Offers personal reflections of a professor's long career in technical writing. Looks primarily at technical writing in the university, where most technical writers are now trained and where most theory originates. Recognizes that many improvements in the field have happened because the use of computers makes revision and production of copy easier.…

Discusses two recent innovations made available via the Internet that are useful to language educators: blogs and wikis. Blogs are on-line journals that offer opportunities for collaborative use. They are easily linked and cross-linked, thus creating larger on-line communities. Wikis feature a loosely structured set of pages, linked in multiple…

Discusses good writing and good reporting in high school journalism. Presents writing tips, editing tips, and discusses weak writing (such as backward and cluttered sentences) and good writing. (SR)

Discusses a "write-back" strategy for use when there is insufficient class time for conferencing with peers or the teacher. Notes that the teacher agrees to respond to students' drafts within 24 hours. Discusses 3 options available to students: (1) write back/respond; (2) edit; and (3) writing back. (RS)

Editors of nine top institutional publications were surveyed. All of them work with limited staff and budget and produce Council for Advancement and Support of Education award-winning publications. Key tricks of the trade include make a formal editorial calendar, focus on topics important to readers, etc. (MLW)

Discusses trends affecting the editing of library journals: (1) changes in the numbers and specialization of journals and in the literature itself; (2) changes in the profession, such as an increased emphasis on publishing and formality in professional relationships; and (3) changes in the technology available for the preparation, production, and…

Compares the performance of novice computer users and users with significant proofreading experience in proofreading from screen and paper. Results showed that the users with previous experience did better in the screen mode, but no difference between the groups was evident in the paper mode. (Contains 22 references.) (JLB)

A group of 41 business communication students were taught to use a grammar/style checker and completed a writing exercise. Compared to 44 controls who did not use the software, there were no differences in error scores. Previous computer experience did not affect scores, but prior language skills may have influenced them. (SK)

The rationale for publishing adult literacy learners' work can involve disrupting existing power relations and giving voice to the marginalized. How work is published can also be an opportunity to alter the balance of power; for example, by having learners be the publishers, editors, and so on. (SK)

Describes a survey sent to editors to ascertain opportunities and criteria for publishing in professional journals. Knowing the journal and its readership is vital. Results reveal that the most frequent reason for article rejection is poor research design or lack of empirical support. (Author/CK)

Describes how, by adapting software inspections to assess documentation and code, technical writers can collaborate with development personnel, editors, and customers to dramatically improve both the quality of documentation and the very process of inspecting that documentation. Notes that the five steps involved in the inspection process are:…

Gives a case history of how one writing group devised a way to deal with the problem of author-created noun strings and long, indecipherable unit modifiers, satisfying both internal and external clients. Describes the development of an in-house usage guide. (PRA)

Discusses historical examples of how fieldnotes of explorers are altered for publication, particularly in case of Samuel Hearne's "A Journal from Prince of Wale's Fort in Hudson Bay to the Northern Ocean 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772." Suggests readers view explorers' narratives as reflections of tastes and ideologies of their age and books as…

Ronald Takaki accounts for his having used Karen Leonard's material without permission and defends his omnibus style of footnoting. He discusses revisions made in the subsequent edition of "Strangers from a Different Shore" in response to Professor Leonard's requests. (DM)

Arguing that the compiler of "Bartlett's Familiar Quotations" has ignored statements by conservative philosophers, "Policy Review" offers a sampling of 250 conservative quotations from 68 celebrities and world leaders from the past 50 years that ought to be considered for Bartlett's seventeenth edition. (SLD)