Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637060
Kristin Dukay
Microsoft's World Wide Web site contains over 300,000 pages that are contributed by over 300 different groups. The target audience for the site is varied and ranges from children to information technology professionals. Unifying the look and feel of this large, diverse site is a daunting challenge, especially in the face of a decentralized corporate culture. Usability testing was used to identify which Web page elements might best unify the site while still allowing Microsoft groups maximum flexibility in Web page designs. Political challenges persist and inhibit the adoption of standard design elements.
{"title":"Unifying a large corporate Web site: a case study of www.microsoft.com","authors":"Kristin Dukay","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637060","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637060","url":null,"abstract":"Microsoft's World Wide Web site contains over 300,000 pages that are contributed by over 300 different groups. The target audience for the site is varied and ranges from children to information technology professionals. Unifying the look and feel of this large, diverse site is a daunting challenge, especially in the face of a decentralized corporate culture. Usability testing was used to identify which Web page elements might best unify the site while still allowing Microsoft groups maximum flexibility in Web page designs. Political challenges persist and inhibit the adoption of standard design elements.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"29 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131455131","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637059
D. Farkas
WebFeat was a World Wide Web site design project undertaken on behalf of five departments and an administrative office of the University of Washington's College of Engineering. The role of the WebFeat core team was to provide design and technical guidance for the six teams working directly with these units. The core team created a prototype from which the unit teams designed their individual sites. Later the core team helped implement the unit sites. As part of the design effort, the core team examined numerous university Web sites and thought through a variety of design issues. Three are discussed in this paper: (1) indicating the identity of individual units within the hierarchical structure of the institution; (2) maintaining visual consistency throughout the site, and (3) harmonizing the messages conveyed by the university's home page and the home pages of the university's colleges and departments.
{"title":"A university Website design project: the design process, the prototype and some design issues","authors":"D. Farkas","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637059","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637059","url":null,"abstract":"WebFeat was a World Wide Web site design project undertaken on behalf of five departments and an administrative office of the University of Washington's College of Engineering. The role of the WebFeat core team was to provide design and technical guidance for the six teams working directly with these units. The core team created a prototype from which the unit teams designed their individual sites. Later the core team helped implement the unit sites. As part of the design effort, the core team examined numerous university Web sites and thought through a variety of design issues. Three are discussed in this paper: (1) indicating the identity of individual units within the hierarchical structure of the institution; (2) maintaining visual consistency throughout the site, and (3) harmonizing the messages conveyed by the university's home page and the home pages of the university's colleges and departments.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"41 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122441974","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637031
Bernadette Longo
At the turn of the 20th century, technical writers in the United States were mostly engineers who both developed technology and wrote about it. During World War II, however, engineers seeking to increase the efficiency of technology development separated their engineering from their communication tasks. This trend opened up a new occupation for non-engineering technical writers who communicated knowledge made by engineers. While this specialization may have allowed engineers to develop technology more efficiently, it also allowed non-scientists to give voice to scientific knowledge and by the 1970s created tensions between practitioners in scientific fields and liberal arts-trained technical writers. How could non-scientists give scientific knowledge its material form through communication? Did this arrangement between engineers and writers too often render engineers mute within their own professions? This paper traces a history of technical writing practice in the United States and explores current trends in the academy which aim to prepare engineers more adequately for communicating about their work. Finally, this paper suggests that technical editors, as distinguished from traditional technical writers, can accommodate both an engineer's need to give voice to technology developments and a writer's contributions to shaping that voice into effective communication.
{"title":"Who makes engineering knowledge? Changing identities of technical writers in the 20th century United States","authors":"Bernadette Longo","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637031","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637031","url":null,"abstract":"At the turn of the 20th century, technical writers in the United States were mostly engineers who both developed technology and wrote about it. During World War II, however, engineers seeking to increase the efficiency of technology development separated their engineering from their communication tasks. This trend opened up a new occupation for non-engineering technical writers who communicated knowledge made by engineers. While this specialization may have allowed engineers to develop technology more efficiently, it also allowed non-scientists to give voice to scientific knowledge and by the 1970s created tensions between practitioners in scientific fields and liberal arts-trained technical writers. How could non-scientists give scientific knowledge its material form through communication? Did this arrangement between engineers and writers too often render engineers mute within their own professions? This paper traces a history of technical writing practice in the United States and explores current trends in the academy which aim to prepare engineers more adequately for communicating about their work. Finally, this paper suggests that technical editors, as distinguished from traditional technical writers, can accommodate both an engineer's need to give voice to technology developments and a writer's contributions to shaping that voice into effective communication.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"40 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123883108","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637027
A. Duin
This essay details the experience of designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course in audience analysis at the graduate level. It describes efforts to create a quality learning experience, and discusses how the Web modules and listserv and MOO conversations influenced rituals of learning and communication.
{"title":"Designing, implementing, and evaluating an online graduate level course in technical communication","authors":"A. Duin","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637027","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637027","url":null,"abstract":"This essay details the experience of designing, implementing, and evaluating an online course in audience analysis at the graduate level. It describes efforts to create a quality learning experience, and discusses how the Web modules and listserv and MOO conversations influenced rituals of learning and communication.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"149 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131998882","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637028
M.T. Davis
Distance learning presents a challenge to the way that higher education has been delivered. Many universities are interested in entering the new arena, but they are concerned about the implications. This paper explains how Mercer University is using distance learning in the Master's program in technical communication and concludes that technical communication educators should play a leading role.
{"title":"Technical communication and distance learning: natural partners","authors":"M.T. Davis","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637028","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637028","url":null,"abstract":"Distance learning presents a challenge to the way that higher education has been delivered. Many universities are interested in entering the new arena, but they are concerned about the implications. This paper explains how Mercer University is using distance learning in the Master's program in technical communication and concludes that technical communication educators should play a leading role.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"58 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115069932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637047
P.L. Novak, D. A. Varley, D.L. Nousen, G.W. Luczynski
New electronic publishing technologies, particularly the World Wide Web, are rapidly displacing traditional paper-based methods. Lower costs, faster turn-around, and access to a much larger and broader audience are among the reasons so many organizations are migrating to electronically published documents. However, the same aspects of this technology that have such great appeal to companies can also make them vulnerable in ways they may not have learned to recognize and manage. Web publishing has greatly changed the roles of both communication professionals and information release/information security professionals. Because available tools make Web authoring easy, anyone can create and publish information with little or no involvement from corporate communications staff. Likewise, the ease with which any desktop computer can become a Web server makes anyone and everyone a publisher and an information manager. In many cases, the people responsible for these servers are not communications professionals; in nearly all cases, they are not trained in information release or information security. This situation can put a company's image and its competitive advantage at great risk. The paper discusses some of the unique risks of electronic publishing, and describes the changing roles of staff at Pacific Northwest who developed the review and approval process for publishing corporate information on the Web.
{"title":"Web publishing: new roles and new partnerships for communicators","authors":"P.L. Novak, D. A. Varley, D.L. Nousen, G.W. Luczynski","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637047","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637047","url":null,"abstract":"New electronic publishing technologies, particularly the World Wide Web, are rapidly displacing traditional paper-based methods. Lower costs, faster turn-around, and access to a much larger and broader audience are among the reasons so many organizations are migrating to electronically published documents. However, the same aspects of this technology that have such great appeal to companies can also make them vulnerable in ways they may not have learned to recognize and manage. Web publishing has greatly changed the roles of both communication professionals and information release/information security professionals. Because available tools make Web authoring easy, anyone can create and publish information with little or no involvement from corporate communications staff. Likewise, the ease with which any desktop computer can become a Web server makes anyone and everyone a publisher and an information manager. In many cases, the people responsible for these servers are not communications professionals; in nearly all cases, they are not trained in information release or information security. This situation can put a company's image and its competitive advantage at great risk. The paper discusses some of the unique risks of electronic publishing, and describes the changing roles of staff at Pacific Northwest who developed the review and approval process for publishing corporate information on the Web.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128092817","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637040
A. Elser
The advent of desktop publishing forced most technical communicators to become generalists, capable of producing documentation virtually by themselves. Their organizations no longer hired editors, graphic artists, layout artists, and typesetters. Today, the profusion of information delivery media and the tools and cross disciplinary skills needed to execute complex projects makes it imperative for technical communicators to again operate as members of teams. This has far reaching implications on the profession, those who work in traditional publications groups as well as on those who operate as independent contractors.
{"title":"The changing role of technical communication: back to teams","authors":"A. Elser","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637040","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637040","url":null,"abstract":"The advent of desktop publishing forced most technical communicators to become generalists, capable of producing documentation virtually by themselves. Their organizations no longer hired editors, graphic artists, layout artists, and typesetters. Today, the profusion of information delivery media and the tools and cross disciplinary skills needed to execute complex projects makes it imperative for technical communicators to again operate as members of teams. This has far reaching implications on the profession, those who work in traditional publications groups as well as on those who operate as independent contractors.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"156 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"133005107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637034
K. Baake
This paper is a narrative examining how the types of discourse used by the El Paso Electric Co. since the company founding in 1901 have reflected periods of relative calm and also have anticipated periods of tumultuous change. I use annual reports from the company supplemented with notes from my 10 years reporting on its activities for a daily newspaper to show how El Paso Electric's rhetorical output has evolved to meet multiple exigencies. These include fuel shortages, rapid growth in demand, a nuclear power adventure, bankruptcy and the current threat of deregulation. At times, the company has responded to these situations by employing all three types of Aristotelian rhetoric: epideictic, forensic and deliberative. My study also considers shifts in El Paso Electric's rhetoric from that reflecting a modernist faith in the predictive powers of science to a post-modern awareness that scientific design alone cannot ensure success.
{"title":"The giant that ate El Paso Electric [discourse usage]","authors":"K. Baake","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637034","url":null,"abstract":"This paper is a narrative examining how the types of discourse used by the El Paso Electric Co. since the company founding in 1901 have reflected periods of relative calm and also have anticipated periods of tumultuous change. I use annual reports from the company supplemented with notes from my 10 years reporting on its activities for a daily newspaper to show how El Paso Electric's rhetorical output has evolved to meet multiple exigencies. These include fuel shortages, rapid growth in demand, a nuclear power adventure, bankruptcy and the current threat of deregulation. At times, the company has responded to these situations by employing all three types of Aristotelian rhetoric: epideictic, forensic and deliberative. My study also considers shifts in El Paso Electric's rhetoric from that reflecting a modernist faith in the predictive powers of science to a post-modern awareness that scientific design alone cannot ensure success.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127640046","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637053
W. Gribbons
This paper presents a plan for the development of a global design strategy. In support of this position, the paper summarizes numerous variables that are central to a successful internationalization effort and offers a process for implementing this strategy within a product development cycle. With international sales representing a huge potential for growth and profit, corporate America must make a concerted effort to establish comprehensive internationalization policies and procedures.
{"title":"Designing for the global community","authors":"W. Gribbons","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637053","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637053","url":null,"abstract":"This paper presents a plan for the development of a global design strategy. In support of this position, the paper summarizes numerous variables that are central to a successful internationalization effort and offers a process for implementing this strategy within a product development cycle. With international sales representing a huge potential for growth and profit, corporate America must make a concerted effort to establish comprehensive internationalization policies and procedures.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"10 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124054953","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 1997-10-22DOI: 10.1109/IPCC.1997.637075
R. Krull
Technical instruction such as computer tutorials and training manuals varies in the amount of guidance given to users. Designers may desire a level of guidance that complements the task environments and motivations of users. This paper compares the merits of three guidance levels.
{"title":"Three levels of guidance in technical tutorials","authors":"R. Krull","doi":"10.1109/IPCC.1997.637075","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1109/IPCC.1997.637075","url":null,"abstract":"Technical instruction such as computer tutorials and training manuals varies in the amount of guidance given to users. Designers may desire a level of guidance that complements the task environments and motivations of users. This paper compares the merits of three guidance levels.","PeriodicalId":255103,"journal":{"name":"Proceedings of IPCC 97. Communication","volume":"16 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"1997-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"129765487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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