The article examines current publications in the area of technical proposals and outlines several major claims from the literature. The author examined these claims by using a written questionnaire and personal interviews with engineering faculty at a large research university. The study indicated that although engineering faculty need to write proposals and succeed at receiving grant funds, these faculty learn about the proposal process from each other, not from the abundant texts on proposals.

Recently graduated engineers are apt to go to work in groups led by more seasoned engineers. When a new engineer gets a reporting assignment from the group leader, she is likely to assume that the group leader is her audience. That is a comfortable assumption, since the group leader speaks her language. But, it is false to assume that the immediate audience is the real audience. The new engineer's report may have to fit, for example, in a report where the aim is not technical analysis but economic justification. Writing for an unaccustomed purpose is a little like learning how to get along in a foreign culture. New engineers take pride in their work, and the familiar technical reporting format (background, problem, method, results, conclusions) lets them explain it in detail. They may feel chagrin when somebody up the line rewrites their results section and relegates the rest to an appendix or the wastebasket. It is wrenching to discover that in the corporate culture, everything but the results is looked on as BS. That is because engineers are logical people. When young, they expect the world to be logical too. And maybe it is, but its logic is not that of the linear mathematical demonstration. Organizations, like Newtonian flywheels, have inertia; the bigger they are, the more they resist changes in speed and direction. A large organization presents the same paradox as a government request for proposals: it says it wants innovative ideas, but then spells out in excruciating detail what it expects you to do.

When faced with the need to seek employment, technical communicators with expertise in proposal writing may want to extend their job-seeking horizons beyond the for-profit world and also consider nonprofit organizations as potential employers. The skills required of proposal writers and the situations in which they work are similar whether the writer is employed by a for-profit corporation or a nonprofit organization such as a private college or social service charity. In developing proposals, writers employed in either setting use similar proposal formats, rely on good interpersonal skills while working under deadline pressures, and work with teams of experts from a variety of fields. The article concludes with information on careers with nonprofit organizations, including typical salaries, benefits, and job titles.

We describe ten common misconceptions about the minimalist approach to documentation design. For each, we analyze how the misconception arises from plausible interpretations of minimalist principles and heuristics. We then clarify how each misconception deviates from minimalism, as we understand it. Analysis and discussion of creative elaborations of minimalism-including "misconceptions"-can promote a sharper concept of what minimalism is.

The object-oriented model for program design evolved from the structured, or top-down, model. Programs in recent years have become much larger, more complex, and subject to faster changing market conditions, and the object-oriented model appears better suited to address these new realities. Technical writers are facing a similar challenge as the volume of information is growing exponentially and increasing in complexity. This paper describes the object-oriented model, shows how the model is influencing the world of documentation, and proposes that it be considered as a basis for the creation and maintenance of large libraries of technical information.

Businesses need not do much that is expensive, radical, or new to improve their documentation, and a product oriented approach is much more likely to be used in the workplace instead of the writing as a process approach. These are the two findings that emerged from our study of the revision of manuals as described by practising technical communicators. We conducted in depth interviews with 20 technical communicators from six different types of industries to explore and understand their concept and use of the revision process. The study describes the understanding technical communicators have of revision in their corporate cultures and then discusses the need for an improved understanding of product based writing among educators of technical communicators.

In a national random sample of electrical engineers, respondents answered questions relating to the adequacy of communication preparation at their undergraduate institutions, and they provided recommendations for curricular change to better prepare students for common communication tasks in the work place. The results of this survey are compared to observations made by engineers during in depth interviews (see ibid., March 1995). In both studies, engineers report that communication is a central activity that consumes fully half of the working day. Based on both the survey and interview data, the authors recommend adjusting curricula to include the practice of cooperative problem-solving, to make evaluation of communication competence a component of grades, and to require students to take both a technical writing and public presentation course.

The World Wide Web has exploded as a means of corporate communications. The paper examines the technologies employed in using the Web, including software and hardware concerns, and the uses to which the organization can employ the technology. A case study of how the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida developed and is using the Web provides additional illustration of the Web's potentials for internal and external communication. The paper concludes with a brief description of organizational and legal issues which have been spawned by use of the Web.

The paper analyzes the changing structures necessary to access business knowledge. The information needs of corporate users, especially those found in mobile and diverse professional services organizations, have expanded as the sheer amount of data available worldwide has multiplied. Many corporations are trying to restructure traditional, and typically standalone, information repositories and services into entities that will better serve today's and tomorrow's business information customer. As an example, the paper describes the approach being taken to establishing a new information model at the "Big Six" public accounting firm Coopers and Lybrand LLP.

The article discusses the advent of anytime, anywhere communication capability and its potential impact on our society. It examines the ways in which technology becomes accepted and integrated into our lives, including the role of human values. The report also focuses on both the beneficial and detrimental effects of emerging communication technology, such as its ability to put the disabled and disenfranchised on equal footing with the rest of the online population, and the possibility that individuals will become so isolated behind their computer screens that they will lose the ability to carry on face to face relationships. Finally, privacy and data security are discussed, as well as the limitations of physiology in a 24 hour society.

In 1993, a study began with a large commercial oil and gas software interpretation system to determine the feasibility of a general taxonomy of on-line help content and a corresponding taxonomy of human interface access methods to this content. The preliminary findings from this work were encouraging and indicate that a taxonomic approach makes it easy both for help providers to understand what information they need to supply, and for help users to find the help they need quickly. Part of this taxonomy of help content includes application messaging. Existing studies of on-line help messaging indicate that both user-initiated or system-initiated advice messaging can improve user efficiency by prompting users with information about what something on the interface is, what it does, or what to do once it has been activated. This study examines the placement of on-line help messages in a multiwindow software application on user performance. Subjects were automatically timed as they performed two sets of tasks: one where help messages always appeared at the bottom of an application's main window and one where help messages appeared at the bottom of the current window in focus.

The paper argues that virtual communication spaces such as the World Wide Web (WWW) offer unique opportunities for collaboration within technical writing classrooms. Three common types of project scenarios are identified, along with the discourse communities and collaborative relationships that are supported and emphasized by each project scenario. A technical writing assignment is described that emphasizes the benefits of students collaborating within the WWW, an emerging, real world discourse community. In describing this assignment, we redefine collaboration to include activities used by WWW site developers and designers.

Westerners doing business with Koreans need to understand "nunch'i", a complex and subtle concept related to tact and subtlety of communication. In a high context culture such as that of Korea, nunch'i governs verbal and nonverbal communication to such an extent that westerners who are not familiar with its basic concepts can fall prey to serious miscommunication. The paper defines and describes nunch'i, providing illustrations of its proper usage in professional communication situations.

The paper examines whether manuals provide adequate help for users who are experiencing a problem. First, an outline is given of the main stages in problem solving. This outline offers a broad framework for the two studies of current practice that follow. The first study focuses on the accessibility of help. It examines how often manuals fail to offer the right keywords, and how often they have not marked or have misplaced problem solving information. The main conclusion is that most manuals pose formidable obstacles to accessing help. The second study investigates the main reasons for presenting problem solving information as a regular step, as a skipable action, or as an afterthought. The main finding is that writers or typographers tend to opt for a different design than what is theoretically best.

Professional technical writers have a role to play as instructors in technical writing programs, as they are experts in the tools, procedures, and policies of a professional documentation department. When a writer enters the classroom, the writer, the writer's employer, the students, and the academic institution all benefit. Preparing to teach a course is not difficult, as the article explains.

Practitioners of research in a particular field have extensive knowledge of how to operate successfully in that field and communicate effectively with others, within the boundaries of their own language and culture. However, when it comes to inducting novice researchers into these skills, difficulties are often encountered, and more so when the novice comes from a different language and cultural background. At the same time, specialists in English teaching or cross-cultural communication aiming to prepare novices to enter such a research environment often lack access to the details of how things are really done there. At The University of Adelaide, South Australia, this situation is being addressed through a new program for international postgraduate students in their first semester of enrolment. This Integrated Bridging Program (IBP) relies on collaboration between the discipline specialist researcher and language and learning specialists and is informed by the perspectives of systemic functional linguistics (SFL). This paper presents an overview of the IBP, followed by details of its operation in the Faculty of Engineering. Information is included on outcomes of the collaboration in specific instances, and how SFL theory has been applied to develop a flexible and effective induction which is highly valued by both staff and student participants.

There is a tendency to view education on the Internet as simply a more efficient way to access information and to communicate, but the Internet is much more than just another tool. The Internet has the potential to create communities where students participate in robust discourse and rituals of communication, establish their identities, and traverse community boundaries. We believe we need to design on-line courses with sound pedagogical frameworks and with a sense of promoting community values of diversity, connectedness, and civic responsibility. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to describe a framework that we use to design virtual learning communities. We explain community activities to consider, describe how we used our framework for designing three classes, and pose issues that arose when using this framework. We hope our thoughts will direct discussion toward the creation of innovative learning communities.

The paper discusses applying computer networks to cooperative distance learning for technical communication education. It first outlines applications of communication technologies employed in distance learning, and describes the design strategies of the applications. The paper's main focus is on the CORAL (Cooperative Remotely Accessible Learning) system for promoting cooperative distance learning currently under development in Taiwan. The CORAL system is a collective and collaborative project intended to integrate four major components in concept and construction: an interactive learning environment, educational foundations and implications, domain knowledge; and research efforts. One of CORAL system's goals is to aid science and engineering students in learning communication technology courseware. The CORAL development process, including its design approach, structure, courseware, and evaluation, is reported. Research issues are also addressed.

Business information systems are usually written and presented in English, with graphics designed from a western cultural perspective. Online help and error messages are likewise written and displayed in English. To exploit global marketplace opportunities, business systems must be designed to accommodate a range of cultural conventions, with printed documentation and online help translated into local languages. The paper discusses major considerations in the translation of online documentation from English to Chinese. It describes the particular approach taken by one major software company and evaluates its efforts from the users' perspective.

While Australia is positioning itself politically to capitalize on the strengths of its multiculturism and many ethnic identities, the nation is also vigorously addressing companion language needs to support workplace interaction, cooperation, collaboration and negotiation. The paper discusses the implementation of the genre approach in Australia. The approach is a new paradigm that emphasizes content, structure and sequence.

The article discusses designing electronic writing classrooms and the various decisions that classroom designers face during this complex task. In particular, it considers four key stages in the design process: establishing a plan, developing a room design, working within budgets, and maintaining a smoothly running computerized classroom. The article provides specific suggestions in these four stages informed by sound instructional goals appropriate to the teaching of technical communication.

The paper describes the implementation of a learning community involving a technical communication course and an accounting course. Students are simultaneously registered in all the courses constituting the learning community. The learning community approach to writing instruction can be viewed as one way to implement writing across the curriculum with the following distinguishing features. First, students are registered simultaneously for both courses; the communication skills taught in one course are simultaneously reinforced in another course. Second, the faculty of the two courses interact extensively to deliver skills (e.g., communication skills) in a coherent manner across the two courses. We describe the development of a theoretical framework for connecting the two courses. This theoretical framework guided implementation decisions such as the choice of communication skills to be covered in the accounting course, the design of assignments, and the design of evaluation criteria. While we focus on the integration of an accounting course with a communication course, the learning community approach and the implementation steps are applicable to other disciplines.

From both a technological and educational perspective, cyber education creates a multitude of challenges for students and instructors. Both novice and experienced computer users alike must master the use of Internet tools quickly, while also working to overcome conceptual misunderstandings about the technology and its root metaphors. The technology also makes commenting on student documents cumbersome but does have the benefit of creating a digitized record of students' writing processes, while also allowing for the online publication of students' work. Other benefits include more active learning and better interactive collaboration. Preliminary assessments further indicate that, despite critics' concerns about the rigor and quality of distance learning, for a variety of technical and social reasons, student work is equal to and sometimes better than that of on-campus students.

The article discusses how assignments using the Internet can be integrated in an introductory technical communication course without compromising two fundamental pedagogical goals of the course: teaching students how to gather data and how to evaluate it. Three traditional introductory technical communication course assignments (instructions, literature review, and analytical report) that utilize Internet resources to achieve these two goals are described.

Documentation is generally viewed in a secondary or support role to the sale and function of primary products. The study discusses the relationship between secondary and primary product characteristics and provides the results of a customer survey of computer hardware end users. Over 500 respondents (or customers) were surveyed regarding the impact of documentation on customers' perception of product quality. The results of a logistic regression showed that the level of satisfaction with documentation plays a critical role in explaining customer satisfaction with primary product quality. Consequently, before organizations make decisions regarding cuts in documentation, they should carefully evaluate documentation's effects on company performance. Implications for practice and research are also provided, with follow up and complementary studies suggested.

A survey to study women in technical and scientific fields was conducted in 1993. The study examined the environment in which women work, the relationship between women's personal lives and their work, and women's interpersonal communication styles. Results of the study supported some of the previous research findings related to glass ceilings and career paths. However, results related to sexual harassment and benefits prompted new questions, and results related to communication styles conflicted with the findings of much previous research. To further investigate these conflicting results, a follow-up survey was conducted in 1993. Results of this survey supported the 1993 findings. Results appear to indicate that the workplace and the women in it are changing. The workplace is becoming more family-oriented, and women are practicing strategies for working effectively in traditionally male-dominated organizations. In technical/scientific fields, men and women have adopted androgynous language patterns, and little difference exists between the interpersonal communication styles of men and women.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Although editors make extensive use of the computer in their work. Most editors still mark changes on paper using traditional editing symbols. There are, however, compelling reasons for editors to begin marking copy on the computer. We consider online editing from the perspective both of editors and their employers. We then focus on one aspect of online editing: the mark-up models embodied in various editing tools. We demonstrate that the different mark-up models and their particular implementations have major implications for the editing process, including the quality of edited material and the worklife satisfaction of editors and writers. We conclude by recommending that the technical communication community exert its influence on software developers and corporate technology planners to encourage the development and adoption of online editing tools that will be congenial to editors.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

This paper examines the dominant metaphors that define and describe three basic components of hypertext (texts, nodes, and links), arguing that they contribute in central ways to the current treatment of this technology in technical communication. It includes a brief overview of the way metaphors filter computer-based tasks and functions, a discussion of hypertext metaphors of identity and the realms from which they are commonly appropriated, and some corollary implications for students and teachers of technical communication. In general, this paper contends that hypertext design choices are both productively and unproductively shaped by social as well as technological forces.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

That readers read within roles has long been argued by literary theorists and more recently by technical communication theorists. Yet few scholars have attempted to put their theories to a test. The study reported in this paper attempts to do by using a conversation analysis tool called ethnomethodology. In an experimental setting, subjects were videotaped reading and responding to a set of instructions. Their responses indicate that: readers will often choose to play a role different from the one embedded in a text, especially if the text role offends them in some way; readers with similar education and interest may display different reader roles, making these roles difficult to predict; and within a single reading, a reader may change roles frequently. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of the findings and the appropriateness of ethnomethodology for reader-role research.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

The increased use of telecommuting by information and knowledge workers in many fields has been fostered by the availability of enabling technologies. Notebook sized computers, easy-to-use software, access to information both private or public, and electronic mail capabilities available worldwide have made telecommuting possible. This paper examines some of the key factors involved in the telecommuting evolution. Coverage includes background on how telecommuting started and which current technologies lend themselves to telecommuting. Also, the article reviews the trends that are stimulating dramatic double-digit growth and describes corporate attitudes toward and experiences with telecommuting. Topics covered include corporate commitments, motivation, productivity, supervision and employee satisfaction.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Despite increasing interest in collaborative writing in industry, little is known about the writing done in companies adopting team-based organizational designs. In such settings, teams organized to produce special documents may include members who do little or no writing for their regular jobs and thus lack experience in generating and selecting ideas, particularly in group settings. In the case study discussed here, the issue of authority provided a subtle but powerful undercurrent during the lifespan of one writing project. The collective and individual voices of team members indicated a constant tug between deep-seated expectations born of traditional systems of hierarchy in organizations and the new responsibilities of making contributions in team settings. Although environmental supports for authentic involvement seemed to be in place, those supports alone could not guarantee the sharing of authority.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Much of the talk about the information revolution so far is just that-talk. A provocative mix of promises, hopes and hyperbole, some of it will come true over time. Most of it will not. Technology is moving at ever-increasing speeds, and predictions about technology are accelerating even faster. Yet practical needs and wants rarely keep pace. The purpose of this paper is to explore the disparity between the promises and possibilities of the information revolution. It examines the factors that traditionally affect new technologies, and the role of end-users in affecting outcomes.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Benchmarking is rapidly becoming a standard business practice used by organizations to improve their quality in specific areas. Though benchmarking previously has been associated with product comparisons, such as benchmarking the performance of one product with another, process benchmarking is becoming equally important. This paper, based on a recently conducted benchmark, discusses why you might consider benchmarking an aspect of the process you use to develop technical information. It discusses how to prepare for a benchmark, find a suitable benchmarking partner, and conduct a benchmark, and it provides a guideline for the time and effort required.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Computer mediated communication (CMC) via the Internet is fast becoming a significant communication medium for technical and professional communicators. Research emerging from a number of disciplines is beginning to articulate the numerous social and organizational factors involved in the use of CMC. A significant question for communicators to ask is how organizations, which traditionally prefer structured and accountable communication, can exist in the open ended and unregulated world of the Internet. A rhetorical analysis of the protest over Lotus MarketPlace illustrates the complexity of traditional corporate communication in the nonhierarchical and often highly emotive forum of the Internet. Organizations can interact within this complexity more successfully by changing their rhetorical strategies.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Socializing technology is the rhetorical goal of technology transfer. Specialists from all walks of the technical communications profession can participate in this goal by involving themselves in key processes such as developing market awareness, creating inreach and outreach programs, and facilitating collaborative ventures. By broadening the market for our services in the technology transfer movement, we will increase the scope and value of our skills in a high-visibility endeavor that will be on the national agenda for years to come.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Corporations are changing; they are reinventing, rethinking, transforming, and reengineering themselves. And with change comes chaos, uncertainty, and renewal. For everyone involved, change represents either a threat to security or an opportunity to move forward. What are the forces at work in changing corporations? In the author's own research on corporate culture and on the forces affecting corporate communication, marketing, and advertising, five general categories of forces have emerged: a new sophistication in customers or audience; new media and technologies or communication tools; a more complex ethical environment; stronger economic factors; and new strategic alliances.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Rapid developments in video and computer technologies are creating a new applications niche that unites technologies like computer, video, and audio with classical art forms such as music, painting, sculpture, and theater. Typical of such applications are multimedia, virtual reality, video, hypertext, and interactive video databases. We describe some of the ways that technology and creative forms are merging and discuss the impact of this convergence on the corporation.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

This article reviews the effects of the computer age on our environment. Although the usefulness of computer technology is inarguably an asset in today's world, the environmental implications are not yet fully understood by the majority of computer users. The subjects discussed in this article fall in three general areas: the direct effects of computers on the computer user and the workplace (ergonomics and telecommuting); the effects of the use of computers on the environment (consumption of electrical energy and solid waste disposal); and the environmental hazards of producing computers.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Despite the media hype, it is not yet known if the new digital technologies of multimedia, interactive television, and the information superhighway will ever be accepted by the mainstream marketplace. If the information superhighway and interactive television are accepted, both benefits and dangers are inherent within the system. Depending upon who finances and controls the network and its contents, the system could be one of increased democracy and activism or one of government regulation or commercial self-interest and exploitation. The system could be one of active communicators or one of passive consumers. The information superhighway could unify the nation and eventually the world, or stratify people into the information rich versus the information poor. It is crucial for all people to learn about and understand the technology and understand how it could affect their lives.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Extended interviews with recent engineering hires by a major electronics manufacturing firm reveal substantial differences in communication training among engineering programs. Despite differences in educational background and current position, however, these engineers identify the same set of key communication skills that they believe should be developed in undergraduate electrical engineering programs. These skills, which relate to the ability to communicate well in face-to-face and small group settings, to use electronic mail effectively, and to identify audiences and address them appropriately, can be taught without adding courses to the engineering curriculum, provided course content and evaluation of student work emphasize the importance of these skills.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

Approaches to using visual language in a cultural context can be placed on a continuum, with global (universal) on one end and culture-focused on the other. Each approach reveals contrasting assumptions about three central design issues: perception, aesthetics and pragmatics. The global approach is characterized by attempts to invent an objective, universal visual language or to define such a language through perceptual principles and empirical research. The culture-focused perspective is founded on the principle that visual communication is intimately bound to experience and hence can function only within a given cultural context, to which designers must be sensitive. While the modernist, universal approach has been losing ground to the postmodern, culture-focused approach, the two complement each other in a variety of ways and, depending on the rhetorical situation, offer pragmatic benefits and drawbacks.

Considers the social and political ideologies that affected the design of illustrations of the female body in English Renaissance medical manuals. Through a semiotic analysis, we examine medical illustrations explicitly tied to female bodies-anatomical illustrations of female genitalia, a clitorectomy and a hymenectomy-to show that the ways in which a body or surgical procedure was visually represented served to create the "other". We learn, by extension, how social and political ideologies affect the decision-making of modern-day technical communicators.