#14299
Architecture and Communication Among Product Development Engineers 
This paper summarizes some quantitative measures and qualitative observations that we have made regarding the effects of architecture on technical communication. We begin with some early results, showing how the probability that two organizations’ members will communicate regularly declines rapidly with the distance between their work locations. . Following this, we assess several objections to these observations and deal with each. We look briefly at the relationships among different media, (i.e., face-to-face, telephone, electronic mail) and how each is affected by separation. Finally, we discuss some examples of architectural strategies for managing communication.
Allen, Thomas J. MIT (1997). Articles>Communication>Engineering
#25447
Blog Survey: Expectations of Privacy and Accountability
Reports the findings from an online survey conducted between January 14th and January 21st, 2004. During that time, 486 respondents answered questions about their blogging practices and their expectations of privacy and accountability for the entries they publish online.
Fernanda, Viégas. MIT (2004). Articles>Web Design>Writing>Blogging
#22497
Designing Navigable Information Spaces
Currently, computer users are 'lost in hyperspace:' they have difficulty knowing where they are and locating the information they desire. To remedy this, information should be situated in an information space that enables people to explore knowledge in the same way they navigate in the physical environment. This thesis will enumerate a set of principles to guide information space design, enabling designers to create effective information spaces. The design principles fall into three categories: communication principles, which inform the spatial organization of information; wayfinding principles, which structure the space to allow successful navigation; and computational principles, which use the computational nature of digital media to enhance the information space. Two information spaces designed using these principles are presented and analyzed.
Foltz, Mark and Randall Davis. MIT (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design
#22495
Dr. Jones: A Software Design Explorer's Crystal Ball
Most of software design is redesign. Redesign in the normal course of design happens when the software becomes difficult to maintain and the problem it is intended to solve has changed. Although software redesign is necessary, frequent, and pervasive, there is a dearth of tools that help programmers do it. Instead, programmers primarily use pen and paper, away from the computer where tools could help the most. To address this shortcoming, I have developed Dr. Jones, a redesign assistant for Java programs.
Foltz, Mark. MIT (2003). Books>Information Design>Redesign
#27449
Group Communication Specifications: A Comprehensive Study 
View-oriented group communication is an important and widely used building block for many distributed applications. Much current research has been dedicated to specifying the semantics and services of view-oriented Group Communication Systems (GCSs). However, the guarantees of different GCSs are formulated using varying terminologies and modeling techniques, and the specifications vary in their rigor. This makes it difficult to analyze and compare the different systems.
Chockler, Gregory V., Idit Keidar and Roman Vitenberg. MIT (2001). Articles>Collaboration>Groupware>Semantic
#31891
Introduction to Technical Communication: Perspectives on Medicine and Public Health
Over the course of the semester we will explore the full range of writings by physicians and other health practitioners. Some of the writer/physicians that we encounter will be Atul Gawande, Danielle Ofri, Richard Selzer, and William Carlos Williams. Students need have no special training, only a general interest in medicine or in public health issues such as AIDS, asthma, malaria control, and obesity. The writing assignments, like the readings, will invite students to consider the distinctive needs of different audiences.
Taft, Cynthia. MIT (2007). Academic>Courses>TC>Biomedical
#14298
The Mayfield Handbook of Technical and Scientific Writing
Effective technical documents do not just happen; they are the result of a deliberate and comprehensive design and production process. Although writers may vary some of the steps they use to create a document, effective technical and scientific writing typically follows the same general procedures.
Perelman, Leslie, James Paradis and Edward Barrett. MIT. Books>Writing>Style Guides
#22496
Query By Attention: Visually Searchable Information Maps
This paper explores how the design of information spaces might be grounded in knowledge of human visual processing, notably what kinds of visual selection are most efficient. Information maps spatially array graphical symbols representing items of information and their attributes. Ideally, their users should be able to do query by attention: answer questions about the information quickly by controlling visual attention (i.e., through spatial selection and visual search), instead of manipulating an interface. I propose a preliminary method for designing visually searchable maps based on experimental results about what kinds of visual search are easy. The hope is that the resulting maps will better employ the perceptual capabilities of their viewers when they search. An example information map of recent movies illustrates the approach.
Foltz, Mark and Randall Davis. MIT (2001). Design>Information Design>Search>Visual Rhetoric
#20713
Technical writing is used to report information. This is different from creative and other types of writing styles in many ways. We will discuss these later. Why is this important? As a scientist/engineer, it is important for you to be able to to be able to communicate your work to others in writing.
#28910
These guidelines include most factors to consider during a usability evaluation of a web site. Not all factors apply to every site.
#18256
Writing Resources on the World Wide Web
A collection of links to technical writing resources worldwide.
MIT (2001). Resources>Directories>Writing
#34071
Authorship, Appropriation, and the Fluid Text: Versions of the Law
A fluid text is any work that exists in multiple versions. What are the ethics and legality in the creation, sharing, and ownership of textual versions? What are the boundaries of textual appropriation? How does technology abet appropriation; how might it assist in the useful designation of boundaries? Is the law keeping up?
Bryant, John and Wendy Seltzer. MIT (2009). Articles>Intellectual Property>Audio>Podcasts
