States that computer-mediated communication on the Internet offers new challenges and opportunities for technical communication. Describes the cases of Lotus "MarketPlace" and the Clipper chip to illustrate the specialized nature of technical communities on the Internet. Suggests that when technical messages are not overly complex,…

Presents generalizations about the editing process in a governmental agency. Suggests that editing is a complex, meaning-making process. Notes that the three vary greatly in their readiness to use their personal authority in interpreting the audience's needs. Suggests that editors gain authority by assuming the role of language specialists and by…

Argues that the internal agency model of a marketing communications department forces the department to compete with outside sources for work, while department members sharpen their skills and improve their knowledge of their company's business. Describes the process for creating such an internal agency, including initiating, implementing, and…

Surveys 28 expert technical editors regarding their views on editing and how computer-based tools could aid their work. Finds that the editing environment, the process of editing, the skills involved, and the errors found all influenced the types of tools need. Names tools the editors used and suggests others that should be developed. (SR)

Comments on the Analytical Writing Assessment (AWA), a new component of the Graduate Management Admissions Test (GMAT). Examines the AWA's historical significance and addresses questions regarding the relevance of the writing test for management education. Finds that the AWA is of limited value as a writing assessment and will meet only some of…

Provides ways to use the standard functions of word processors to help students effectively edit on-screen "soft copy" as well as ways to counter the illusion of perfection caused by drafts printed on high-resolution laser printers with proportional fonts. (RS)

Responds to an article in this same issue (which commented on these authors' 1993 article in the same journal). Suggests cultural context as another possible factor that may have caused results in the various studies under discussion to be different. (SR)

Examines the controversy surrounding a 1983 government research report that found that male commanding officers in the United States Navy customarily wrote differently in fitness reports about women than in fitness reports about men. Critiques the writing of several groups, including male and female commanding officers, male newspaper editors, and…

Analyzes collaborations between software manual writers and graphic designers to discover how their processes of collaboration directly affect the form of a finished manual. Identifies three models of collaboration: assembly line (linear drafting), swap meet (iterative drafting and joint problem solving), and symphony (codevelopment in every…

Reports on a survey identifying the location, extent, and focus of technical writing programs at Canadian colleges and universities. Describes representative programs in some detail. Discusses the focus of these programs and the need for more programs. (SR)

Describes Information Mapping, a methodology for the analysis, organization, sequencing, and presentation of information and explains three major parts of the method: (1) content analysis, (2) project life-cycle synthesis and integration of the content analysis, and (3) sequencing and formatting. Major criticisms of the methodology are addressed.…

Tests the relationship between corporation performance and the readability of annual reports. Shows that annual reports of good performers were easier to read than those of poor performers--good performers used strong writing, unlike poor performers but did not use significantly more jargon or modifiers. (SR)

Provide guidelines, based on research, for the effective preparation, display, and communication of the corporate press release. Outlines physical and written characteristics of effective press releases. (SR)

Shows how two "meanings" from the "Challenger" disaster can be examined in a technical writing class to illustrate the social contingency of meaning even in science and technology. (SR)

Establishes the concept of a Simplified English, mentions several varieties that have been developed, and then outlines a procedure by which any technical community can develop its own version for its specific "domain of discourse."(PRA)