Focuses on the botanical publications of two 18th-century English women writers, Elizabeth Blackwell and Priscilla Bell Wakefield. Analyzes their books. Indicates that they contribute new perspectives and techniques to the historical tradition of botanical writing and illustrating and exhibit modern techniques for effective technical…

Divides research literature on educational hypermedia design into two groups, one advocating no author control of the users' path through the material (found to be lacking in audience and goals analyses as well as results evaluation), the other advocating varying degrees of control (found to lack grounding in theory). (SR)

Compares several technical reports written by students showing the influences of a writer's identification with a community on features of the resulting document. Finds that features most affected were personal and community references within the document, writer's stance toward the reader, and definition of the rhetorical problem. (RS)

States that technical writers in the global pharmaceutical industry write for two audiences: regulatory agencies and healthcare practitioners. Contends that information products that address these audiences must balance the competing forces of business interests, market penetration, and the cultural variables of products so tied to people's…

Considers how visual metadiscourse provides design criteria for authors when considering the needs and expectations of readers. Notes the author's discussions of textual metadiscourse in technical writing classes since 1995. Notes an improvement in the cohesion and considerateness of student writing after rethinking their role as writers and the…

Examines selected texts by Ellen Swallow Richards, a 19th-century scientist who wrote for a variety of audiences. Finds that her audience awareness anticipates modern technical communication practices and alerts scholars to examine gender, class, and other social issues in historical documents as well as current pragmatic discourse. (PA)

States that Crystal Eastman and Alice Hamilton, organizers of the Workers' Health Bureau, helped shape the early 20th-century health and safety communication field by targeting texts to professional and popular audiences which sought to prevent occupational accidents and disease by promoting voluntary efforts by employers, government regulation,…

States that a video introducing a company to various audiences is a common genre of promotional material in Finland. Applies theories of both advertising and semiotics to analyze the first minute of a video produced for a Finnish company that manufactures log buildings and wraps its image around a concept of leisure. (PA)

Notes that while many technical communication instructors declare the benefits of client projects, too often instructors do not prepare students to interact with clients. Reviews a qualitative case study that demonstrates the difficulty students can have interacting with clients. Relates how students may not always be prepared to listen or respond…

Notes that hypermedia may place additional cognitive loads on audiences and may change the way information is processed. Argues that those who write for hypermedia applications may need to change the way they look at the writing process, and those who teach writing may need to reconsider what they teach and what they choose to emphasize. (SR)

Argues that, by identifying physicist Erwin Schrodinger's book "What is Life?" as inspirational community-forming discourse, it is possible to recognize the rhetorical artistry of his negotiation between two audiences. Notes that the book builds common ground, applies productive ambiguity at a key point of collision, and skillfully…

Builds on arguments in risk communication that the predominant linear risk-communication models are problematic for their failure to consider audience and additional contextual issues. Argues that "risk" is socially constructed. Argues for an approach that involves the public in fundamental ways at the earliest stages of the…

Analyzes earlier studies which suggest that women are better than men in considering audience during writing tasks. Argues that little difference actually exists between males and females as they construct a verbal and visual set of instructions. Provides data from original research on this topic. (HB)

Uses ethnographic field methods to investigate the ways that scientific authors develop an understanding of their audiences. Finds that, rather than writing a text for an abstract audience, these scientists engaged their readers in direct interactions to obtain a clearer sense of their concerns. (RS)

Suggests a method for modeling the characters of readers and writers as they are shaped in the process of writing about public policy issues. Uses this model to examine classroom oral presentations of four professionals. Integrates consideration of writing process, audience, ethics, and public policy issues. (HB)