes and how they assist my work. Currently, I have a hand-created layout in my portfolio to teach that I understand the printing process from a historical point of view. I am aware of the tight deadlines, as the printer has a lot to do to get my final product accomplished. And worse comes to worse, if my layout program fails, I know how to create a dummy page by hand.
Cobb, Monique. Carolina Communique (2008). Articles>Document Design>History
#32899
Digital Content Developers and Cultural Memory
Digital content producers must regard preservation and archiving as an essential task.
McLeod, Michael. Content Matters (2006). Articles>Web Design>Cultural Theory>History
#33155
A Photo Essay of Classic Instruction Manuals
How do you run the A/C on a spy plane? Where's the Start button on a nuclear power plant? Don't try to wing it—read the directions! A portfolio of classic instruction manuals.
Honan, Mathew. Wired (2008). Articles>Documentation>Technical Illustration>History
#33156
Classic Computer Manuals from Apple and IBM
Apple's first user manual was largely the creation of Ronald Wayne, Apple's third founder, recruited from Atari by Steve Jobs for a 10 percent stake in the new company. Wayne not only wrote the entire 10-page booklet, he also drew the intricate cover logo depicting Isaac Newton beneath an apple tree.
Honan, Mathew. Wired (2008). Design>Documentation>Technical Illustration>History
#33302
A. Stanley Higgins and the History of STC's Journal 
A profile of Stan Higgins, one of the first editors of STC's journal. Based on archival research and an interview with Higgins. Includes a table of journal titles (e.g., TWE Journal, STWE Review) and names of editors.
Malone, Edward A. IEEE PCS (2008). Articles>TC>Publishing>History
#33661
John M. Kinn: IEEE-PCS' First Editor
Profile of John M. Kinn, a charter member of the IRE Professional Group on Engineering Writing and Speech (now IEEE-PCS) and the first editor of the Transactions on Engineering Writing and Speech (now IEEE T-PC). Includes a table of T-EWS and T-PC editors from 1958 to 2008.
Malone, Edward A. IEEE PCS (2008). Articles>History>Publishing
#33837
Plugging into the Pervasive XML Infrastructure
In 1998 the industry got behind a common vision of interoperability for systems and data using XML. The web (HTTP/HTML) connected millions of users to each other as well by presenting information they needed - both at work and from home. The next logical step is to connect systems together and break down the stove pipes of information and business logic that exist to unleash an entirely new wave of productivity gains. In this talk I will trace the march of computing that has led to incredible productivity gains over several decades; draw parallels to the invention of electrical generation facilities and the subsequent building of the electric grid that provided power for all to harness and call out the challenges that still lie ahead of us.
Campbell, Dave and Soumitra Sengupta. IDEAlliance (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML>History
#33854
What’s Causing the Popularity of Policies and Procedures?
What’s causing the buzz of interest in P&P? Here are five trends that contribute to the growing popularity.
Urgo, Raymond E. Policies and Procedures Authority, The (2008). Articles>Documentation>Policies and Procedures>History
#34041
Eleanor McElwee was one of the founders of the IRE Professional Group on Engineering Writing and Speech (now IEEE PCS).
Malone, Edward A. IEEE PCS (2009). Organizations>Business Communication>History
#34171
On User Interface Design, Part I
The first of a pair of presentations by Alan Kay (of Smalltalk fame). The presentation is from 1983 and discusses the development of user interface design from the 1960s onward.
Kay, Alan. Visual Literacy (1983). Articles>User Interface>History>Podcasts
#34172
On User Interface Design, Part II
The second of a pair of presentations by Alan Kay (of Smalltalk fame). The presentation is from 1983 and discusses the development of user interface design from the 1960s onward.
Kay, Alan. University of California Berkeley (1983). Articles>User Interface>History>Podcasts
#34242
The Use of XML to Express a Historical Knowledge Base
Since conventional historical records have been written assuming human readers, they are not well-suited for computers to collect and process automatically. If computers could understand descriptions in historical records and process them automatically, it would be easy to analyze them from different perspectives. In this paper, we review a number of existing frameworks used to describe historical events, and make a comparative assessment of these frameworks interms of usability, based on 'deep cases' of Fillmore ’score grammar. Based on this assessment, we propose a new description framework, and have created a microformat vocabulary set suitable for that framework.
Nakahira, Katsuko T., Masashi Matsui and Yoshiki Mikami. WWW 2007 (2007). Articles>Knowledge Management>XML>History
#34320
Operating System Interface Design Between 1981-2009
Over the years a range of GUI’s have been developed for different operating systems such as OS/2, Macintosh, Windowsamiga, Linux, Symbian OS, and more. We’ll be taking a look at the evolution of the interface designs of the major operating systems since the 80’s.
Webdesigner Depot (2009). Articles>User Interface>Operating Systems>History
#34471
Human Computer Interaction (HCI)
Human-computer interaction (HCI) is an area of research and practice that emerged in the early 1980s, initially as a specialty area in computer science. HCI has expanded rapidly and steadily for three decades, attracting professionals from many other disciplines and incorporating diverse concepts and approaches. To a considerable extent, HCI now aggregates a collection of semi-distinct fields of research and practice in human-centered informatics. However, the continuing synthesis of disparate conceptions and approaches to science and practice in HCI has produced a dramatic example of how different epistemologies and paradigms can be reconciled and integrated.
Carroll, John M. Interaction-Design.org. Articles>Human Computer Interaction>Interaction Design>History
#34609
It does not matter if they were published 10 years ago or 100 years ago, old scientific papers may be more important than you think.
Marx, Werner and Manuel Cardona. Physics World (2004). Articles>Scientific Communication>History>Research
#34844
Gestural Enthymemes: Delivering Movement in 18th- and 19th-Century Medical Images 
This article contributes to recent efforts to add life and movement to rhetorical studies by focusing on the representation of movement in medical texts. More specifically, this study examines medical texts, illustrations, and photographs involving movement by Johann Casper Lavater, G. B. Duchenne de Bologne, Charles Darwin, and Étienne-Jules Marey. By identifying how figures of speech epitomize arguments, this examination follows a shift in the way arguments about movement are represented, a shift from static, visual arguments to gestural enthymemes, as they are named, arguments that are made in movements; these shifts are linked to developments in medical technologies involving photography. These arguments about and using movement attempt to “capture” or express the moments within which life, through the embodied gesture, resides. This extended understanding of the enthymeme broadens current understanding of argument to include delivery, links medical and rhetorical discursive practices, and informs how we make sense of and study the relationships between technology and rhetoric both in the past and present.
Newman, Sara. Written Communication (2009). Articles>Scientific Communication>Biomedical>History
#34880
Seeing and Listening: A Visual and Social Analysis of Optometric Record-Keeping Practices
This article investigates the contribution visual rhetoric and rhetorical genre studies (RGS) can make to health care education and communication genres. Through a visual rhetorical analysis of a patient record used in an optometry teaching clinic, this article illustrates that a genre's visual representations provide significant insights into the social action of that genre. These insights are deepened by an insider analysis of the patient record that highlights how content analyses of visual designs need to be elaborated by contextual considerations. A combined visual rhetoric and RGS analysis shows that clinical novices learn to interpret the record's visual cues to safely traverse the complex requirements of this apprenticeship genre. The article demonstrates that visual rhetoric research can meaningfully contribute to the understanding of genres by presenting an enriched contextual analysis achieved by consulting with context insiders.
Varpio, Lara, Marlee M. Spafford, Catherine F. Schryer and Lorelei Lingard. Journal of Business and Technical Communication (2007). Articles>Documentation>Biomedical>History
#34898
Although we look at the past with embarrassment about some of our practices, we often lack the foresight to see the present with the same degree of scrutiny. Years from now, we’ll look back at what we’re currently doing and not only blush, but feel remorse and wish we could get back what we lost.
Johnson, Tom H. I'd Rather Be Writing (2009). Articles>TC>Technical Writing>History
#34998
Oral Communication and Technical Writing: A Reconsideration of Writing in a Multicultural Era
This article investigates the status of orality in the history of technical communication. The article calls for orality as an integral part and driving force of technical writing. The article brings to light the misconceptions that have led to a diminished role of oral communication in technical writing. The article shows the implications of oral skills for improved effectiveness of technical communicators. The article outlines the challenges and promises of teaching oral communication in technical writing.
Cibangu, Sylvain K. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2009). Articles>Writing>Technical Writing>History
#35002
Since 1992, Steven Katz's "The Ethic of Expediency" on the rhetoric of technical communication during the Holocaust has become a reference point for discussions of ethics. But how does his thesis compare to current understandings of the Holocaust? As this article describes, Katz was in step with the trend two decades ago to universalize the lessons of the genocide but his thesis presents key problems for Holocaust scholars today. Against his assertion that pure technological expediency was the ethos of Nazi Germany, current scholarship emphasizes the role of ideology. Does that invalidate his thesis? Katz's analysis of rhetoric and his universalizing application to the Holocaust are two claims that may be considered separately. Yet even if one does not agree that "expediency" is inherent in Western rhetoric, Katz has raised awareness that phronesis is socially constructed so that rhetoric can be unethically employed. Thus, rather than remain an uncritically accepted heuristic for technical communicators, "The Ethic of Expediency" can be a starting point for ongoing exploration into the ethical and rhetorical dimensions of the genre.
Ward, Mark. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2009). Articles>Education>History>Ethics
#35331
The purpose of this article is to reflect upon the emergence of programs in rhetoric, technical, professional, and scientific communication (RTPSC) during the past twenty years through a personal narrative of experiences from graduate study to the present. Using a method of inquiry based in rhetorical meditation, the article presents a story of these experiences at Purdue University, Miami University-Ohio, and Michigan Tech University and then moves outward toward national concerns and, finally, suggests a selected “inventory” of challenges the RTPSC field faces in the coming years.
Johnson, Robert R. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>Rhetoric>History
#35332
Building on the 1996 retrospective by Pearsall and Warren, the authors examine the decade that followed for the Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication (CPTSC). As the world became more closely knitted together through trade agreements and advancements in communication technology, CPTSC took up its mission in response as it helped promote program growth internationally. During this period, the organization added many more members beyond the United States, as it hosted a series of roundtables in Europe and Canada, working to diversify the ethnic make-up of its membership through scholarships.
Maylath, Bruce A.R. and Jeffrey Grabill. Programmatic Perspectives (2009). Articles>Education>TC>History
#35357
Putting China's Technical Communication into Historical Context
Examines the Chinese culinary instruction genre. Analyzes culinary texts produced from 500 BC to the present. Argues for a historicized and contextualized understanding of technical communication in China.
Yu, Han. Technical Communication Online (2009). Articles>TC>History>China
#35393
HTML is being developed outside of the W3C by a number of browser implementers, excluding Microsoft. The prevalent feeling amongst those that do so is that if the W3C doesn't adopt their spec, the W3C will look dull.
Intertwingly.net (2009). Articles>Web Design>History>HTML5
#35506
The Inmates Are Running the Asylum, published in 1998, introduced the use of personas as a practical interaction design tool. Based on the single-chapter discussion in that book, personas rapidly gained popularity in the software industry due to their unusual power and effectiveness. Had personas been developed in the laboratory, the full story of how they came to be would have been published long ago, but since their use developed over many years in both my practice as a software inventor and architectural consultant and the consulting work of Cooper designers, that is not the case. Since Inmates was published, many people have asked for the history of Cooper personas, and here it is.
Cooper, Alan. Cooper Journal (2003). Articles>User Centered Design>History>Personas
