Vol 45, Issue 1

September/October 2005

Features

	STKs: Innovative Thinking, Strategic Thinking, and Leadership
	Virtual Visibility: Create an Internet Presence with a Web Site
	CopyNight: Discussing Artistic Copyrights
	A POV on POD: Meeting the Demands for Publishing on Demand
	Overextending Metaphors Can Lead to Communication Breakdowns
	Community Paragraphs

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	From the President
	From the Editor
	Member Spotlight

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	Upcoming STC Seminars

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Society News

Articles: [STC Training Program] [IEEE Professional Communications Call for Papers]

STC Training Program

October 20-21, 2005

Imagine a two-day course covering the things you need to advance your career in technical communication-an in-depth, focused course taught by some of the most respected names in the field. Now imagine that you have a choice of five such courses, each covering a different subject within technical communication. That's the STC Training Program-a new learning venue designed for today's professionals and scheduled for October 20-21.

The five two-day courses, described in detail at www.stc.org/training, cover the following subjects:

• The Architecture of Content Instructor: Jonathan Price, STC Fellow
• Creating and Using Personas to Improve Usability. Instructor: Whitney Quesenbery, STC Associate Fellow
• Focusing on Content: Making Web Sites Work for Users. Instructors: Janice (Ginny) Redish, STC Fellow, and Caroline Jarrett
• Leadership in Information Management: Developing the Business Framework and Implementation Roadmap for Single Sourcing, Content Management, and Knowledge Management. Instructor: Benhong Rosaline (Roz) Tsai, STC Associate Fellow
• XML: From Hand-Coding to WYSIWYG Authoring. Instructor: Neil Perlin, STC Associate Fellow

The STC Training Program will take place at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City, Crystal City, Virginia (near Washington, DC). Register by September 21, 2005, and the cost for STC members is $1,095 (with hotel, $1,295-see note) and $1,255 for non-members (with hotel, $1,455-see note). After September 21, cost increases $150.

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity. For information or to register, please visit www.stc.org/training.

Note: Hotel accommodations include up to three nights lodging in Crystal City, Virginia. Registration includes two breakfasts and two lunches. Discounts are available for multiple registrants from the same company.

IEEE Professional Communications Call for Papers

Special issue of IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication to focus on Examining International Outsourcing: Perspectives, Practices, and Projections.

Guest Editor
Kirk St.Amant
Texas Tech University
Department of English

Deadline for abstracts
October 1, 2005

International outsourcing (or offshoring) has become a topic of increased interest and concern, primarily because of the effects it is having on the nature of knowledge-based work. While a great deal has been written on the effects of international outsourcing in relation to the information technology and the customer service industries, relatively little has been published on the effects international outsourcing is having on professional communication. Similarly, relatively little has been written on how international outsourcing practices might change the nature of specific technical communication practices or change the field in general. Such perspectives, however, are essential to technical communicators who must re-think the nature of their jobs in an age of global business practices. Additionally, such perspectives are important for educators who train the technical communicators of tomorrow.

This special issue will examine how inter national outsourcing is affecting professional and educational practices in technical communication and how international outsourcing could shape future practices in both areas.

Topics

Topics of interest for this special issue include:

• Which technical fields seem poised to engage in large-scale international outsourcing in the future? What implications will such outsourcing have for technical communicators working in related industries?
• What technical communication tasks or practices are particularly susceptible to international outsourcing?
• What lessons can technical communicators learn from how international outsourcing has affected other professional fields?
• Which nations seem poised to become international outsourcing providers for technical communication tasks? How well prepared are workers in those nations to perform such tasks?
• How have international outsourcing practices in other fields shaped the ways in which technical communicators interact with SMEs in different nations?
• What technology developments can facilitate the international outsourcing of technical communication practices? What developments could affect how technical communicators interact with SMEs located in other nations?
• Which international legal factors affect international outsourcing practices? How do technical communicators fit into that legal framework?
• How should educational practices change to train technical communicators to work effectively in an environment of international outsourcing?
• What implications does online education have for the training of technical communicators in other nations? How might such situations affect the outsourcing of technical communication practices?

Submissions
Please e-mail abstracts (200 to 500 words) to Kirk St. Amant at kirk.st-amant@ttu.edu.

Please include the following information in your abstract:

• title of the proposed article
• name, institutional affiliation, and contact information for authors
• overview of proposed article topic
• discussion of the contribution this article will make to research, teaching, or other professional practices in the field of technical communication

Timeline
Abstracts due: October 1, 2005
Invitation to submit full papers for peer review: October 15, 2005
Full papers due: December 15, 2005

The invitation to submit full papers for review does not mean a paper has been accepted for publications. Rather, all full papers will undergo a peer review process, the results of which will be used to determine whether the paper will be published in this special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication.

Questions

Questions should be emailed to the Kirk St. Amant at kirk.st-amant@ttu.edu, and prospective contributors are welcome to contact the guest editor to discuss prospective topics for an article.