Describes XML, a recent Web design language that will enable technical communicators to produce documentation that can reuse information and present it across multiple types of media for diverse audiences. Argues that XML requires more interdisciplinary approaches toward the teaching and research of technical communication, particularly with…

Analyzes problems inherent in the Challenger project. Suggests that these are illustrative and worth the consideration of business communication teachers and practitioners as well as communication consultants. (JAD)

Discusses the current convention of putting only one space between sentences. Outlines reasons why existing reasons for only one space are not valid. (RS)

Offers three articles discussing how a comprehensive framework can serve as a starting point for examining how well the Society for Technical Communicators' Code for Communicators serves as an ethics guide to professionals in the field. (SR)

Describes the characteristics of brochures. Discusses writing and presentation techniques that are applicable to any brochure project. (SR)

Discusses what illustrations can do for technical communication projects. Presents criteria for deciding when to use illustrations and for choosing appropriate and effective illustrations. Discusses working with an illustrator. (SR)

Offers suggestions and examples of how to write clear and effective notes, cautions, and warnings. (SR)

Describes a "video treatment," a document which outlines what a video intends to communicate to its prospective audience, how that information will be communicated, how much it will cost, and how long it will take to complete the project. (SR)

Presents an overview of 28 different types of projects that a marketing writer may develop. Looks at customer, press, alliance, and presentations materials. (SR)

Notes that companies responding to the struggling economy are downsizing staff, including technical communicators. Maintains that such cutbacks affect not only employee confidence and productivity but also product quality, customer satisfaction, and future sales. States that technical communicators' critical knowledge is an asset that companies…

Notes confusion in understanding the purposes of abstracts and summaries. Analyzes their essential aspects (purpose, reader, tone, logic, relation to the parent document, and length) to provide an understanding of their essential distinctions. (SR)

Investigates passive voice in scientific writing by examining whether changes in rhetorical role within 12 scientific texts are paralleled by changes in the relative number of passive and active structures. Finds passive structures more appropriate for expository purposes (describing procedures and presenting data), and active structures for…

Discusses briefly the challenge of writing the technical documentation for automobiles required by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendment. (SR)

Explores the communicative effectiveness of imprecise frequency descriptors within the context of consumer prescription drug advertising. Conducts two separate studies using a total sample of 147 adults. Finds that consumers are unable to accurately estimate the relative likelihood of side effect occurrence when a list of side effects are preceded…

Illustrates the challenges and benefits of setting business objectives for a project. Describes three ways that a technical communication product can contribute to the business performance of an organization. Explains how to write a business objective, and the benefits of doing so. (SR)