A report from the Council for Learning Disabilities Research Committee is presented on standards for the descriptions of people with learning disabilities in research reports. Updated guidelines for describing participants are provided for small-sample and large-group research. Suggestions are made for promoting compliance with the minimum…

Describes the nature and use of Structured Document Processors (SDPs), which integrate word processors and various writing aids to guide and control composing processes for specialized writing. Notes the need for SDPs in industry. Explores their implications for the practice and teaching of technical writing. (SR)

Investigates how college students in an upper-division professional writing course respond to user input at the draft stage of writing computer documentation. Finds that writers perceive user input in different ways and suggests that draft-stage user testing produces better documentation. (PRA)

Explores, in the first of two articles, the possible consequences of electronic technology for writing instruction. Examines the relationships among teaching writing, technical writing, science literature, Michael Serres, knowledge-making, and electronic technology. (SR)

Explores, in the second of two articles, the possible consequences of electronic technology for writing instruction. Examines the relationships among teaching writing, technical writing, science literature, Michael Serres, knowledge-making, and electronic technology. (SR)

Suggests an approach for expanding and integrating research to produce a history of technical writing. Defines problems that reside in writing such a history, suggests research premises and questions, and then applies these questions to technical writing as it existed in the English Renaissance, 1475-1640. (SR)

Reports students' perceptions of learning desktop publishing (DTP) systems. Finds that (1) students learned the foundations of DTP in under 60 hours of hands-on experience; (2) the incremental introduction of DTP functions and practice sessions before assignments were the most effective teaching strategy; and (3) use of DTP encouraged nonartistic…

Surveys 25 people who use databases at work to discover the ways in which social and organizational factors affect users' tasks and their acquisition of knowledge and skills. Finds that learning to use databases for complex tasks in work entails more than simply learning concepts and procedures for executing program functions. (PRA)

Describes the creation of an Advisory Board for forging an alliance between technical communication education and industry. Discusses the influence the board had on program development and the insights both industry and academia gained from the alliance. (PRA)

Suggests that editors looking for work can approach companies with some unsolicited editing of the company's own annual report. Suggest what to look for when editing an annual report. (SR)

Shares practical information that technical writers can use when writing scripts for video presentations. Discusses the kinds of information needed for script writing, the steps involved in doing so, and the script's role in production and editing. (SR)

Reports results of surveys and interviews with managers of technical publication departments regarding their financial responsibilities. (SR)

Describes revision as practiced at a major scientific research and development laboratory. Shows how scientific authors, technical editors, colleague reviewers, and supervisors team up in a collaborative approach in which editors provide substantive revisions early in the collaborative review process. Argues that editors should become involved at…

Offers specific advice for technical writers on how to deal with five different kinds of difficult writing projects and/or clients: the reluctant client, the disorganized client, time-resource crunches, differing visions, and an unstable product. (SR)

Discusses the teaching of technical communication and its practice in mainland China, particularly regarding technical journals, technical writing, and English for science and technology. (SR)