Research problem: Interest in plain-language communication has been growing in many sectors of business and government, but knowledge about its development is scattered and in need of synthesis. Research questions: 1. How did plain language in the US evolve to gain acceptance by industry, government, and the public? 2. In what ways have advocates changed their vision of plain language? Literature review: My review identified a corpus of more than 100 publications relevant to the history of plain language from 1940 to 2015. Methodology: I evaluated the literature on plain language to identify milestones, events, and trends between 1940 and 2015. I focused on the evolution of plain language and on ways that practitioners altered their perspective of the field. Results: Between 1940 and 1970, plain language focused mainly on readability. During the 1970s, some practitioners began to employ usability testing. By the mid-1980s, there was a widespread sense that plain-language advocates had shifted priorities from readability to usability. Between 1980 and 2000, advocates broadened their vision-beyond word- and sentence-level concerns to include discourse-level issues, information design, and accessibility. Between 2000 and 2015, advocates continued to worry over their old questions (“Can people understand and use the content?”), but also asked, “Will people believe the content? Do they trust the message?” By 2015, plain language had gained significant momentum in business, government, medicine, and education. Conclusions: Plain language evolved over the past 75 years from a sentence-based activity focused on readability of paper documents to a whole-text-based activity, emphasizing evidence-based principles of writing and visual design for paper, multimedia, and electronic artifacts. Plain-language practitioners expanded their concerns from how people understand the content-the usability and accessibility of the content-to whether people trust the content. In addition to a narrative about the field's evolution, I offer a Timeline of Plain Language from 1940-2015, which chronicles the field's highlights. Together, the narrative and timeline offer a fairly comprehensive view of the current state of plain language and allow those with an interest to dig deeper.

Documentation for consumers is frequently complex, convoluted, and hard to follow. Bureaucratic organizations such as insurance companies, government agencies, hospitals, and law firms often have reputations for communicating poorly. Such poorly prepared documents diminish consumers’ abilities to make informed decisions about their health, rights, and finances. When these documents leave consumers with more questions than answers, organizations must try again (and again) to communicate more clearly. With the ease of accessing documents online, organizations face increasing pressure to create effective content appropriate for broad audiences. Plain language offers an approach to language and design for producing accessible and readable public documents. This movement, which gained traction in several countries in the 1970s, has regained its momentum with recent legislation and new public and private sector initiatives. Then-US-President Barack Obama signed the Plain Writing Act in 2010 and Executive Order 13563 in 2011, requiring clear communication in plain writing from US government agencies. Other sectors have responded as well. Practitioners use plain language in a range of other areas such as healthcare, business, science, engineering, and law. In keeping with these developments, we provide this special issue to reintroduce the discussion of plain language in professional and technical communication research and practice.

Research problem: The purpose of the study was to fill gaps in our knowledge about technical editors' work practices and perceptions, knowledge that might be useful for teachers and practitioners, as well as current and prospective students. Research questions: (1) What work activities do technical editors engage in? (2) How do people become and progress in careers as technical editors? (3) What do technical editors perceive about the complexity of their work and its value to themselves and others? Literature review: The literature review focuses on previous surveys of technical editors, which have tended to focus on technology-related issues and been largely limited to samples obtained from the Society for Technical Communication.Methodology: A link to an online survey was sent to 32 professional organizations for technical and other professional, nonliterary, and nonjournalism editors. The leadership of each organization was asked to forward the link to its members; 12 complied, with a resulting 253 respondents. Responses to closed-ended questions were tabulated, while responses to the open-ended questions were analyzed thematically.Results and conclusions:The results revealed a broad range of job titles, disciplinary and professional fields, genres and media, editing-related tasks, and extent and type of collaboration. Respondents perceived as useful several forms of academic preparation, personality traits, and attitudes. About half the respondents had become editors through deliberate preparation during college (direct route) and half had not (indirect route). Thus, one implication of the results is that college students majoring in the sciences and other technical fields (indirect route) might be attracted to complementary minors and certificate programs in technical communication/editing. The sample was obtained from among a broader range of technical editors than samples used in previous surveys but was relatively small and, therefore, nongeneralizable. Future surveys should strive for a larger sample size and include questions about a wide range of demographic variables that can be correlated with the independent variables.

Introduction: Stereotypes about generational cohorts have been spread widely among current literature; this study challenges those stereotypes and provides a simple method for managers to learn how to effectively communicate with, motivate, and retain employees, no matter what cohort they belong to. Research questions: (1) Do people in a particular generational cohort behave according to the stereotypes assigned to their cohort? (2) Do people in a particular generation believe that the stereotypes assigned to their generation are accurate? Literature review: Current literature promulgates generational stereotypes and encourages managers to learn about the differences of each cohort so that they can tailor their communication to each cohort. Knowing the differences allegedly provides managers of technical communication teams or any team with more effective strategies to communicate with, motivate, and retain members of each cohort. Much of the literature examined was not based on rigorous research, and some that was rigorous and empirical claims there are more similarities than differences among the cohorts. Methodology: The findings from this study are based on answers to surveys from 107 participants and semistructured interviews with eight of those participants who were employees at a software company or were students or employees at a local university. The findings challenge the stereotypes found in the current literature, specifically concerning longevity in a job and workplace compliance. Conclusions, limitations, and future research: Managers need to learn more about individual employees rather than relying on stereotypes of generational cohorts when communicating with employees. Learning about individuals is simple and can foster more effective communication, which will enhance employees' job satisfaction and engagement, and ultimately employee retention. As the research reported in this study shows, these are crucial variables to consider about a person's tenure in a position and workplace compliance behavior but are not included by most when studying generational cohorts. Further research could help us learn how managers can best develop employees and recognize and reward employees' workplace achievements.

This book examines some of the many struggles that various programs in the field have endured in light of the "Great Recession" and shares the faculty’s initiative to take action to ensure the sustainability of their programs. Eleven essays written by 20 different contributors from a range of institutions assist in successfully achieving the book’s purpose—namely, providing methods and models for how academic programs can “do more with less” in an age of austerity. Program coordinators and those who teach program assessment should take heart in knowing that they do not face these challenges alone, and they might use this book to brainstorm and identify solutions for their programs.

Research problem: Business-to-business contracts are complex communication artifacts, often considered “legal stuff” and the exclusive domain of lawyers. However, many other stakeholders without a legal background are involved in the negotiation, drafting, approval, and implementation of contracts, and their contributions are essential for successful business relationships. How can we ensure that all stakeholders in the global business context-whatever their native language or professional background-easily and accurately understand contract documents? This study suggests that integrating diagrams in contracts can result in faster and more accurate comprehension, for both native and non-native speakers of English. Literature review: We focused on the following research topics: (1) ways to integrate text and visuals to create more effective instructions, since we conceptualize contracts as a type of business instructions; (2) cognitive load theory, as it may help explain why contracts are so hard to understand and why text-visuals integration may ameliorate their understandability; (3) cognitive styles, as individual differences may affect how individuals process verbal and visual information, thus allowing us to explore the limitations of our suggested approach; (4) the English lingua franca spoken by business professionals in international settings, their needs and challenges, and the fact that pragmatic approaches are needed to ensure successful communication. Methodology: We conducted an experiment with 122 contract experts from 24 countries. The research participants were asked to complete a series of comprehension tasks regarding a contract, which was provided in either a traditional, text-only version or in a version that included diagrams as complements to the text. In addition to measuring answering speed and accuracy, we asked the participants to provide information about their educational background, mother tongue, and perceived mental effort in task completion, and to complete an object-spatial imagery and verbal questionnaire to assess their cognitive style. Conclusions: We found that integrating diagrams into contracts supports faster and more accurate comprehension; unexpectedly, legal background and different cognitive styles do not interact with this main effect. We also discovered that both native and non-native speakers of English benefit from the presence of diagrams in terms of accuracy, but that this effect is particularly strong for non-native speakers. The implication of this study is that adding diagrams to contracts can help global communicators to understand such documents more quickly and accurately. The need for well-designed contracts may open new opportunities for professional writers and information designers. Future research may also go beyond experimental evaluations: by observing this new genre of contracts in vivo, it would be possible to shed light on how contract visualizations would be perceived and interpreted in a global communication environment.

The book’s 11 chapters consider the importance of theorizing, initiating, and sustaining relationships between academia and industries that employ graduates of those programs. The editors argue that a strong future for the field depends on more research into shared interests. Through asking both spheres to take action, Carolyn Rude’s Foreword clarifies that the audience for the book is both academics and industry professionals. Comprehensively, the book fulfills its goal to initiate a conversation; it is a sourcebook that explores multiple contexts and lenses. Therefore, readers looking for a practical resource for initiating partnerships with businesses and industries can easily identify and select the chapters relevant to their situation.

Background: This paper examines creativity in content management (CM) by presenting a case study analysis of an original, open-source, Web-based learning-management system (LMS). It explores existing literature and suggests new ideas about creativity and CM. Research questions: How can we conceptualize creativity in relation to CM? How can creativity be operationalized into specific design practices within CM? What dimensions of creativity should be considered when designing or evaluating creative CM systems?Situating the case: Theoretical research in content-management systems (CMSs) and LMSs has revealed a gap in our field's current understanding of how creativity relates to CM. Research studies related to the measurement of creativity have provided insight into characteristics and methodologies that could be adopted and adapted to evaluate creativity in CM. Studies from the learning sciences have investigated where LMSs fall short and suggested where new opportunities exist to better facilitate the informational needs of users. These works have pointed to a need for research on integrating creativity and CM, both in content and in the systems that manage content, and have laid the groundwork for this study. Methodology: This research investigates theories of creativity as they relate to CM by conducting a case study analysis of unique instructional software designed to deliver content to students enrolled in a university course. The primary evidence is taken from notes about the design and evaluation of the software and from survey data illustrating students' user experiences. About the case: We developed a classification strategy for exploring creativity along three dimensions-importance, novelty, and affect-and then used this strategy to explore a unique system's approach to deal with content challenges in each of those areas. User experience impressions provide evidence of successes and failures of experimental CM in these domains. Conclusions: The study finds that this original LMS design did contain features that exhibited novelty, importance, and affect, and that such features can be used to identify creativity in product design as well as to assess the design of complex software systems such as CMSs and LMSs. This detailed analysis of an original design for an LMS suggests new ideas for implementing and using CMSs and LMSs in technical communication. The study concludes by presenting a rubric for evaluating creativity in CMSs and LMSs, or for designing such systems with creativity in mind.

User experience (UX), a common practice in corporate settings, is new for many nonprofit organizations. This case study details a community-based research project between nonprofit staff at a community health center and UX professionals to improve the design and usability of a document designed to help immigrant patients sign up for health insurance. UX professionals may need to adapt and be flexible with their efforts, but can offer valuable skills to community partners. Research questions: (1) What are the information needs and barriers faced by immigrant populations signing up for health insurance? (2) How does a usability study, adapted to meet the needs of immigrant populations, inform the design of a supplemental guidebook about health insurance? (3) What are the challenges and opportunities when engaging in community-based UX research projects? Situating the case: Other community-based research projects in technical communication and UX point to the need for a clear conceptualization of participation, a strong partnership with nonprofits, and the need to develop meaningful and actionable insights. Furthermore, when conducting studies with immigrant populations, the role of the translator on the research team is crucial. Methodology: As a community-based research project focused on the collaborative generation of practical knowledge, we conducted a usability study with 12 participants in two language groups, Chinese and Vietnamese, to evaluate the design and usability of a guidebook designed to provide guidance about enrolling in a health insurance plan. Data were analyzed to identify usability concerns and used to inform a second iteration of the guidebook. About the case: Immigrant populations struggle to sign up for health insurance for a variety of reasons, including limited English and health insurance literacy. As a result, a nonprofit community health center developed a guidebook to support immigrant populations. Version 1 of this guidebook was evaluated in a usability study, with results showing that users struggled to correctly choose a plan, determine their eligibility, and interpret abstract examples. As a result, Version 2 was designed to support the in-person experience, reduce visual complexity, and support patients' key questions. Conclusions: Community-based UX collaborations can amplify the expertise of UX and nonprofit professionals. However, UX methods may need to be adapted in community-based projects to better incorporate local knowledge and needs.

Technical communicators, engineers, and designers in the automotive industry, as well as researchers with expertise and interest in this book. It provides provides a framework for better understanding and explaining the ecological, economic, and political stakes invested in contemporary culture’s use and valuation of automobiles. The book constructs an ANT-inspired framework for rethinking automobility. In the manner of similar projects, such as Thinking with Bruno Latour in Rhetoric and Composition that establish ANT as a primary mode of analysis, the book achieves its purpose of recovering terms from ancient rhetoric—techne, kinesis, energeia, hyle, logistikos, metis, tyche, and kairos—for the purpose of demonstrating how they always, already accommodated analysis of human and nonhuman agents involved in activities, such as transportation use and design. For this reason, the book could serve as useful reading in courses on professional communication as it pertains to transportation or ANT, and as food for thought for automobile industry professionals.

Research problem: Advisory boards provide an opportunity for technical communication programs to connect consistently with industry practitioners and on-campus stakeholders, and yet few recent studies examine best practices for advisory boards in technical communication programs. Research questions: (1) What is the typical makeup of a technical communication program advisory board? (2) What function do these advisory boards serve? (3) What are the typical successes and challenges of starting and maintaining a technical communication advisory board? (4) What are best practices for starting and maintaining a successful advisory board? (5) What are the similarities and differences in how program administrators and board members perceive the benefits and functions of the board? Literature review: Literature on advisory boards in technical and business communication-and in related fields such as communication, journalism, and marketing-reports that advisory boards are beneficial and effective, though many include caveats or recommendations about ways to improve board function. Methodology: To provide perspectives from both sides of the academy-industry relationship, we conducted 18 semistructured phone, Skype, and in-person interviews with program administrators (n = 10) from a host of nationwide programs and with board members (n = 8) from a single advisory board. Results and discussion: The study finds that the typical advisory board involves a mix of industry, faculty, and student members, with an emphasis on industry members. They advise the program about its curricular concerns, often foster students' academic and professional maturation, and support the program in conflicts with university administration. The typical successes of advisory boards included positive curricular amendment and the recruitment of students for jobs and internships, while characteristic challenges included meeting logistics and board members' concerns regarding the program's response to their advice. Program administrators and board members both perceive a board as useful, but some members expressed concern about the uncertainty of their role and influence. The results suggest that all technical communication programs should seriously consider forming an advisory board based on disciplinary best practices, that existing advisory boards should ensure that they have clarified the board's role for their program, and that stakeholders are aware of and attend to their board members' concerns.

Research problem: Although labor statistics document a steady rise in contract, contingent, and entrepreneurial labor, knowledge about the professional communication practices that build and sustain independent careers in the field of technical communication (TC) largely emerges from broad survey analysis, cultural/social critiques, or individual anecdotes. From these statistics and stories, we already know that independent technical communicators face challenges ranging from legal issues to establishing marketing visibility when they start and maintain businesses. Drawing on thick qualitative description from semistructured interviews, this article responds to the need for more systematic research tracing the networking practices, technologies, and relationships that enable entrepreneurial work. Research question: How do established individual entrepreneurs in TC describe the social relationships, networking practices, and networking technologies that shape their careers over time? Literature review: This project extends prior research at the intersections of entrepreneurship, technical communication, and social networks. Entrepreneurial studies research indicates that strong social ties and embeddedness influence venture performance; however, systematic scholarship on the networks or networking practices of independent or entrepreneurial technical communication practice has been limited. Methodology: The project used semistructured interviews to analyze the professional communication practices of eight technical communicators with considerable experience working independently as consultants or small-business owners. We used an online search to identify experienced entrepreneurs in the interdisciplinary field of technical communication. After recruiting participants via email, we conducted semistructured interviews to gather employment narratives, while prompting participants to share information about career-relevant ties, networking practices, and networking technologies. We then analyzed data through two iterative qualitative coding passes. Results and conclusions: Our participants, made up of experienced TC entrepreneurs, have used networking over at least two decades to advance personal business outcomes and evolve technical communication as a field and profession. Findings detail how networking is central to professional social knowledge construction, as TC entrepreneurs establish transactional contact with others, practice learning, and enact exponential reputation-building that addresses the isolation of working outside traditional organizations. Since this is a qualitative study based on self-report, the results are not generalizable but provide a foundation for future larger-scale research building from these qualitative themes.

This book aims to develop a new conception of creative industries, a term largely associated with the aggregated economic activity of artists. Hartley, Wen, and Li expand the scope of creative industries by defining creativity as newness of any variety and arguing that newness emerges from groups communicating with each other. This wide definition of creative industries invites scholars of entrepreneurship communication and technical communication to join the multidisciplinary conversation on the creative industries. The authors’ very distributed understanding of creativity raises interesting questions, allows for the study of large-scale phenomena, and leaves open questions of precarity and devalued expertise.

Background: Entrepreneurship has undergone significant transformations in the past decade due to crowd-based models of innovation and the increasing popularity of crowdfunding. Crowdfunding provides an alternative to the way entrepreneurs traditionally raise start-up and operational funds for a venture. Moreover, with crowdfunding platforms, citizens and communities are increasingly able to engage in entrepreneurial work not only for profit but also to address social and civic problems. Problem: Given the expanding boundaries of entrepreneurship, it is increasingly important for professional and technical communication teachers to prepare students to be ethical entrepreneurs and embody a widening array of rhetorical skills. Our teaching case addresses the question of how we might incorporate new and emerging forms of entrepreneurship, such as crowdfunding, into the professional and technical communication classroom in ways that foreground the social, civic, and ethical dimensions of that work. Situating the case: To address this question, we first situate our teaching case in relevant literature from professional and technical communication and social entrepreneurship, and then compare it with similar cases of crowdfunding being used for educational purposes. How the case was studied: We describe what we observed before, during, and after teaching a project structured thematically around civic crowdfunding. We had two sources of data: (1) a collection of teaching materials, including syllabi, day-to-day lesson plans, project prompts, in-class activities, correspondence between instructors, and informal teaching logs used to record impromptu reflections throughout the course of the semester; and (2) the civic crowdfunding project materials produced by students. About the case: Two distinct but related problems have motivated the development of this teaching case: (1) the context of 21st-century entrepreneurship has rapidly changed as a result of new approaches, including crowdfunding; (2) this shift has also led to an increased emphasis on civic and social matters of concern, which have increasingly become more important in contemporary business models. Ultimately, we seek to understand how entrepreneurial writing projects can meld commercial and financial motivations with civic exigencies, direct participation, and stakeholder engagement. As such, this civic crowdfunding sequence takes place over two phases: (1) students conducted primary and secondary research on a local problem or exigency and used this as evidence for a white paper and a project proposal; (2) students developed a feasible solution to this problem which then formed the basis for crowdfunding campaign materials, including a Kickstarter page, campaign video, and branding materials. Results: Our results focus on two projects that clearly foreground a social and civic mission; we point to these two projects not as perfect examples, but rather as illustrative cases of how students engaged crowdfunding as a form of civic entrepreneurship. Conclusions: Our teaching case has demonstrated the need to prepare students not only to pitch venture ideas for a small audience of investors, but also to consider how to identify and frame problems, construct stories about these problems as pressing matters of concern and, ultimately, develop ethical relationships with stakeholders and increasingly diverse investors.

Correspondence analysis is a statistical method that allows researchers to explore relationships among complex categorical variables. This paper will provide researchers with the theoretical and practical foundations for understanding and applying correspondence analysis to their own research agendas. Problem: Technical communicators use a variety of research methods and collect a variety of types of data. Of particular interest to technical communicators is categorical data, or data that are not traditionally quantitative. For instance, technical communicators often collect and analyze language data from a variety of texts. Analyzing this type of data can be difficult using traditional statistical methods. Key concepts: Variable types, a priori versus exploratory research designs, contingency tables, and data visualization are central to understanding the foundations of correspondence analysis. Key lessons: To conduct correspondence analysis, a researcher must walk through a series of steps including: (1) determining whether correspondence analysis is appropriate, (2) choosing a statistical software package, (3) running the correspondence analysis, and (4) interpreting and applying the results. Implications for practice: While correspondence analysis provides many useful insights into categorical data, a researcher must consider several things when deciding to use correspondence analysis. These include the potential to misinterpret and misapply the results of a correspondence analysis.

Background: This case study examines how users of varied experience levels interact with an open-access content-management system (CMS) that lacks managed leadership. In particular, this case study compared how experienced and new users performed at a variety of tasks in a nonprofit community wiki to evaluate skill acquisition and possible skill loss. Research questions: (1) Do experienced users make more use of CMS features (templates, tags, hyperlinks) than new users, even without instruction? (2) Where do experienced and new users differ in successful task completion in the wiki? Situating the case: A number of content-management evaluations have utilized usability as a key method for evaluating user experience. In addition, Wikipedia has been a frequent target of investigation. This study looks to expand the crowd-sourced wikis evaluated in this manner. Methodology: This case study started with a series of interviews to determine how users expected to use the community wiki. After the interviews, 10 users (5 new and 5 experienced) were evaluated for this study, each performing 6 tasks. About the case: This study looked at the initial installation of a local community wiki system. The system is a CMS designed for use by municipal territories to create crowd-sourced wikis capable of preserving knowledge that would not traditionally fit in Wikipedia entries. Conclusions: Users who maintained sufficient interest in the wiki to become experienced wiki users developed a number of core skills even without organizational support, though new users demonstrated a steep skill deficit. However, new users actually demonstrated a greater capacity to highlight incompleteness of information within the wiki than experienced users in one key task.

Background: Environmental impact studies often enlist professional communicators to develop and implement public engagement plans and processes. However, few detailed reports of these public engagement plans exist in either scholarly venues or government reports. This case reviews one public engagement project in transportation planning as implemented by one professional communications firm. Research questions: 1) What communication and engagement strategies do the consultants employ in their public engagement process? 2) How do professional communicators design engagement for diverse citizen groups? Situating the case: A number of cases have revealed the ways professional and technical communicators integrate participatory or user-centered design strategies in public engagement projects. These cases suggest that professional and technical communicators are uniquely positioned to develop ethical and effective public engagement plans for environmental impact studies. Professional and technical communicators are further prepared for this work because of their knowledge about theories of intercultural communication and rhetorical theories of delivery. Methodology: This case was studied over the course of 1.5 years using qualitative research methods, including observations, interviews, and textual analysis. About the case: This case reviews the work of one particular public engagement firm, VTC Communications, as they planned and implemented public engagement in one environmental impact study. This environmental impact study team was tasked with determining the best way to accommodate the increase in rail traffic the city anticipated with the development of the high-speed rail. The public's input was needed to fulfill environmental impact statement (EIS) requirements and to fully understand the community concerns regarding the increased traffic, noise, vibrations, and family/business displacements. VTC Communications was hired to conduct this portion of the environmental impact study, and their work included the development of a range of deliverables and events. Conclusions: This case provides an overview of the process of developing public engagement plans, the deliverables designed, as well as the key goals that guided the development of public engagement. My case suggests that effective public engagement can address intercultural concerns by developing projects that are adaptable, multimodal, and dialogic.

Teaching problem: Immersive pedagogies-including real-world or client-based projects, case studies, and simulations-have long been used to encourage student problem-solving, analytical thinking, and teamwork in professional communication. Building a connection to the real world has real challenges, however, for both instructors and students. How can we better prepare students for their future careers in our technical communication courses? Situating the case: This paper draws on three areas in the literature to situate the Arisoph case study: First, we discuss the work that has been done with client-based projects and the problems and challenges researchers have found with incorporating these projects into the classroom. Second, we discuss a newer model of workplace simulations, particularly focusing on the work done by Fisher and Russell. Third, we discuss the psychological theories of attribution and reattribution, which provided a foundation for our development of the Arisoph case study. How this case was studied: This paper describes the development of the Arisoph case study, an online client-based simulation course designed for engineering students to learn and practice technical communication. Course development and collection of instructor and student responses took place from 2010 to 2014. About the case: This paper details the development and implementation of the Arisoph case study, which brought the workplace realities of a variety of engineering professions into a classroom filled with engineering majors. The Arisoph simulation was designed to manage student attribution and reattribution, particularly to help engineering students connect the principles and skills learned in technical communication courses with their future careers. The Arisoph case study is a full-semester simulation, where students apply for work in a fictional company and fulfill different roles on professional teams. Each assignment during the semester is situated in the context of the simulation. The major projects for the simulation, however, come from a real client in the engineering field. This unique combination of simulation and client-based projects provides students with greater opportunities for successful reattribution. Conclusions: Initial student reactions to the course show an increased understanding of workplace communication and a greater motivation to produce the best possible product for the client. We hope that long-term studies will show significant carryover of those attitudes into students' careers.

Research problem: Increasingly, professional and technical communicators analyze, synthesize, and respond to user-generated content, including online consumer reviews of products, as the influence of user-generated content on consumers' purchasing decisions grows. But product reviews vary in the degree to which people perceive them to be credible. Research questions: (1) To what extent does a product review's environment-a retailer or brand site-affect review users' ratings of that review's credibility? (2) To what extent does review valence (positive versus negative) affect review users' ratings of review credibility? (3) What is the strength of the relationship among credibility and its two main components, trustworthiness and expertise? Literature review: Recent research has made clear the spread and the influence of user-generated comments and, thus, the need for sophistication in handling it. Review credibility has two main components: trustworthiness (which equates to honesty or sincerity) and expertise (which equates to accuracy). Prior research also shows the effects of valence (positivity or negativity) in reviews, noting that negative reviews have more influence than positive reviews on readers' perceptions of review credibility and purchasing decisions. Methodology: We tested the effect of a consumer review's environment (brand or retailer site) and the effect of review valence (positive or negative) on the perceived credibility of that review, as well the degree of correlation among credibility, trustworthiness, and expertise. Through an online survey, we exposed respondents to the same review text with different star ratings (4-star and 2-star) in two types of sites: brand and retailer. We asked participants to evaluate the review's credibility, trustworthiness, and expertise. In half of the exposures, participants evaluated a review in the site of a high-credibility company (Apple or Amazon), and in the other half of exposures, participants evaluated a review in the site of a midlevel-credibility company (Dell or Walmart). Results and conclusions: Credibility strongly correlated with both trustworthiness and expertise. Participants rated 4-star reviews as more credible than 2-star reviews on high-credibility sites, but star ratings had no impact on midlevel credibility sites. We found no difference between ratings of reviews displayed on brand and retailer sites for midlevel-credibility companies but a small difference between reviews displayed on brand and retailer sites for high-credibility companies. Professional communicators should attend to reviews posted both to retailer and brand sites. Conclusions: Professional communicators charged with managing user-generated content need not spend resources on channeling it into retailer and other independent review site environments as opposed to brand site environments. Our findings indicate that professional communicators looking to identify credible reviews should attend to review valence, or the positivity or negativity of a review. When managing user-generated product reviews, they should try to make credible content more noticeable to review users.

Research problem: In Ireland, technical communication has developed as an academic and occupational field since the late 20th century. Research on the field in Ireland is limited. Research questions: (1) To what extent do technical communicators in Ireland operate as a community of practice? (2) What steps are Irish technical communicators taking toward professionalization? Literature review: This study uses a theoretical framework that combines symbolic interactionism and communities of practice theories. While traditional professionalization theory uses a structural functionalist approach to the study of occupations, characterizing disciplines as professions depending on whether they meet certain traits (including autonomy, market closure, license to practice, and service orientation), symbolic interactionism prioritizes interactions among individuals. In this sense, it overlaps with the concerns of communities of practice. A community of practice involves a group of people working together, and creating meaning through their interactions. Studying an occupation through this lens foregrounds individual and community identity, and how that is formed and informed by work. Methodology: Mixed methods-a survey, focus groups, and interviews-were used to explore Irish technical communicators' perceptions of aspects of their field: practice, education, value and status, and professional and community structures. Results: The findings indicate that Irish technical communicators exhibit traits of communities of practice (such as joint enterprise and shared repertoires). They also identify with their job title and practice. A key finding is that some Irish technical communicators have a keen appetite for community involvement. This enthusiasm notwithstanding, barriers to professionalization include low visibility of the role in Ireland, limited evidence of professionalizing activity, and the potential for career stagnation.

Background: This teaching case describes the evolution of a course on content strategy aimed at advanced undergraduates and graduate students in the digital and professional writing programs at Michigan State University. The course has gone through three major shifts to reflect corresponding shifts in focus among professional and technical communicators: from developing content for the World Wide Web (original focus) to single sourcing; from single-sourcing to Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMS), and from ECMS to content strategy. The case primarily focuses on the most recent shift. Research questions: How can a course on content strategy be useful to both advanced undergraduates preparing to enter the job market in industry and graduate students interested in learning theories in technical communication? In turn, how can a course on content strategy reflect current practices in industry while maintaining grounding for the course in academic research? Situating the case: Three emerging themes relevant to teaching content strategy emerge in the literature. The first is the role of the content strategist as an Editor-in-Chief, who creates a repeatable system for designing and managing all aspects of a website [1, 2, 3]. The second is the need to develop strategies for addressing stakeholders, especially clients and users, whose goals are to learn more about why they should invest in an organization and its broader vision. The third is adapting content for reuse, which involves designing content that can be easily accessed through various platforms and formats. How the case was studied: This is an experience report by the four faculty members who, together, have taught every section of the course in the last 15 years. Two of the instructors also participated in the course as students. About the case: The most recent version of the course is a one-term course that teaches theory and best practices for managing dynamic and distributed web content, while also incorporating assignments that help students practice content strategies with real clients. It addressed these issues with the previous version that focused on content management by collaborating with industry practitioners to help students understand the real-world implications of developing strategies for and creating web content with clients and organizations. It specifically addresses three themes identified from the literature-emphasizing the role of the content strategist as an Editor-in-Chief, differentiating the needs of clients and users, and designing for reuse. Course assignments include a landscape analysis of content-management systems and strategies used by various companies, designing content templates for specific clients, and developing a content strategy for a client selected by student groups. Key issues to address when developing the most recent version of the course included creating a course that was useful to graduate and undergraduate students aiming to enter content strategy professions, developing a balance between theory and practice in course readings and assignments, and revising a course to reflect current industry demands for skills in content strategy. Results: Anecdotal evidence from students is that the course was successful and acts as a defacto capstone for the program. Through their course evaluations and unsolicited follow-up emails, students exiting the most recent version of this course became valuable assets who help organizations develop big-picture strategies for adaptable content to be shared through various platforms. Conclusion: A course on content strategy that incorporates current industry perspectives helps graduate and undergraduate professional writing students become more adequately prepared for their future professions working with organizations.

The papers in this special section focus on effective content strategies. As a unifying vision and action plan, content strategy brings together various specialized writing communities, including professional and technical communication, marketing communication, and web development, ideally breaking disciplinary silos and biases and promoting convergence of these four key dimensions of practice Component content management—an interdisciplinary area of practice that focuses on creating and managing information as small components rather than documents has brought significant changes to professional and technical communication work since 2008. One major change is the move toward integrating organizational and user-generated content as well as disciplines and departments, expertise and roles, and business processes and tools. As stakeholders with various backgrounds across organizational units increasingly work together to create and publish content components, they need a unifying approach that fulfills business goals, organization requirements, and user needs. Content strategy has been proposed as that unifying approach.

Research problem: This study investigates the phenomenon of user-generated content strategy in an open-source, wiki-based content-management system (CMS) for the repair of technological devices (http://ifixit.com). By “user-generated content strategy,” we mean processes for developing systems for producing, moderating, and encouraging user-generated content. Research questions: (1) What strategies, or holistic means of organizing content, are used to manage repair manual content via an open-source, wiki-based content-management system that relies on content generated by a wide variety of users? (2) What content rules, or logical premises for how and where content is developed, emerge from a qualitative case study of such a CMS? Literature review: Though a wealth of empirical research has been conducted into user-generated content, few studies have focused on the explicit strategies employed by organizations to develop and encourage such content. At the same time, several recent calls by researchers in both academia and industry have indicated a need for such content models. Some of the challenges these thinkers have noted with creating user-generated content strategies include the difficulty of maintaining a consistent strategy across content generated by users who don't necessarily understand what strategies are in place, as well as maintaining a modicum of quality assurance without squelching user participation. Methodology: We conducted a content audit of iFixit's main educational initiative, the Technical Writing Project (http://edu.ifixit.com) to identify strategies iFixit uses to organize content in this initiative. iFixit is an open-source wiki to help users repair their own devices. We supplemented the audit with interviews with student participants in the project and iFixit technical writing staff to find out what technologies and other affordances affected users of the iFixit Technical Writing Project. Results and conclusions: The main user-generated content strategies used by iFixit include allowing users a wide range of means to participate (such as posting comments or developing their own repair guides), using a content moderation queue (or simple interface for seeing all updates to the wiki), ensuring quality assurance of all repair guide content through redundancy (such as making sure experienced users vetted every published guide), and staging (or arranging information in a linear sequence) information in a multimodal fashion (using multiple modes of communication to reinforce the same information). Such strategies represent a commitment by iFixit to opening up practices that are central to creating content, such as repair documentation, to any interested internet user. Lessons for organizations who wish to encourage user-generated content include developing strategies that protect users from the worst consequences of their actions, that encourage participation, and that allow for experienced users to vet new content.

Research problem: Content strategy, whether narrowly focused on the production of web-based materials for customers or managing the data, information, and documentation of an entire enterprise, has become the latest in a series of movements and methods that have sought to improve the integration of professional and technical communication with the marketing, training, and business processes of organizations. Research questions: How is content strategy defined and described in professional and scholarly literature? What do these definitions and descriptions suggest about the direction of the field of professional and technical communication? Literature review: The theoretical foundation of this study is Classical Rhetorical theory which, for thousands of years, has provided critical methods and vocabularies for the analysis of discourse; my purpose in using it here is to rely on a consistent lens that has served professional and technical communicators well. Classical rhetorical principles can give us useful insight into content strategy, the latest in a series of movements that have captured the attention of professional and technical communicators because they have promised to expand the scope of the work and move the work from the fringes of organizational activity to the center. Previous movements include knowledge management, single sourcing, and content management. Methodology: Because content strategy is an emerging area, I conducted an integrative literature review to characterize this emerging field. This involved a systematic search of peer-reviewed and professional literature on content strategy that met specific qualifications, reading and collecting information from each source about its answers to the research question and its authorship, and analyzing those data to find patterns in them. Results and conclusions: Because only two peer-reviewed sources existed on content strategy, the majority of the literature reviewed emerged from the trade press. I survey the definitions of content and content strategy provided by this literature, and found that almost every definition uses content as part of the definition, leading to some lack of clarity in all of those definitions. But three areas of consensus exist among the definitions: that content strategy is: (a) more inclusive of the lifecycle of content (addressing the processes of creating, revising, approving, publishing, and revising material), (b) integrated with technical and business requirements, and (c) largely focused on material used by customers and, therefore, focused on marketing and support documents. It primarily focuses on traditional genres of content and overlooks emerging genres. The literature suggests that content strategy provides a pathway to make the work of technical communicators more central to organizations. But the literature offers only broad advice for doing so, with few examples (other than some specific templates, which primarily benefit those who already have experience with content strategy). The advice primarily comes from authors working in consulting firms and, as a result, might not reflect the challenges that professional and technical communicators who work internally experience.

Research problem: Our study focuses on how students collaborate online to produce specific written genres, using particular collaborative technologies to work together productively, and how instructor feedback and student perspectives on collaborative work influence those activities in online classrooms. Research questions: When composing using collaborative web-based writing applications, do students focus primarily on the interface or the text space? What kinds of expectations about collaborative writing do students bring to the interface and text space? To what extent can we characterize students' acknowledgement of a third space, what we have identified as “communicative interaction?” Literature review: Workplace collaboration is important because organizations increasingly demand effective collaborators, team members, and team leaders, and technologies for sharing, cobuilding, and feedback are readily available to support these activities. Student preparation for workplace collaboration is important because students struggle when they are asked to write together, particularly when the collaborative process involves new technologies, and yet knowledge of collaborative writing strategies and experience with collaborative technologies, such as Google Docs, are the very competencies that organizations expect of them. Methodology: Thirteen groups of 3 to 4 technical writing students and science communication students enrolled in online professional writing courses at a major research university wrote feature specifications and reports on the globalization of the sciences, respectively, using Google Docs within Google Drive. Sixteen of 37 students responded to a set of questions asking them to reflect on their experiences working collaboratively, learning new genres, using the collaborative environment, and revising with instructor feedback. Results and conclusions: We found that students struggled most with adapting their already established collaborative strategies grounded in face-to-face learning situations to an online learning environment, where they felt their means of communication and expression were limited. The results suggest that effective collaborative experiences, properly executed, represent a repertoire of competencies that go well beyond only technical considerations, such as being able to effectively assign roles, set milestones, and navigate the numerous tasks and processes of writing as a team. The small number of students and the single instructor with her own particular feedback style limit the study. Future research includes looking at how different feedback styles influence student collaborative writing.

Background: The diffusion of component content management and structured authoring workflows and technologies in technical communication requires that instructors of documentation courses determine effective ways to teach component content management to students who may initially be intimidated by authoring environments and structures, such as the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). This teaching case describes how component content management and DITA were integrated into the Creating User Documentation course of an undergraduate professional writing program. Research questions: How can instructors of technical and professional writing best teach English and humanities students to operate within a structured authoring workflow? How can computational abstraction be combined with students' previously acquired genre knowledge to ease their adoption of the DITA to create technical documentation? Situating the case: The development of this course was informed by literature from a variety of scholarly and industry sources, which reveal connections between DITA, computational thinking, and Rhetorical Genre theory. Specifically, the concept of “layers of abstraction” guides the development of the course's structure, allowing students to separate and independently process the various aspects of a structured authoring workflow. How the case was studied: The case was studied informally through the experience of the authors as they developed and taught the course, through informal discussions and structured interviews with industry professionals, and through student reflections from discussion forum posts from Fall 2012 through Fall 2013. About the case: Initially developed with a focus on print manuals and online help, the course began teaching topic-based authoring in the mid-2000s; however, most enterprise-level editors and tools were cost-prohibitive for students and faculty. Furthermore, many computing concepts associated with structured authoring were intimidating for an audience of students in an English department. An affordable solution was adopting the open-source DITA standard, using free trials or open-source editors. The intimidation factor was minimized by designing the course around five layers of abstraction that draw on students' previous rhetorical knowledge: Layer 1: Developing quality documentation, Layer 2: Separating content from design, Layer 3: Authoring granular content with XML, Layer 4: Authoring and linking Component Content Management modules with DITA, and Layer 5: Single-sourcing and content reuse. This case discusses each layer of abstraction, the associated assignments for each layer, and the results of each layer based on student feedback. Results and conclusions: Although the course is not universally loved by students, it has seen many successes and provides a much-needed foundation in component content management and structured authoring for students who might become technical communicators. The teaching team has learned to avoid overemphasizing coding and automation in structured authoring, maintain a solid grounding on writing principles and good technical communication requirements, and draw upon students' existing knowledge of genres and their constraints.

Background: When an organization decides to adopt a technology, such as a content-management system (CMS), the choice affects writing styles and processes, and conversely, writing styles affect the implementation of the technology. This case study compares and contrasts the experiences of writers in organizations that implemented different types of CMSs: a web CMS (WCMS) and a component CMS (CCMS), with a focus on the different types of training given to each group to facilitate the implementations. Research questions: (1) What are the dependencies between technology choices and the corollary editorial constraints that writers must consider in order to realize the benefits that the technology can bring? (2) What types of training are needed to ensure that writers become fully productive in a collaborative, structured-authoring environment? Situating the case: When adopting structured information technologies, such as CMS, organizations seek to reduce costs and improve efficiencies through the reuse and better management of content components, such as text and images, which can significantly reduce the costs of translation, reproduction, and maintenance of publications. Structured information technologies, such as a CMS, Extensible Markup Language (XML), and Darwin Information Technology Architecture (DITA) affect technical communicators by changing writing styles to a more structured, topic-based approach, by introducing new tools and concepts for authoring and publishing, and by requiring more involvement in the selection, use, and maintenance of the technologies. Previous efforts to address these issues through training include works by Critchlow, who addressed the use of database systems to address challenges in developing documentation in collaborative environments; Edgell, who related how technical communicators proposed a CMS-based documentation solution to a software firm; and Lanier, who described how one organization overcame the resistance to new structured information technologies by writers. Methodology: The case was studied as an experience report by one of this article's authors (Bailie), in which the organizations engaged a consultant during their CMS implementation projects. The observations are qualitative and reflect consulting engagements with two teams over a period of almost three years. About the case: A common problem in implementing CMSs is interdependencies between content structures, on which the technology depends, and the editorial changes required to ensure that the content is best structured to take full advantage of the capabilities of the technology chosen. This case describes a four-phase training process provided to two clients: one with several contributors to the content-management effort in a single location; the other with more than a dozen contributors in several locations. Each client received four phase of training: (1) theoretical training-understanding pertinent theories behind good content development; (2) application of theory-how to apply the theories to their workplace; (3) software training-learning the new software to produce the content; (4) production-support immediately following training, during implementation. The results of the training were to increase the skill levels of the writers to understand how to leverage content in powerful ways using sophisticated technology. Conclusions: Determine the production needed for the content when choosing a class of CMS to address those production needs. Afterwards, match the training of the writers to the complexity of the system. Content strategists, project managers, technical communicators, and others involved in implementing a CMS need to allow sufficient time and training for writers to adjust their skills to the new technology and the new processes and techniques required to effectively use them.

Background: This case study examines the implementation of an early single-source (the reuse across documents and projects of content stored in a database) content-management system among technical communicators and how they influenced the decision to adopt the technology. Research questions: (1) Why was a component content-management system developed and what was the process of its implementation? (2) How did technical communicators, functioning as both adopters and change agents, influence the new system's adoption? What affected their perceptions of agency during the implementation? Situating the case: Diffusion of Innovations Theory defines innovation adoption as a communication process that occurs over time. When participating as change agents in innovation diffusion, technical communicators are uniquely qualified to support technological change because they are skilled in making technologies accessible to users. Technical communicators can also be the recipients of change, particularly when organizations adopt new technologies, such as content-management systems. Given their expertise at the interface of technology and its users, technical communicators are well positioned to impact the adoption of content-management systems. Methodology: A single, retrospective instrumental case design examined the early 2000s' implementation of a single-source content-management system in the technical communication group of a global company. Surveys, interviews, and document analysis were used to examine the case over a six-year period About the case: A single-source system was adopted to contain costly increases in document cycle time resulting from: (1) customized production of complex and varied products and (2) new European Union regulations requiring all product documentation written in the national language at the point of sale. The system stored product information in a central repository as numbered modules that could be reused in future deliverables. Doing so brought greater continuity to authoring, translation, and publication of content. The system eliminated retranslation of information and automatically recorded and applied any subsequent changes to all affected documents. Technical communicators functioned as change agents and adopters during the system's implementation. Technical communicators in the organization had the choice to adopt the system, and adoption rates varied among staff members. Despite preparation for possible resistance, several staff initially rejected the new system. Those who adopted it did so quickly and created a shared meaning about the system with change agents, a meaning not shared with resistors. The decision of whether to adopt was influenced by perceptions of the innovation and of agency (positive and negative) about the change agents. Conclusions: A pro-innovation bias can impede the creation of shared meaning between change agents and adopters. Emphasizing technical knowledge about the innovation over persuasive elements of empathy for the uncertainty it produces and identity of what it means to be a writer can also stifle adoption. As change agents, technical communicators influence adoption through their rhetorical understanding of situation and capacity for establishing contexts that allow for the construction of shared meaning between change agents and potential adopters. Also, a perceived lack of decisive leadership or a champion for the change risks restricting the power of change agents to influence adoption and can create a space for protracted resistance to it.

Research problem: The widespread adoption of component content management in organizations calls for a comprehensive summary of the territory of this phenomenon. A summary provides stakeholders in component content management with a sense of how the practice has evolved and its implications to research, theory, and future practice. The last such review was published in 2003. This integrative literature review is intended to fill the gap in the literature by describing the current state of component content management as presented in the current publications. Research questions: How is “content” currently defined, described, and approached in the component content-management literature? What processes and tools are organizations adopting to achieve the goals of component content management? Literature review: The theoretical orientation of this review is Rhetorical Genre theory, which allows for classifying individual components as a genre characterized by granularity, reusability, and potentiality. Component content management gained recognition in the mid-1990s when early adopter organizations were looking for more efficient and effective approaches to reusing information between similar products or versions of the same product. Developments in the 2000s include a surge of publications focused on defining and describing component content management; new best practices for implementing a component content-management initiative; evolving processes and technologies for creating highly engineered, modular content that can automatically adjust to specific user requests and device capabilities; and collaborative efforts to integrate content creation and management strategies across organizational units. Scholarly and trade publications increasingly explore different concerns; whereas scholarly publications tend to offer critical perspectives on component content management, trade publications tend to describe processes and technologies and articulate best practices. Both focus on the goals of component content management, such as single sourcing, content reuse, multichannel publishing, and the structured content components required to achieve these goals. Methodology: To answer the research questions, we reviewed the body of literature on component content management. To do so, we searched library databases, Google, and Amazon.com for articles and books in both the scholarly and trade literature; we also sought out publications by well-known voices in component content management who direct successful consultant and/or research organizations. We then classified selected publications in relation to research questions and identified themes within each research question. The review did not explore other types of content management. Results and conclusions: Current component content-management literature suggests that component content management has evolved from a practice focused on single sourcing and reuse strategies for product documentation to a mature discipline concerned with designing pre-sales and post-sales information products for a multitude of devices and delivery channels. In recent years, trade publications have led the way to standardizing the discipline's core concepts, methodologies, processes, and technologies, such as structured content, structured authoring, single sourcing, component-based content strategy, Extensible Markup Language authoring tools, and component-content-management systems. Scholarly publications, however, have had comparatively little impact on advancing the discipline of component content management because only a handful of publications have focused on the topic and almost no crosstalk exists between these publications and the trade literature. Several questions about the practices of component content management still need to be answered, particularly in the areas of multilingual communication and content quality and usability. Based on the results of the literature review, we call for a coherent, robust, and ambitious component content-management research agenda that addresses topics such as content quality and usability, the diffusion of content-management systems, and global content management and that leads to studies that both advance scholarship and improve component content-management practice.

The articles in this special issue focus on content management. Here, content management is used to refer to a particular type of content management: component content management. Component content management is an interdisciplinary area of practice characterized by methodologies, processes, and technologies that rely on principles of reuse, granularity, and structure to allow communicators to create and manage information as small components rather than as entire documents. An example of component content management is a product user guide that can be generated on demand. A customer who has questions on how to use particular product features, for instance, might select relevant topics from a menu available on a product support webpage or mobile application and, upon submitting a request, receive a just-generated customized guide that meets his or her immediate information needs. When information is created and managed as small components, these components can be assembled and published in myriad ways, as in the case of the above example. By shifting the focus of information development from entire documents to reusable units of information, content management has brought on a magnitude of changes to the field of professional and technical communication over the past 15 years. It has changed work processes and practices and, in doing so, redefined what it means to be a communicator. The promise of component content management

Research problem: Over the past decade, the popularity of fantasy sports games has grown dramatically. A fantasy sport is a simulation game in which game players act as owners to build, manage, and coach imaginary teams that compete against one another, based on statistics generated by actual players or teams of a professional sport. In line with this, we have seen the emergence of various forms of media content being produced directly for those who participate in fantasy sports games-the most prolific example of this is writing for fantasy sports. This study aims to establish an understanding of how fantasy sport articles are currently being constructed by assessing the contributions of professional journalists and amateur writers. Research questions: RQ1: If the standardization of written discourse genres stems from the reciprocity between generic conventions and the responses to situations, then what are the differences between the discourse strategy used by professional journalists and that by their amateur counterparts in fantasy sports writing? RQ2: What are the writers' rhetorical goals and the reader-writer relationships they wish to establish through the fantasy sports texts? Literature review: This study is rooted in the notion of genre, a communicative event through which the writer and reader interact to make meanings in a particular context. Communication of fantasy sports involves the production of content that provides readers with news, analysis, and opinions about-and knowledge of-matters that concern the games, thus creating pools of intelligence which other fantasy sports players can use, add to, argue against, or ignore. This amateur-produced content and resulting knowledge communities formed by fantasy sports players have led to a genre development that professional communicators should examine because it reflects so much technical documentation and instructions have migrated into user-generated spaces. “The move” in genre analysis is a meaningful rhetorical unit that is related to the communicative purpose of a social activity and that contributes to the text's overall strategy within its situational context. Moves operate in coherence rather than isolation in a text. Methodology: A discourse analysis was conducted on 60 fantasy sports texts (30 by professional journalists and 30 by amateur writers) randomly selected from a few specific sources in 2012. A custom move scheme was devised for analyzing fantasy sports texts in this study. The results were analyzed using a chi-square test. Results and discussion: Results reveal significant differences between the discourse strategy used by professional journalists and that by amateur writers. These differences include amateur writers differing to some extent in their rhetorical goals from professional journalists as they offer media consumers a more balanced spread of information, that professional journalists place a substantially lower value on making predictions, that amateur writers and professional journalists share similar regard in terms of the appropriate amount of casualness to include in their writing although amateur writers are more included to build casualness in their articles, and that the use of writing techniques to invite further connection or engagement from readers is being underutilized by both professional and amateur writers. The major implications for the professional communicators are the insights into user-generated content, an approach in which organizations increasingly rely on for their product and service documentation.

Research problem: No study has explored how incorporating personas into heuristic evaluation of products, namely websites, affects the kinds of findings reported and the recommendations presented by usability evaluators. Research questions: (1) Do findings resulting from heuristic evaluations of a website without the use of personas differ from findings resulting from heuristic evaluations of the same website with the use of personas? (2) Do findings from persona-based heuristic evaluations in which evaluators develop their own personas differ from findings from persona-based heuristic evaluations in which evaluators are given personas? (3) If findings and recommendations are different, how do they differ? (4) How does the use of personas affect the evaluators' confidence in the findings of a heuristic evaluation? Literature review: First, previous research of heuristic evaluation has concluded that although heuristic evaluation is inexpensive and does not require advance planning, it has several shortcomings, including its too-intense focus on minor issues and its inability to capture all usability issues. Second, data-driven personas, which have long been a resource in user-centered design, have been suggested as a way to improve or enhance heuristic evaluation, and several studies suggest that usability professionals are indeed using personas in their evaluations. However, no empirical study has assessed heuristic evaluations that include personas. Methodology: In this exploratory study involving three sections of an advanced technical writing course, groups of evaluators conducted a heuristic evaluation of a website. Each section was randomly assigned a different condition with which they would conduct the heuristic evaluation: (a) a traditional heuristic evaluation, (b) a persona-led heuristic evaluation in which the personas were given to the evaluators, or (c) a persona-led heuristic evaluation in which the evaluators themselves created their own personas. Each group wrote a report identifying the major problems with the website and provided recommendations to solve the identified problems. The evaluators completed pretesting demographic surveys and posttesting confidence surveys. Results and discussion: This exploratory study found few detectable differences in the findings reported by groups that used personas in heuristic evaluation and groups that did not use personas. The groups that used personas were more likely to report findings related to navigation than the groups that did not use personas, while the groups that did not use personas were more likely to report findings related to design than the groups that used personas. The groups that created their own personas were more likely than the other groups to include complex issues in their reports and include language that directly references users and user needs. All groups were confident in their findings.

Research problem: Subversive environmental texts, those that strive against hegemonic discourse, such as the book Ecodefense, have a long history of use by radical environmentalists as a means for recruitment and distribution of best practices. This study aims to investigate the role of plain language in the subversive text Ecodefense, and consider some ethical implications of plain language by conducting a close textual analysis. Research questions: (1) Is the subversive text Ecodefense an artifact of plain language? (2) If Ecodefense is written in plain language, what does that suggest about the inherent ethicality of plain language? Literature review: Plain language refers to clear expression designed to help users achieve desired goals. In the sense that it is a communication practice, it is guided by standards put forth by various agencies and bureaucratic bodies. In the sense that it is a movement, plain language is characterized by the proliferation of organizations advocating for plain language practices in society. This study is rooted in the investigation of the ethical practices of social movements. It considers the ethics of plain language practices when they are put toward subversive ends and explores the ethical value of plain language itself. Methodology: Ecodefense is analyzed using the Center for Plain Language's (CPL) Plain Language checklist and Writemark's criteria for documents, which includes consideration of the audience, structure, language content, and design of a text, as well as usability testing. Results and conclusion: Analysis shows that Ecodefense is partially representative of plain language use and practice under the CPL's standards, and appears somewhat more fully representative under Writemark's standards, which are designed for use by a trained assessor. Analysis further suggests that adherence to checklist-driven language practices may unwittingly enable an ethic of exigence; thus, research is needed into the ethical implications for list-driven, or standards-based, rhetoric in order to ensure that plain language practices consider long-term implications for users and for organizations that employ these practices.

Background: Virtual teams collaborate across distances using information communication technologies (ICTs). A distinctive set of communication skills is needed by people who work successfully in virtual teams, and few universities or companies provide structured education and training in virtual teamwork. At a midsized southeastern Masters Comprehensive University, professors from the Colleges of Arts and Sciences, Business, and Education came together to explore how they might use cross-disciplinary student teams (groups comprised of students with different backgrounds and educational goals) to teach concepts in their own disciplines while providing students with the opportunity to become more proficient in virtual team communication. Research questions: (1) Can cross-disciplinary student team projects successfully support learning in virtual team communication as well as address the learning objectives of specific courses? (2) What can faculty learn from a cross-disciplinary teaching model that can be applied to virtual teams? Situating the case: Experiential learning is based on performing real tasks and reflecting on that process; it benefits learners by engaging them in complex, authentic situations. Virtual teams are significant because they support a great deal of the work currently taking place in our global economy; they are significant in higher education because students need to develop skills in international virtual communication before they are introduced to high-stakes work environments. In previous cases, students have collaborated across national cultures to develop project deliverables, such as websites, reports, and usability studies and present them in virtual environments using such tools as WebEx, Skype, and live streaming. How this case was studied: The findings from this case are based on individual student reflections, which were used to create a data matrix for each project, and instructor observation and evaluation. About the case: In Spring 2013, six faculty from the same university worked together to incorporate virtual teams into their classrooms. These six faculty members were divided into two groups of three with each group representing three colleges mentioned earlier. The faculty developed two interdisciplinary projects (one on infographics and another on social media) that enabled rich and diverse student collaboration. In both groups, the three faculty leaders worked together to define a project scope that students could achieve and that would relate to learning goals in each discipline. Conclusions: The lessons learned from this experience are that: (1) technical challenges will occur; (2) students from all disciplines must receive the same information; (3) instructors must balance respect for their colleagues and support for their students; (4) team assignments need to be consistent and fair; (5) instructors need to establish appropriate and fair assessment measurements for their own students; and (6) projects need to be realistic in order to show the students the value of virtual work.

This collection of 11 narratives is a well-crafted assemblage of stories that illustrate diverse experiences in the technical communication academic program offices at colleges and universities across the country. This book is intended for those who are responsible for creating and administering technical communication programs and aims to provide its readers with lessons learned from the field. The readers of this book will come away with some thoughtful points to consider as they work within the framework of their own academic resources, whether it involves multidiscipline departmental influences, or resistance to change from long established traditions.

Research problem: As a follow up to an earlier article, this study compares Fortune 500 website homepage design in 2013 with the results of a similar study in 2008, providing an updated overview of homepage design practice that reflects the many technological advances that have influenced web design during the intervening period. The findings are useful for those wanting to know the state of homepage design in 2013, whether as current practitioners or researchers. Research questions: (1) What are the current homepage design practices of Fortune 500 companies? (2) What are the current Web 2.0 technology practices of Fortune 500 companies? (3) What changes in homepage design have occurred for Fortune 500 companies? (4) What are the differences in homepage design and Web 2.0 technology practices between the 100 largest and 100 smallest Fortune 500 companies? and (5) Is homogeneity in design increasing amongst Fortune 500 homepages? Literature review: Three key areas guided my analysis of homepages. (1) Usability research, which suggests guidelines for design based on aggregated performance of users, such as locating the search box in the upper right and for directing mobile users to an alternate site designed for mobile access. (2) Design practice studies, which suggest guidelines for design based on aggregated analyses of websites, such as having links to employment information and investor information on the homepage. (3) Design patterns: libraries of patterns to provide designers with responses to design problems, such as using collapsible panels or module tabs to reveal and conceal content on a page. These libraries also provide guidelines for design, such as using fat menus or sitemap footers to structure navigation. Methodology: Using content analysis, every Fortune 500 homepage in 2013 was analyzed for 68 major design elements in these categories--navigation, content links, support for specific types of users, visual design, multimedia, and web 2.0-and the results were analyzed. Results and conclusions: The homepages displayed greater homogeneity in design than a similar study in 2008. Overall, 12 elements-(1) corporate logo in the top left of the page; (2) link to an “about us” section containing company information; (3) link to information for those seeking employment; (4) horizontally oriented main navigation; (5) link for contacting the company; (6) link for information for investors; (7) link for terms of use or legal disclaimers; (8) link to privacy information; (9) link for news or a press room; (10) multimedia use; (11) links that do not appear on the page initially, requiring interaction; (12) search box, located in the upper right of page-were present on 80% or more homepages, and 6 elements-(1) web 2.0 features; (2) an image that can be clicked on as a focal point; (3) link to a sitemap; (4) link to Twitter; (5) link to Facebook; and (6) dropdown or pulldown menu-were present on 50% to 79% of pages. Between 2008 and 2013, many practices have changed, such as increases in page length, the overall number of links, the number of links to social media sites, and the number of sites with search boxes. Certain design choices-such as mobile options for sites, links to social media sites, and links to site maps-were more prevalent in the largest 100 companies than the smallest 100 companies.

Research problem: Most of the previous research into corporate websites has focused on the users' point of view and their perception of usability and interactivity as the two predominant website characteristics, and has shown that interactivity plays an important role in consumers' perceptions of, and responses to, these sites. This study explores corporate websites from a different view-that of the company-and investigates the organizational motivation to adopt new interactive features on corporate websites. Research question: What are the critical factors influencing the firm's adoption of online innovations related to interactivity on their websites? Literature review: Many dominant theories in information technology (IT) that guide most research on IT adoption at the firm level include the diffusion of innovations theory (which seeks to explain how, why, and at what rate new ideas and technology spread through cultures) and the technology, organization, and environment framework (which identifies three aspects of an enterprise's context that influence the process by which it adopts and implements a technological innovation). But other research streams can contribute to the Theory of Technology Adoption at the firm level, including Institutional Theory (which is a widely accepted theoretical posture that emphasizes rational myths, isomorphism, and legitimacy) and the model of Iacovou et al.(which analyzes interorganizational systems' characteristics that influence firms to adopt IT innovations). Methodology: A conceptual model with supporting propositions was tested using an online questionnaire. Data were collected from 138 firms in Switzerland and Germany and analyzed with multiple regression analysis. Results and conclusions: Complexity, perceived benefits, top management support, and information intensity are the drivers that play important roles in the diffusion of innovation related to interactivity on corporate websites, and support our conceptual model.

To prepare students for careers postgraduation, many academic programs have added components, such as service-learning projects (civic oriented, real-audience tasks) and client projects (real-audience corporate or nonprofit tasks), which aim to acclimate students to the expectations of “real world” clients while they are still in the relatively “safe” domain of the classroom. The two studies reported in this paper examine whether participating in client projects as part of regular technical communication classes aids students in internships and later on the job. Research questions: Overall question: How does legitimate peripheral participation in client projects give students opportunities for learning beyond the end of the client project? Literature review: Service-learning and client projects are intended to benefit students by offering real-world audiences and complex experiences with professional practitioners. Client projects help students face these challenges when moving from school to work, such as acculturating into the organization or completing tasks designed for purposes other than the learner's development. Methodology: To evaluate experiences on a particular client project, study one surveyed six students with open-ended questions about their experiences on it. To explore how the client project prepared them for internships, study two used semistructured interviews with interns and supervisors, observations of interns at work, and documents that interns created. Results and conclusions: Through recursive analysis, client projects emerged as being important in students' internship experiences. Students participate in client projects in ways that support their learning and development as members of a community of practice in internships and on the job. This learning is gradual and varied. One particular finding for teachers is that rather than shield students from client interactions, it may be helpful to promote frequent, structured interactions with clients to better prepare students for the workplace.

Research problem: For many organizations, high-quality technical information products for global audiences are becoming an increasingly important part of doing business. Component content management attempts to facilitate the creation of such information products. A growing number of technical communication groups are adopting the strategies, standards, and technologies of component content management. This integrative literature review examines the impacts of component content management on the quality of multilingual information products. Research questions: How are the impacts of component content management on multilingual quality conceptualized? How do best practices address the impacts of component content management on multilingual quality? Literature review: Two divides characterize component content management and multilingual quality. The divide between the academy and industry is marked by different levels of interest in quality, particularly its practical aspects. The divide between technical communication and technical translation and localization is defined by the lack of communication between the representatives of each field that leads to a narrower understanding of multilingual quality. Therefore, a comprehensive picture of the impacts of component content management on multilingual quality requires combining the perspectives of scholarly and industry authors in technical communication and technical translation and localization. Activity Theory provides an approach for bridging the divides and creating such a comprehensive picture. Methodology: To provide such a comprehensive picture, I systematically reviewed literature sources on component content management and multilingual quality in scholarly and trade sources in technical communication and technical translation and localization, then classified all selected publications by their relationships to the research questions, themes within them, and characteristics of the source. Results and conclusions: Contradictory conceptual understandings exist on the impacts of component content management on multilingual quality. While some sources praise benefits of component content management, particularly increased consistency and the promise to provide additional adaption possibilities, other sources focus on the challenges of using it, especially a lack of context, text segmentation, and human resources. Although best practices offer some suggestions for overcoming these challenges, the suggestions do not resolve them sufficiently and do not reconcile the contradiction between consistency and adaptation of information products based on the different expectations of audiences around the globe. This study is limited by the fact that it primarily focused on English language publications. Future research needs to be conducted collaboratively by stakeholders in academia and industry and from technical communication and technical translation and localization.

This study explores the characteristics of authors who have published in technical communication journals between 2008 and 2012 to generate insights into who is actively contributing to scholarship in the field. These insights drive a broader discussion regarding programmatic implications and interdisciplinary approaches to research. Research questions: (1) Who is publishing in technical communication journals? In which departments are they housed and in which departments did they receive their Ph.D. training? (2) What relationship exists between an author's departments (current and Ph.D.) and the publication venues he or she chooses? (3) What relationship exists between an author's department (current and Ph.D.) and the type of research he or she produces? (4) What relationship exists between an author's department (current and Ph.D.) and collaboratively authored articles? Also, is there a relationship between doctoral training outside the US and collaboratively authored articles? (5) Among authors with Ph.D.'s in technical communication, is there a relationship between doctoral program and research output (collaboratively authored articles and research method)? Literature review: All disciplines, especially maturing disciplines, must examine and evaluate the research its scholars produce in order to identify trends that signal growth and areas that require additional growth. Previous research indicates that departments in which people trained and where they work influence the research profiles of individuals, and by extension, the field. This is particularly true in technical communication, whose research features a plurality of methods, a positive attribute of the field. However, an uneven distribution of research methods used in the field also presents potential areas for growth. Methodology: A data set of 674 authors who have published in the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (TPC), Technical Communication Quarterly, and Journal of Business and Technical Communication (JBTC), between 2008 and 2012 was coded for current department, Ph.D. department, department with a technical communication degree program, research method, and collaboratively authored articles. Data were analyzed using contingency table analysis and correspondence analysis. Results and discussion: Authors from English departments constitute nearly 30% of the sample; authors from information systems and technology departments and management, business, and economics departments made up more than 20% of the total sample. A little over 20% of the sample received a Ph.D. degree in technical communication. Authors from information systems and technology departments and management, business, and economics departments are highly associated with TPC. Authors from English departments and writing departments were associated with TCQ and JBTC. TC is associated with authors from education departments and human-centered design departments. Authors from information systems and technology departments and management, business, and economics departments were associated with surveys and experiments. Authors from English departments were associated with case study and mixed methods research. Non-US authors and ones from engineering, computer science, linguistics, information systems and technology, and management, business, and economics departments were all highly associated with collaboratively authored articles. These results provide insights into which disciplines are most influential and opportunities to consider the approaches and training of our diverse population of scholars in an effort to build a cohesive body of research. The results are limited by the time frame of the study, and future studies could examine a more extensive sample to examine shifts in authorship characteristics over time.

Background: Online, informative videos are a popular genre of technical communication but little information is available for instructors to integrate the genre into technical communication courses. Research questions: (1) What are the logistics, considerations, and problems encountered when assigning authentic informative videos in introductory technical writing service courses? (2) Is an authentic informative video project in introductory technical writing service courses an effective learning assignment from the students' perspectives? Situating the case: Video has been discussed in technical communication literature since the 1970s and our discussion of video parallels technology development making video production and viewing possible for mainstream consumers. Recently, a revitalization of interest in video (particularly since 2012) reflects widespread adoption of smart phones with video recording capabilities, preinstalled and relatively simple video production applications on computers, video-sharing websites (YouTube), and high-speed internet connections enabling rapid video downloads by viewers. Yet, low-cost and easy-to-use communication technologies are often associated with the idiosyncratic application of design features and often do not transfer into effective communication. We often claim that technical communication programs are well situated to take a “leadership role” in mastering a new communication technology but our instruction of video has not kept pace with the rapidly evolving technology nor is it necessarily consistent with our own research findings. How this case was studied: In this experience report, I took a teacher-researcher role and triangulated my personal observations with a student-perception questionnaire and other student reflections on the assignment. About the case: The informative video project was used in a junior-level, introductory technical communication service course. The informative video assignment was an experiential learning assignment in which students worked in small teams to develop “real-world” communications for a peer audience. The learning objectives emphasized in the project include genre analysis, audience analysis, scriptwriting, visual-verbal communication, video production and technology, and project management and teamwork. Results: The logistics and considerations for developing informative videos in technical communication courses are discussed and student feedback reveals that this assignment was particularly useful for teaching audience analysis, technology skills, verbal-visual synergy of communication channels, and teamwork. Conclusions: Informative videos are a challenging project but offer a unique opportunity to examine audience analysis and teach verbal-visual parallelism. Furthermore, the equipment and production software are no longer barriers to assigning the project in technical communication courses.

The book explores interpersonal challenges in a global marketplace. The authors illustrate the way cross-cultural interchange can really amplify these issues and make them even more complex to overcome. Another important message that emerged through the stories is that if people of different cultures are treated with respect and with a conscious effort to understand them, the outcome can be a rich blend of talents. Truly, the whole is equal to greater than the sum of its individual elements. The book is intended for all engineering and technical communication professionals. It should be of interest to those in an academic setting as well as individual readers interested in learning through the voices of the storytelling authors.

Background: This case recounts my experiences during a four-year participatory design project with colleagues in Katanga Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, where I attempted to develop a system for people working in rural areas to share business information via mobile phones. Research questions: For the first phase of this project: How do businesspeople in Katanga Province use their cell phones to support their business operations? How do they want to use these phones in their businesses? How do their use and attitudes compare with those of graduate students at a Midwestern US university? For the second phase of this project: Can a cell-phone delivered information system be designed for artisanal miners and small farmers in Katanga Province to share local pricing information for copper, cobalt, and maize? Situating the case: Researchers in participatory design for social and/or technological change have traditionally assumed that including users in early design phases will result in democratization of project outcomes. When these participatory design projects are situated in intercultural settings, however, they are complicated by political and economic conditions, as well as differences in values and social relations. Because participatory design relies on dialogue within robust, multimodal communication networks, weaknesses in this approach arise when trusted social relations are not in place upon which to build these multimodal communication networks. Cases of participatory design between colleagues in the US and Sub-Saharan Africa illustrate profound effects of political and economic inequities on participatory design projects. Methodology: This is an experience report of a project that developed initially from a classroom project in which my students in the US conducted a communication audit for a partner based in Katanga Province in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A US-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) arranged the partnership and I later went to the field to carry out this project. About the case: Working with an NGO while based exclusively in the US, we attempted to develop a system from which people working in rural areas could share business information, such as reporting business conditions in a rural location back to the NGO's Lubumbashi headquarters 75 km away, via mobile phones. The project did not work because people in Katanga were not familiar with the information design issues involved in the system and I was not familiar with the actual business situation at the NGO in Katanga. To address these issues, I traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo and interviewed NGO staff and clients. But my presence in the NGO's Lubumbashi headquarters created irreparable social disruption. I continued the project with a new client in Katanga and revised goals for the information-sharing system, but that system, too, did not work for lack of a trusted social network of informants to participate in the information-sharing system. In the end, I was only able to complete an initial analysis of the needs. Conclusions: Despite the need to abandon the project, this case raised these questions about participatory design for information and communication technologies (ICT) projects when collaborators do not “speak the same language:” How can communication researchers effectively build trusted relationships with colleagues in developing nations in order to facilitate successful participatory design projects? Given the research obligations and reward structures at US universities, is it feasible for communication researchers to spend the time to build trusted relationships with colleagues in developing nations, which may not yield publishable research or quantifiable results for three years or more? Given the political and social conditions in many developing areas, can communication researchers rely on the stable conditions and personal relations that are necessary to conduct participatory design for ICT projects?

Problem: This tutorial explains how technical communication organizations can improve their chances for a successful component content-management system (CCMS) implementation if they plan for the shaping force of cultural dynamics in the technology diffusion process. Many component content -management (CCM) thought leaders have identified people factors as a major barrier to successful CCMS implementation. They recognize the necessity of gaining buy-in from all stakeholders and persuading CCMS users to change their habits of practice, follow new processes, and learn new authoring tools and methodologies. This tutorial complements existing discussions of people factors by offering a more complex understanding of what these factors really mean and how to negotiate them. Key concepts: This understanding is articulated through three situated views of CCMSs and their diffusion in organizations: (1) CCMSs are social constructs; (2) CCMS diffusion is a multistage, perception-driven communication process; and (3) CCMS diffusion is mediated by different components of organizational culture. These situated views highlight the shaping force of cultural dynamics in CCMS diffusion projects, and they speak to some of the reasons why common information transfer approaches to diffusion do not work. Key lessons: Given these views, CCM initiative leaders should consider the following recommendations for carrying out a CCMS diffusion project: (1) assess cultural dynamics in the organization and (2) implement diffusion enablers to facilitate shared understanding and learning and to guide actions toward common goals. Key lessons offer a comprehensive set of sample research questions that can be used to assess cultural dynamics as well as three kinds of diffusion enablers that can be implemented: interactive communication channels, training programs, and collaboratively developed guides. Implications: CCM initiative leaders who understand and plan for the shaping force of cultural dynamics in the CCMS diffusion process and who follow best practices for transitioning to CCM will improve their chances for a successful CCMS implementation. Leaders are encouraged to use the research questions and diffusion enablers are articulated here as a starting point for negotiating people factors that can impede diffusion.

Problem: Technical writers rarely work on patent applications, but the typical documents writers prepare during research and development are important during patent disputes. Patent disputes are so costly that the potential for these disputes weighs heavily on the minds of those preparing patent applications. The relationship between technical documentation and the legal processes surrounding research and development need to shape a writer's documentation practice. Research question: What legal concepts do technical writers need to know when working in research and development? Key concepts: Patent prosecution is the process of obtaining a patent. Technology transfer is the communication that places an innovation into the marketplace. Patent disputes arise when a party believes its patent rights have been infringed. The work of technical writers becomes relevant during patent disputes. Two Supreme Court cases inform the process for reconstructing the meaning of patent claims during a dispute: <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex Notation="TeX">${\rm Markman \,v.\, Westview\, Instruments, \, Inc.}$</tex> </formula> and <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"> <tex Notation="TeX">${\rm Phillips \,v. \, AWH Corp. \, Markman}$</tex></formula> limits the audience who determines the meaning of a claim to the judge instead of a jury, and Phillips establishes the role written documents have in a patent dispute. The <formula formulatype="inline" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><tex Notation="TeX">${\rm Phillips}$</tex> </formula> case shows how a judge might use technical documentation to determine the meaning of a patent claim or term. From these cases, we can draw strategies for preparing technical documents. Key lessons: While impossible to know prior to a patent dispute how a document will affect the outcome of the dispute, technical communicators can adopt three strategies for preparing precise and complete documents. First, technical writers can adopt a “liminal” practice—the ability to interact as needed with different disciplines. Second, technical communicators can approach new subjects with assent, a type of seeking understood in order to fully explore a new technology. And third, technical communicators can approach writing about research and development as a technical translation practice to translate highly scientific or technical language into precise plain language. Implications to practice: By developing a liminal practice, technical communicators can build a robust documentation practice that includes the contextual nuances essential for work in patent prosecution and technology transfer.

Research problem: Corporate websites have been the subject of several research endeavors, and most of the research has focused on usability and interactivity. Since the emergence of the term Web 2.0, more websites have added social features to their base functionality, and this new type of interactivity has yet to be investigated. This study explores the research evolution in this field. Research questions: How has research on interactivity in corporate websites evolved? How can prior research be categorized? In each category, which of the research challenges has little or no research support? Literature review: Our approach to the topic is guided by four major streams of research-(1) the diffusion of innovations theory; (2) the technology, organization, and environment framework; (3) the institutional theory; and (4) the model from Iacovou et al. The analysis of the evolution of corporate websites showed three common types of corporate websites classified by their purpose and interaction intensity. Corporate websites hereby often benefit from the inclusion of design principles and patterns induced by the term Web 2.0. While examining the characteristics of corporate websites, usability and interactivity were found to be most important with reference to positive user response. Therefore, we clarified the concept of web-based interaction and reviewed the research on consumer response. Methodology: To gain a deeper understanding of the evolution of research on the interactivity in corporate websites, our study conducted a systematic and exhaustive literature review in which we identified and categorized several research issues. We conducted a qualitative analysis of 166 articles and classified relevant contributions by research issue and category. Results and conclusion: Among the identified research issues concerning interactivity that facilitates communication of the organization, only relationship management emerged as a dominant issue. Research issues concerning interactivity that facilitates e-commerce could be found most and they tend to focus on two main areas: decision support systems and recommendation agents on sales-oriented e-commerce websites and loyalty, satisfaction, and trust as key variables. Research issues concerning interactivity for interpersonal communication mainly focus on the user's individual motivation and successive behavior, and contain many different references to computer-mediated interaction and online communities. Research issues in the field of designing for interactivity discuss interface design questions and focus on numerous website characteristics and their impact. Given those issues, we make suggestions for future research that would explore the organizational behavior related to innovation diffusion on corporate websites.

Technical writers and translators struggle with language consistency in emerging technologies. Corpus linguistics can track language structures in such quickly developing environments. An ad-hoc corpus may be the tool needed for technical communicators. Key concepts: Mega-corpora versus ad-hoc corpora: The term “mega-corpora” typically covers the existing national corpora, whereas ad-hoc corpora can be created quickly for technical communication. Variation versus consistency: variation covers the range of possible solutions compared to the need for consistency of terminology in given contexts. Representativeness versus adequacy: representativeness defines the possibility of variation within the scope of the field; in contrast , adequacy represents contextual suitability. Key lessons: To use ad-hoc corpora as a tool for keeping track of and understanding language variation in texts about emerging technology: (1) design and compile a small set of relevant descriptions regarding the emerging technology, (2) use the software corpus tool representation of corpora to evaluate whether the ad-hoc corpus is representative-meaning that adding new texts does not add new words or variations in terminology use, (3) use the software corpus tool AntConc to analyze the ad-hoc corpus finding concordance patterns and variation in terminology usage, and (4) use linguistic strategies for selecting terminology based on linguistic evidence rather than intuition. Implications for practice: The ad-hoc corpus method offers an evidence-based approach for determining patterns of terminology. This method can be applied to standardizing product documentation or tracking variations in language use and can help technical writers and translators keep track of evolving terminology for emerging technologies.

This study explores a comprehensive sample of experimental and quasi-experimental research within five leading technical communication journals over a 20-year period. Exploratory studies can overview how a method has evolved within a field, highlighting how it has advanced understanding of communication and identifying areas for further inquiry. Research questions: (1) How has experimental research in technical communication journals developed over the 20-year period? Specifically, how much is being published, which journals publish experiments, what topics are being explored, and what fields are informing this research? (2) What content characterizes experimental research in technical communication? Specifically, how explicit are the research questions/hypotheses, are the results of pilot studies reported, what are the sample sizes and populations used, and what measures do researchers use? (3) Who publishes experimental research in technical communication? Specifically, which authors and affiliates are most associated with experimental research, and how does the sample's gender and authorship distribution compare to existing research? Literature review: We first address how scholars have assessed research in technical communication and how these findings implicate experimental research. We then review features of other exploratory studies that inform this study's design. Methodology: We conducted a quantitative and qualitative analysis of 137 experiments, a comprehensive sample identified from a corpus of 2,118 refereed papers published from 1992 to 2011. We coded 14 variables related to the causal relationships that the experiments addressed and who produced the research. We subjected the data to multiple statistical measures, including contingency table analysis and correspondence analysis. Results and conclusions: Over the 20 years, the journals published experimental research at a consistent rate. This could indicate that these methods have a stable presence in the field, or a discouraging sign that output is not on the rise despite calls from leading scholars. IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication (TPC) emerged as a strong producer of experiments, publishing 45% of the sample. TPC was also associated with most recent experiments, assuming this role from Journal of Technical Writing and Communication, which was associated with early experiments. In addition, TPC, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, and Technical Communication correlated with experiments on collaboration, pedagogy, and intercultural communication, respectively. The results also revealed that recent experiments reported significantly more explicit research question/hypotheses and pilot studies, an encouraging sign for the quality of future experiments. Finally, Spyridakis published the most experiments over the past 20 years, and researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Twente were the top affiliates associated with output. The configuration of both of these institutions' programs, which seem to align with a traditional science model, might suggest how the evolution of technical communication programs impacts the type of research that its affiliates produce. Our results are limited by the small, though comprehensive, sample and the exploratory natures of measures like correspondence analysis. Future research could use the proposed framework to investigate the evolution of other research methods in technical communication, strengthening our body of knowledge.

Research problem: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of two types of motivational elements-verification steps and personal stories-in an instruction manual for a cell phone targeted at senior users (between 60 and 70 years). Research questions: What are the effects of adding verification steps and personal stories to an instruction manual on: (1) Seniors' confidence in being able to work with a cell phone? (2) Seniors' motivation to work with a cell phone? (3) Seniors' effectiveness and efficiency in performing tasks, and their satisfaction with the cell phone and the instruction manual (usability)? Literature review: To optimize products and services for older users, the literature suggests that two specific motivational elements may be beneficial: (1) verification steps, which provide information at the end of procedures to allow users to check if these procedures were performed correctly. These appear to users as part of conventional procedural information in user instructions and (2) personal stories, which are anecdotes or testimonials that describe how a fictitious user succeeded in completing a procedure. Methodology: We conducted a quantitative experiment in which 59 seniors between 60 and 70 years of age participated. They performed a number of tasks with a cell phone, using a version of the instruction manual with added verification steps, or a version with additional personal stories, or a control version without motivational elements. We measured participants' confidence, their motivation, and usability by asking them to answer several questionnaires and by measuring task performance. Results and conclusions: Results support the use of verification steps or personal stories as motivational elements in user instructions as they can positively affect confidence, motivation, and usability, especially when senior users encounter setbacks.

Overall, the chapters in "Solving Problems in Technical Communication" provide an accessible introduction to major topics in the theory and practice of technical communication. The texts' focus on the context of communicators makes the book appropriate for technical communication majors at the undergraduate and graduate levels. Instructors of technical communication, including those who teach nonmajors, will find the discussion questions and literature overviews particularly useful. The editors of the book (Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart A. Selber)state that the book is intended for "students who are learning about the field of technical communication" or professionals "interested in keeping up with new developments in the field." As members of the second cohort, the reviewers agree with that choice of audience wholeheartedly. As teachers of technical communication in an engineering college, they agree that the text is appropriate for students, but we would restrict the audience further, to students who plan to become technical communicators.