Dichotomy, Consubstantiality, Technical Writing, Literary Theory: The Double Orthodox Curse  

Where are the departments that are truly strong at the extremes of literature and technical writing, yet have a Rogerian discussion of the differences going on? The sort of department I mean would offer work in technical and professional writing comparable to that at Rensselaer or Carnegie Mellon and literary theory comparable to that at Duke or Berkeley. Am I wrong in assuming that technical writers can and do move all the way from one extreme to the other, while literature professors do not see themselves either at an extreme or as part of any sort of continuum that would, if followed far enough, reach to the writing of software documentation for a process control?

Neel, Jasper. JAC (1992). Articles>Education>TC

Digital Reference: An Overview    

Digital reference refers to a network of expertise, human intermediation and resources placed at the disposal of users in an online environment. It employs automated tools wherever possible, allowing human experts to concentrate on 'hard questions'. But human expertise is expensive and hard to find. Automated tools are less expensive to incorporate into online services and sites, allowing digital libraries to use tools that were, until recently, the province of a small cadre of people.

Silverstein, Joanne. D-Lib Magazine (2003). Articles>TC>Online

Discover Buried Treasure at Your Local STC Chapter Meetings  

You don't have to be an officer to benefit professionally from your local STC chapter meetings. Start attending your local chapter meetings and discover the many forms of buried treasure. These treasures will result in a new perspective of your writing, an increased library of professional resources, professional writers being hired at your workplace, and the chance to view the 'Best of Show' writing. You can reap rewards such as these with a small investment of personal time.

Lunemann, Rhonda S. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>TC>Community Building>STC

Discover Buried Treasure at Your Local STC Chapter Meetings  

You don’t have to be an officer to benefit professionally from your local STC chapter meetings. Start attending your local chapter meetings and discover the many forms of buried treasure. These treasures will result in a new perspective to your writing, an increased library of professional resources, professional writers being hired at your workplace, and the chance to view the “Best of Show” writing. You can reap rewards such as these with a small investment of personal time.

Lunemann, Rhonda S. STC Proceedings (2001). Presentations>Collaboration>Community Building>STC

Diverging Interests: Claims to Legitimacy in Technical Communication

As technical communication becomes more firmly established as a field, those in the discipline of technical communication and those in the profession are finding, sometimes to their surprise, that their interests differ. This difference is reflected in the varying claims to legitimacy made by those in professional practice and those in academia. These claims to legitimacy not only differ, but at times seem to be at odds with one another.

Anderson, Ginger. Michigan Tech University (1998). Articles>TC>Professionalism

Diverging Interests: Claims to Legitimacy in Technical Communication

As technical communication becomes more firmly established as a field, those in the discipline of technical communication and those in the profession are finding, sometimes to their surprise, that their interests differ. This difference is reflected in the varying claims to legitimacy made by those in professional practice and those in academia. These claims to legitimacy not only differ, but at times seem to be at odds with one another. My interest in these diverging legitimacy claims rests in my dual existence as a professional technical writer and as a graduate student in rhetoric and technical communication. I come to technical communication theory both as a technical communicator who wants to teach technical communication and as a technical communication consultant who wonders how theory can inform her own practice. Having read Technical Communication for years as a practitioner, I was initially surprised to see the difference between technical communication practice and scholarship, as reflected in the types of research that constitute the current conversation in academic technical communication.

Anderson, Ginger. Michigan Tech University (1998). Articles>TC>Theory

Diversity in Technical Communication  

Diversity is multifaceted multilayered and addresses human uniqueness in all aspects. Diversity has become legally mandated and politically correct. We bring differences in thinking styles, gender, religion, age, and job function, as well as diversity of many other aspects of being and living to the workplace each day. To remain a viable workforce component in the 21st Century, technical communicators must promote diversity by actively recruiting people of color and integrating diversity issues within the curriculum.

Montgomery, Betty M. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>TC

Diversity in Technical Communication: A Work in Progress  

This paper documents the beginnings of an effort to increase the diversity of technical communicators in the Pacific Northwest. An ad hoc committee of technical communicators came together for this purpose because they believe that greater diversity will help technical communicators better understand and reach audiences from a wide variety of ethnic and racial backgrounds. The committee is using the STC International Student Technical Writing Competition as a tool for introducing technical communication as a career choice to people of color at the high school level.

Cheirrett, Peg A. and Bruce R. Gibbs. STC Proceedings (1995). Careers>TC>Ethnic

Do A Presentation At The STC 42nd Annual Conference!  

Both old hands and newcomers can create a plan to do a presentation at the next STC Annual Conference. Simply follow this 5-step process: (1) Understand the call for proposals. (2) Discover possible topics to develop. (3) Identify gifts--something of value--to give your audience in your presentation and in your paper (if you do one). (4) Think of appealing gift wraps to attract your hearers and readers. (5) Prepare a thorough proposal for the Program Committee. This process works best in a workshop where the participants can form a critical mass for creative excitement, help one another generate ideas--and have fun!

Dean, Morris. STC Proceedings (1994). Presentations>TC>Research>STC

Do a Presentation for the 41st STC Annual Conference!  

Both old hands and newcomers can create a plan to do a presentation at the next STC Annual Conference. Simply follow this 5-step process: (1) Understand the call for papers. (2) Discover possible topics to develop. (3) Identify gifts—something of value—to give your audience in your presentation and in your paper (if you do one). (4) Think of interesting gift wraps to attract your hearers and readers. (5) Prepare a complete proposal for the Program Committee. This process works best in a workshop where the participants can form a critical muss for creative excitement, help one another generate ideas—and have fun!

Dean, Morris. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>TC>Presentations>STC

Do We Really Speak the Same Language?

At least England and America speak mostly the same language. What happens when we translate foreign languages and add what we think are correct nuances or words? Sometimes even the best intentions can go a bit stale, as witnessed by some of these translation guffaws that prove we're not alone in our confusion or mistakes. Even the big guns can misfire. I've inserted by own comments at the end of each item.

Gleason, Ruthmeri. STC Williamette Valley (2002). Articles>Language>TC

Document Design Bibliography  

What follows is a selected bibliography on document design. It is not exhaustive. Please feel free to add to it by contacting me.

Warren, Thomas L. SMSU. Resources>Bibliographies>TC

Documentation: Competitive Edge or Necessary Evil?

Given the number of Norwegian software and other high-tech companies, there should be quite a few technical writers in Norway. Why don't they cooperate and join a (professional) community?

Wigestrand, Henrik. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>TC>Regional>Scandinavia

DocumentorG

Gurudutt Kamath's columns on technical writing. Groups for technical writers in India. Indexing, Translation, resources for technical writers.

Kamath, Gurudutt R. DocumentorG. Resources>TC>Mailing Lists>India

Don't Let Your Work Become a Commodity    

Learn specific steps technical communicators can take to respond to the commoditization of technical tasks.

Harvey, Michael. Intercom (2008). Careers>TC>Workplace

The Dynamics of Collaborative Design  

The University of Colorado at Denver’s Internet Task Force designed a home page on the World Wide Web (WWW) for the School of Education, while simultaneously studying the group dynamics of the collaborative learning/design process. We developed a 4-point model which is appropriate for technically sophisticated adult learners, instructional designers, software developers, and information technologists. Critical features are reflection-in-action, building a common knowledge base, taking ownership of an authentic task, and generating research questions.

Sherry, Lorraine C. and Karen Madsen Myers. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Collaboration>TC

e Pluribus Unum? Dialogism and Monologism in Organizational Web Discourse    

This article draws on the principles of linguistic theorist Mikhail Bakhtin to analyze and explain discursive diversity in organizational Web pages. Organizational Web sites must typically appeal to multiple audiences, a condition that often results in different discourses being juxtaposed within the same interface. To analyze and explain the effects of such juxtapositions, this article adapts to the Web the principles that Bakhtin developed to conceptualize discursive diversity in the novel, in particular his concept of dialogism. To illustrate their efficacy, the article applies these principles to analyze a pair of government Web sites about forests, the forest industry, and the environment. Whereas the homepages of the two sites project divergent approaches to the discourses of their diverse audiences, a dialogic analysis of the new site's deeper levels reveals how the government's discursive strategy appears to favor one audience at the expense of others. Drawing on this case study, this article discusses how an approach informed by Bakhtin's principles can illuminate our analysis of organizational Web discourse.

Killoran, John B. Journal of Technical Writing and Communication (2005). Articles>TC>Linguistics>Government

E-Careers and Technical Communication  

What is the single invention causing most changes today? The Internet and the World Wide Web.

Davis, Marjorie T. Mercer University (2002). Careers>TC>Online

E-Globalization

Globalization involves the process to adapt a company's product and message to meet the varied expectations of markets around the world.

Govindarajan, Sharmila M. Carolina Communique (2006). Articles>TC>International

E-Resources for Technical Communication  

E-resources provide a range of sources for locating information about technical communication or for technical communication documents. Researchers, teachers, students, and practitioners need to locate the journals, magazines, and proceedings of technical communication organizations to better understand the field. The websites of professional organizations and databases published by EBSCO, ProQuest, and InfoTrac are the focus of this paper.

Smith, Elizabeth Overman 'Betsy'. STC Proceedings (2002). Resources>TC>Online

Earning a College Degree Online  

The number of multidisciplinary skills that technical communicators must possess increases with the rapid advance of technology. Today, a dusty college degree and vintage skills signal stagnation to employers and recruiters. Continuing education is essential to keeping your skill set competitive in today’s job market.

Korczyk, James S. Intercom (2003). Articles>Education>TC

Educating and Training Technical Communicators for the Challenges to Come?

When I started as a technical writer more than ten years ago, I wrote my first drafts with a pencil. Soon after, desktop publishing became part of my work, as did writing story boards for computer based training and managing online information projects. For several reasons the work of a technical communicator will change at an even higher rate in the future.

Schilliger, Reto. TC-FORUM (1999). Articles>Education>TC

Education and Training Stem Overview  

The field of technical communication is transforming at a rapid rate, responding to scientific and technological advancements, economic pressures, and social changes. This makes our field exciting and challenging. The excitement and challenge is intensified for educators and trainers, because we must stay high on the learning curve in order to help prepare others to meet the challenges and prosper by the changes. At the same time, we must be sure to integrate new knowledge, technologies, and skills with what is valuable in the old rather than simply letting the new displace the old.

Hirst, Russel. STC Proceedings (1996). Presentations>Education>TC

Education in Scientific and Technical Communication: Types of Programs  

Currently there is no clear typology of academic programs in technical communication. Lacking this typology. discussions of quality in academic programs necessarily run the risk of overgeneralization. Thirteen authors are working to produce a book which fills this gap. This program, in a modified progression format, previews results of the authorsâï¿ï¿ work, including profiles (with examples) of eight of the ten types ofprograms that have been identified: PhD programs, MS programs, MA programs, BS programs, BA programs, minors, non-degree programs, and new and different program types.

Keene, Michael L. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Education>TC