In Designing Multilingual Experiences in Technical Communication, Dr. Laura Gonzales proposes a radical rethinking of the motivations, methods, execution, and interpretation of multilingual research in technical communication. Gonzales rejects classical technical communication models, which posit the technical communicator and translator as mere transmitters of information. Perhaps more important, Gonzales rejects current common practices in multilingual research and their dismissive assumptions (whether implicit or explicit) about speakers of languages other than English, typically in communities of color or the Global South.

The authors of the book present a broad survey of technologies and applications of AI as they particularly impact technical and professional communications. This book presents a broad treatment of its subjects, particularly given the framework of social implications, necessary literacy, and civic engagement that the authors use to explore the three facets of writing futures: collaboration, algorithms, and autonomous agents. The work is a survey of many technologies, applications, and developments, any of which may or may not play a substantial future role in the future of writing. Some of the authors’ examples may seem tangential to the TPC profession, but one cannot always predict future effects. The authors situate the book as “positioning scholars, instructors, and practitioners to plan for rapidly evolving technological and social contexts.” With its broad coverage of emerging technologies, rich citations, and wealth of backing resources, Writing Futures provides a launching point for deeper, focused study in the myriad areas of collaborative technologies, autonomous agents, and AI as they profoundly impact the TPC profession and the human experience.

In the Introduction to this book, the author presents a picture of rampant mistrust of our organizations and institutions: Consumers, citizens, and corporate buyers are feeling a sweeping, protective skepticism that undermines the delivery of information, products, and services in every sector of the economy. How can an organization communicate effectively in this context? Through pithy case studies and interviews with communicators in those organizations, the author presents a blueprint for clear, effective communication that evokes trust, educates the audience, and supports the audience in effective decision-making. Case studies include private and public companies, individual communicators who are supporting a target constituency, and government agencies. The value of this book is in its presentation of real-world communication, a real world in which both internal and external circumstances change, a real world in which organizations must decide who they are and who they want to be to their audience, a real world in which determining your organization’s voice and tone may not be sufficient. The book is a notable addition to texts that support professional and business communication and content strategy, and is a valuable supplemental text for courses in those areas. The book includes resources for further reading, identities of individuals interviewed for the book, endnotes, and an index.

The reviewer feels this book is appropriate for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses that cover research methods, and for academics and practitioners with interest in reading, using (to inform decision-making), or contributing to technical communication research. A Research Primer for Technical Communication covers the research methodologies appropriate to advance the field of technical communication, and provides adequate depth to appropriately evaluate or conduct technical communication research. Throughout the book, the authors present practical considerations for designing and executing technical communication research. Although the understanding and application of statistical measures are critical for evaluating research results, the book is accessible to readers without a statistics background. The book is organized into two parts. Part I, Methods (Chapters 1–7), introduces the importance of technical communication research, describes the research process, and provides details for each of the five research methodologies discussed.

Subtitling this 578-page book as an "introduction" may be a misnomer; the book is broad in scope and deep in coverage of its subject. It fills a need for current texts on the topic of technical editing and is grounded in modern technical communication workflows, practices, and approaches. This book is an invaluable teaching aid for classrooms and a welcome reference resource for practicing professionals. Throughout the book, the authors address issues of modern technical communication workflows. They acknowledge that the dedicated editor role has become increasingly rare and that many technical writers are responsible for editing their own or their peers’ documents. They also address workplace considerations, including people, budgets, and schedules, in both planning and executing editing projects. The book includes a thorough 30-page glossary of grammar terms, 33 pages of notes and references, and a thorough index.

Most textbooks and trade press books on engineering communication are genre based, proscription based, or some are a combination of the two. Henderson takes a different approach to teaching the rules of English grammar and how to apply those rules to craft effective sentences. His approach is mathematics based, presenting the rules of English grammar as sentence equations. This approach makes the book particularly intriguing as a resource for teaching students of engineering and science. Henderson's "A Math-Based Writing System for Engineers: Sentence Algebra & Document Algorithms" presents a distinctive approach and methodology for clear engineering communication, particularly suited to its specific audience. Henderson's methodology, grounded in the "universal language" of mathematics, is unique and refreshing. The book is a welcome addition to available resources for these students and their instructors.

This book offers a welcome teaching and learning resource in Creating Intelligent Content with Lightweight Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). The author is a Professor and Director ofThe Transdisciplinary Initiatives with the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. The author takes the reader through the history, design, and implementation of a relatively new variation of DITA, known as Lightweight DITA. Lightweight DITA was developed and is maintained by OASIS, the same standards body responsible for DITA, and differs from DITA in two particularly distinctive ways.