Practicing Safe Visual Rhetoric on the Web    

This essay examines when and why a 'safe' approach to visual design for web pages is attractive to writers and writing teachers. It considers typical reasons for choosing a 'safe' approach to designing the visual dimensions of web pages, traditional sources in print graphics and writing for safe advice about visual design, and design challenges posed by issues of a web design's stability and navigation. The essay then turns to the fact that the additional media included in a web site bring more design traditions into consideration. It discusses the differing concerns and aims that issue from visual design traditions that focus on prose graphics versus those that focus on theatrical graphics. Keeping these differences in mind, the essay ends with a consideration of the forces shaping visual rhetoric on the web.

Sullivan, Patricia. Science Direct. Articles>Web Design>Rhetoric>Visual Rhetoric

Preserving the Positive Functions of the Public Domain In Science    

Science has advanced in part because data and scientific methodologies have traditionally not been subject to intellectual property protection. In recent years, intellectual property has played a greater role in scientific work. While intellectual property rights may have a positive role to play in some fields of science, so does the public domain. This paper will discuss some of the positive functions of the public domain and ways in which certain legal developments may negatively impact the public domain. It suggests some steps that scientists can take to preserve the positive functions of the public domain for science.

Samuelson, Pamela. Data Science Journal (2003). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Scientific Communication

Progress and Trends in Ink-jet Printing Technology

This paper provides a brief review of the various paths undertaken in the development of ink-jet printing. Highlights of recent progress and trends in this technology are discussed. The technologies embedded in the latest ink-jet products from current industry leaders in both thermal and piezoelectric drop-on-demand ink-jet methods are also described. Finally, this article presents a list of the potential ink-jet technology applications that have emerged in the past few years.

Le, Hue P. Society for Imaging Science and Technology, The (1998). Articles>Publishing>Technical Illustration>Color

Promoting Access to Public Research Data for Scientific, Economic, and Social Development    

Access to and sharing of data are essential for the conduct and advancement of science. This article argues that publicly funded research data should be openly available to the maximum extent possible. To seize upon advancements of cyberinfrastructure and the explosion of data in a range of scientific disciplines, this access to and sharing of publicly funded data must be advanced within an international framework, beyond technological solutions. The authors, members of an OECD Follow-up Group, present their research findings, based closely on their report to OECD, on key issues in data access, as well as operating principles and management aspects necessary to successful data access regimes.

Arzberger, P., P. Schroeder, A. Beaulieu, G. Bowker, K. Casey, L. Laaksonen, D. Moorman, P. Uhlir and P. Wouters. Data Science Journal (2004). Articles>Publishing>Research>Scientific Communication

A Resume Makeover

Many people start on their resume by worrying about fonts and spacing. Unless you get the wording down perfectly first, you will only be creating more work for yourself.

Fiske, Peter. Science (1998). Careers>Resumes

Role of Information Professionals in Knowledge Management Programs: Empirical Evidence from Canada  

The objective of this study is to provide empirical evidence of the role of information professionals in knowledge management programs. 386 information professionals working in Canadian organizations were selected from the Special Libraries Association’s Who’s Who in Special Libraries 2001/2002 and questionnaire with a stamped self-addressed envelope for its return was sent to each one of them. 63 questionnaires were completed and returned, and 8 in-depth interviews conducted. About 59% of the information professionals surveyed are working in organizations that have knowledge management programs with about 86% of these professionals being involved in the programs. Factors such as gender, age, and educational background (i.e. highest educational qualifications and discipline) did not seem to have any relationship with involvement in knowledge management programs. Many of those involved in the programs are playing key roles, such as the design of the information architecture, development of taxonomy, or content management of the organization’s intranet. Others play lesser roles, such as providing information for the intranet, gathering competitive intelligence, or providing research services as requested by the knowledge management team.

Ajiferuke, Isola. Informing Science Institute (2003). Articles>Knowledge Management

Scholarly Information Architecture, 1989-2015  

If we were to start from scratch today to design a quality-controlled archive and distribution system for scientific and technical information, it could take a very different form from what has evolved in the past decade from pre-existing print infrastructure. Ultimately, we might expect some form of global knowledge network for research communications. Over the next decade, there are many technical and non-technical issues to address along the way, everything from identifying optimal formats and protocols for rendering, indexing, linking, querying, accessing, mining, and transmitting the information, to identifying sociological, legal, financial, and political obstacles to realization of ideal systems. What near-term advances can we expect in automated classification systems, authoring tools, and next-generation document formats to facilitate efficient data mining and long-term archival stability? How will the information be authenticated and quality controlled? What differences should be expected in the realization of these systems for different scientific research fields? Can recent technological advances provide not only more efficient means of accessing and navigating the information, but also more cost-effective means of authentication and quality control? Relevant experiences from open electronic distribution of research materials in physics and related disciplines during the past decade are used to illuminate these questions, and some of their implications for proposals to improve the implementation of peer review are then discussed.

Ginsparg, P. Data Science Journal (2004). Articles>Information Design>Research

Services for Data Integration    

The fact that many decisions need a combination of information sources makes easy integration of geospatial data an important data usability issue. Our vision is to achieve automated just-in-time integration. As a foundation, we present a system architecture with distributed data and services. Existing and evolving standards and technologies fitting into this architecture are presented along with their scope and shortcomings. A major point is the appropriate definition of data and operation semantics. Further research is needed here to make the automatic formation of service chains for data integration possible.

Riedemann, Catharina and Christian Timm. Data Science Journal (2003). Articles>Information Design>XML>Geography

Signs of Intelligible Life  

Looks at a number of institutions that are finding ways to insert plain English into communication between scientists and the public, as well as among scientists of different disciplines.

Whiteman, Lily. Science (2000). Articles>Writing>Scientific Communication>Minimalism

So You Want to be a Science Writer?

This is the text of a booklet prepared by the Association of British Science Writers and edited by Richard Stevenson (editor, Chemistry in Britain). Particular thanks are due to Fabian Acker (freelance and NCTJ tutor), Wendy Barnaby (freelance), Ted Poulter (Edward Poulter Associates), Martin Redfern (BBC World Service), Peter Beer (freelance) and, not least, the late Anthony Tucker (formerly science editor, The Guardian). While every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the ABSW cannot be held responsible for any errors or omissions.

Stevenson, Richard. Association of British Science Writers (1997). Articles>Scientific Communication

Survey of the State of the Art in Human Language Technology

The field of human language technology covers a broad range of activities with the eventual goal of enabling people to communicate with machines using natural communication skills. Research and development activities include the coding, recognition, interpretation, translation, and generation of language.

Oregon Health and Science University (1996). Books>Language>Technology

Technical Writing Jumping the Wall: How Technical Documentation/Writing Can Affect the Court's Evaluation of Intent to Infringe in P2P Contexts

What kind of textual evidence do courts now look at in light of the recent Grokster decision? What place does technical communication have in recent P2P court decisions? After examining the evidence courts have used from the Sony case to the Grokster case, the author argues that since texts generated and researched by technical communication have surfaced in P2P contexts as important evidentiary objects in court rulings (Napster, Aimster, Grokster), the field and its allies would do well to take notice. Using a lens of activity theory, the author argues that technical communication as a field can control its own future and ability to innovate by reseeing the texts that it creates, texts that are collected by courts as objects influencing determinations of the presence of intent to infringe (the current standard of liability in P2P contexts). With respect to legal liability, the best technical writing might be writing that stays invisible.

Rife, Martine Courant. Social Science Research Network (2006). Articles>Intellectual Property>Copyright>Technical Writing

Tips for a Successful CV

Curriculum vitae (CVs) tell the stories of the professional lives of university scientists, documenting their careers and showcasing their accomplishments. A well-crafted CV can help a job applicant land an interview--instead of having her materials shredded or buried in a file. The CV is no less important for scientists with tenure and no intention of changing jobs, because it is an essential part of any application for grants, awards, and promotions. It should, therefore, be kept up-to-date at every academic career stage.

Webb, Sarah. Science (2006). Careers>Resumes

Tooling Up: Conducting an Authentic Job Search

Scientists and engineers sometimes reveal how scary the job search feels to them when they talk to recruiters. Often this comes couched in complaints about "how the job market works." It's true that the job search does take us out of our comfort zones. But not all of that fear is justified.

Jensen, David G. Science (2006). Careers>Interviewing

Tooling Up: Résumé Rocket Science 2007

I may sound unorthodox when I say that you really don’t need to be all that concerned about writing the perfect CV or résumé. If you are interested in an industry job, you want your CV to open doors as it gets routed from person to person inside an organization. But you also want it to represent you accurately when you make a good networking connection.

Jensen, David G. Science (2007). Careers>Resumes

Urban Legends of the Job Search

While it is true that employers far prefer electronic submittals to paper CV's, if you rely exclusively on the 'net for your job search, it will tank. Here's the trap: It feels like you are really accomplishing something by filling out online job applications, with very little risk. But you are just scattering seeds, few of which are likely to grow. While there is the possibility that someone will look at that package you've attached and call you for an interview, a great deal of your time is wasted.

Jensen, David G. Science (2005). Careers>Unemployment>Interviewing

Wanted: Articulate Scientists  

This article outlines the benefits you can realize by articulating your science clearly and succinctly; next time, we'll look at how and why several academic and government institutions as well as some publications are encouraging this trend.

Whiteman, Lily. Science (2000). Articles>Writing>Scientific Communication>Minimalism

What Is a Resumé Hole and How Do I Fill It?

Usually, a resumé will show a chronology of a professional career that is almost continuous. But what if the unexpected happens, and you are left with a "resumé hole"? A resumé hole is a large period of unaccounted time in your resumé.

Kitts, Adrienne. Science (2001). Careers>Resumes

Writing the Teaching Statement

Take pity on me and my colleagues. As a faculty member who serves on faculty search committees and a frequent reader of job applications, I dread reading teaching statements. I have even considered asking search committees to stop asking for these essays (in which applicants discuss their teaching philosophies and their anticipated approaches to teaching) because they are so often insipid and painful to read. I've never actually made that suggestion, though, and for now, at my institution (and many others), teaching statements remain a required part of an application for a faculty position. So for every permanent-faculty search I'm involved in, I end up reading as many as several hundred insipid teaching statements. Have mercy.

Austin, Rachel Narehood. Science (2006). Careers>Interviewing>Academic

Site Navigation and Its Impact on the Content Viewed by the Virtual Scholar: A Deep Log Analysis    

is paper presents early findings of a unique analysis that related questionnaire data to site usage as recorded in the transaction log reports of ScienceDirect, for the same people. Its focus is the differences in the online behaviour of three types of navigational users: those accessing the site via a gateway (either via a reference hyperlink or subject search facility), those using the on site search facility and those employing menus. Towards this end 16,865 sessions were analysed and grouped by navigational entry and compared over three types of online behaviour: the viewing of articles in press (AIP), the number of different journals viewed in a session and the viewing of old material. A strong association was found between form of navigation and behavioural trait. Those using menus were more likely to view AIPs, while those using the search facility were more likely to view a greater number of different journals and were more likely to view older material. This supports a hypothesis proposed by Nicholas et al. (2006) that use of the online searching facility increases the visibility of material irrespective of journal and age and results in a greater use of older material and a more diverse journal use compared to other online and off-line information retrieval methods. Although research has been undertaken on the different strategies that users employ to navigate and find their way around a collection of content (e.g. a digital library), this we believe is the first time the effect of different navigational strategies on outcomes (for example, what is viewed) has been investigated.

Huntington, Paul, David Nicholas and Hamid R. Jamali. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Web Design>Research>Log Analysis

Filtering and Withdrawing: Strategies for Coping with Information Overload in Everyday Contexts    

The study investigates the ways in which people experience information overload in the context of monitoring everyday events through media such as newspapers and the internet. The findings are based on interviews with 20 environmental activists in Finland in 2005. The perceptions of the seriousness of problems caused by information overload varied among the participants. On the one hand, information overload was experienced as a real problem particularly in the networked information environments. On the other hand, information overload was perceived as an imagined problem with some mythical features. Two major strategies for coping with information overload were identified. The filtering strategy is based on the determined weeding out of material deemed useless. This strategy is favoured in networked information environments. The withdrawal strategy is more affectively oriented, emphasizing the need to protect oneself from excessive information supply by keeping the number of information sources to a minimum.

Savolainen, Reijo. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Information Design>Audience Analysis>User Centered Design

Employing Log Metrics to Evaluate Search Behaviour and Success: Case Study BBC Search Engine    

This paper argues that metrics can be generated from search transactional web logs that can help evaluate search engine effectiveness. Search logs from the BBC website were analysed and metrics extracted. Two search metrics — the time lapse between searches and the number of searches in a session — were developed to see whether they could measure search success or satisfaction. In all, 4 million search statements by 900,000 users were evaluated. The BBC search engine possessed a number of functional attributes which sought to improve retrieval and these were subjected to the two metrics to help determine how successful they were in practice. There was some evidence to support the proposition that the search outcome metrics did indeed indicate the effectiveness of engine functionality. The authors argue that this result is significant in that the identification of search outcome metrics will pave the way for assessing the effectiveness of site specific search engines and a greater understanding of the effectiveness of search engine functionality.

Huntington, Paul, David Nicholas and Hamid R. Jamali. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Web Design>Case Studies>Log Analysis

Web Retrieval Systems and the Greek Language: Do They Have an Understanding?    

Searching the web is a common activity of web users. English and non-English speakers utilize international or local search engines so as to satisfy their information needs. Most of the attempts at evaluation of search engines focus on English queries and on English document collections. In this paper an evaluation methodology is presented and the capabilities of international and local web retrieval systems using Greek queries are evaluated based on this method. We aim at identifying difficulties and knowledge requirements when using a Greek supporting search engine. The importance of interface localization and the effects of standard information retrieval techniques such as case insensitivity, stopword removal and simple stemming are studied in international and local search engines. The evaluation methodology is applicable to other non-English natural languages as well.

Lazarinis, Fotis. Journal of Information Science (2007). Articles>Web Design>Search>Language