Explores how ideas of harmony and coercion play out in metaphors of community. Suggests four dimensions as continua along which communities could be described: choice/chance, time/space, abstract/concrete, and affinity/proximity. Concludes that breaking up the clearly bounded, either/or approach to modeling community can better accommodate the…

Suggests that acquaintance with nurses' writing would help instructors design assignments for nursing students in basic technical writing courses. Investigates the importance of writing tasks for nurses and describes the most common documents nurses generate, since good writing skills for nurses improve health care delivery and promote…

Recounts how Frank Aydelotte, an MIT English professor, became AT&T's first writing consultant and created a year-long program that taught employees to think and write about issues important to their work. Suggests that the course offers insights into early consulting work and shows how Aydelotte's humanistic approach to technical communication…

States that organizational values (a subset of organizational culture) provide behavioral guidelines for employees in organizations. Proposes that metaphorical imagery can heighten the usefulness of corporate values as behavioral guideposts. Notes managerial implications for change and suggests a process for change. (PA)

States that recently a new operational perspective on language has emerged, and as a result, a specific, analogical solution within such an approach is being developed. Describes that position briefly and sketches how such a perspective can lead to a theoretical justification of selected elements of established technical writing practice. (PA)

Examines General Beauregard's inability to communicate in his report of the First Battle of Bull Run. Suggests that Beauregard's success on the battlefield came from the initiative of his junior officers. Concludes that Beauregard failed to consider political ramifications of certain statements in his report, offending President Davis and leading…

Proposes a rethinking of what professors should teach technical writing students, based on actual experience with three organizations in Oregon. Discusses how to design assignments for students that simulate the reality of a work environment. Explores types of technical writing skills that are increasingly in demand. Offers several strategies for…

Finds debate and confusion about the use of passive voice in texts in general, and in computer manuals in particular. Aims to provide clarity by presenting the "alternation principle" for the use of the passive voice in computer manuals, in which active voice is used for user actions and passive voice for automatic computer actions. (PA)

Surveys three areas relating to job satisfaction--traditional aspects, gender differences, and job stress that might be unique to the technical writing profession. Indicates that technical communicators are satisfied with their compensation and opportunities for promotion but dissatisfied with the work itself, their supervision, and their…