Establishes a practical model of the document-development process for writers in nonacademic settings. Pulls together and builds from recent research about writers and writing in the workplace. Reveals the process to contain both linear and recursive elements. Asserts that writers must be involved early in the process. (SR)

Argues that the greatest value of technical communicators accrue not from style book editing but from "content editing." Offers suggestions for content editing. (SR)

Discusses the care required in constructing written explanations of numerical data. (SR)

Reports highlights from the first phase of a long-range study into the nature of the rhetorical principle "cover-your-ass" in technical communication. (SR)

Focuses on how typography and color complement and differ from each other in signaling an underlying content structure; the synergism between typography, color, and page layout (use of white space) that aids audience understanding and use; and the characteristics of typography and of color that are most important in these contexts. (SR)

Offers guidelines to help novice hypertext designers construct interfaces that are usable. Discusses windows versus frames, which interaction style to use, how to display text and buttons effectively, and how to use color and tables, diagrams, and animation effectively. (SR)

Discusses how the production of IETM (interactive electronic technical manuals) and EPSS (electronic performance support systems) has been automated to give subject-matter experts the ability to mass-produce electronic documents, training, and training-support materials. Describes four projects involving object-relational database architecture.…

Reviews discussions of online editing in technical communication literature. Discusses calls for emulating handwritten mark-up and author queries electronically. Discusses studies of online reading and composition whose results suggest that the materiality of hard-copy editing may contribute to inherent advantages over online emulations. Urges an…

Describes a six-credit course to prepare learning disabled students for technical writing. During the course, students develop an increased level of metacognition, computer literacy, and an understanding of choice theory. (JOW)

Traces attitude shifts toward empirical research on writing since the 1960s, in light of changes in writing research, psychology, and rhetoric of science. Suggests postmodernist denunciations of scientific methods as immoral have Romanticist overtones. Finds critiques in technical communication suggest empirical methods should not be employed.…

States that litigation over the interpretation and sufficiency of technical documentation is increasingly common as a number of suits have been filed in state and federal courts. Describes the case of "Martin versus Hacker," a recent case in which New York's highest court analyzed a technical writer's prose in the context of a lawsuit…

Looks at medical writing as a career. Provides information about types of jobs available such as pharmaceutical manufacturing, textbooks, trader journals, indexing and abstracting, hospital publications, and online editing; salaries; job growth rate; and education needed. Offers job search tips. (JOW)

This article presents a model for increasing science literacy of P-16 students as well as community members by engaging university students in the design and development of university museum exhibits. While the design of this project was in large part motivated by time and budget constraints faced by the faculty members involved, the positive…

Writing courses are increasingly popular in higher education. This paper presents a pedagogic approach that combines theory and practice, in an accessible way, to help students appreciate the interrelation of styles and contexts, and develop skills for writing in a range of genres. The approach is characterised as "adaptive application".…

Using technical writing basics, a cohort of Lighthorse Police Officers from the Muscogee (Creek) Nation added to their tribe's cultural history by recording part of their family and clan history as well as documenting their law enforcement careers and education.