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Subject:FORUM95: Another Announcement From:Tom Warren <TWARREN -at- OSUVM1 -dot- BITNET> Date:Fri, 7 Oct 1994 13:41:00 CST
Here is the text of the most recent FOURUM95 International Conference
brochure. Please respond to Brigitte Beuttenmueller, tekom Germany
expressing your interest in further information. Proposal deadline
is January 1, 1995.
Tom Warren
twarren -at- vm1 -dot- ucc -dot- okstate -dot- edu
______________________
forum 95
Have you registered for...
Dortmund, Germany,
13-15 November 1995
Disappearing Borders:
a reflection on a central theme
Technical communication is becoming more and more an international issue. Int
ernational
issues will form an important ingredient of the program, with topics like transl
ation,
acculturation, international standards (European and world-wide), international
cooperation.
We have started with Forum 95, organised by societies from four different countr
ies.
Technical communication has to remove barriers between producers and consumers
of
technical artifacts. This essential aim of our profession is reflected in topic
s like usability
research, developing learning techniques, user instructions, and accessibility o
f information.
Traditional borders between disciplines involved in technical communication, a
re disappearing.
Writers and illustrators, designers and producers, software developers and media
-specialists are
working together to produce optimal results. Topics related to this interdiscip
linary undertaking
are for instance: new media, text and pictures, overall design issues, managing
complex
processes.
Research and practice should no longer be separate worlds, but become warp and
woof of the
same texture. Wishful thinking? Let the participants of Forum 95 decide. Rese
archers are
invited to present their projects and their results.
Call for activators
Those who want to participate actively in Forum 95 are invited to send a proposa
l/before
January 1st, 1995. Proposals are welcomed for all sorts of activities sketched
below:
Please do not consider it as limitative. All issues related to technical commun
ication and to the
central theme of the conference, are welcomed.
Manuals
User friendliness of manuals
Minimal manuals: designing, evaluating
Access to manuals: indexes and other access structures
Can a manual be complete? What to include, what to exclude?
The eternal chain: equipment-manual-user: which is the weakest link?
Safety instructions: legal documents or reader instructions?
Production
How to develop multi-aimed, multi-purpose, multi-audience and multi-authored
documentation?
Computer product development and documentation
Turning product development and documentation
Downsizing and outsourcing in technical documentation
Cost effectiveness of high quality in documentation
Technical documentation as after sales
Technical communication as a part of a corporate identity
Who will do the job: technicians or communicators?
Who will do the job: technicians or communicators?
New media
Interactive tutorials: do they really work?
Hypertext: where is the big picture?
Using computer networks for cooperative work
Are new media worth the price?
What do moving pictures add to static representations?
International aspects
Translation problems
International standards, their aims and their impact
Automatic translation: real future of Utopia?
Universal pictures?
Can jokes work in different cultures?
Professional aspects
What should technical communicators know?
Programs of Technical Communication in higher education
Students and the workplace
Can communication be learned?
Professional codes and ethics
The labor market of technical communicators
Freelancing in Technical Communication
Visual aspects
Text and pictures
The overall design: layout and design principles
Using verbal diagrams for presenting data and instructions
The visual aspects of multi-media presentations
Production
Document databases
Data bases documents
SGML, HGML, and others
Direct input from developers to users
Direct input from users to developers
Distribution of information in the electronic age
Other fields
Rhetoric and technical communication
Testing technical documentation
'Let the user learn from his/her errors'
Gender in technical communication
Proposals should contain the full name and address of the author(s), including p
hone and fax
number and, if possible, E-mail address. It should have a title or an indicatio
n of the topic, as well
as an indication of the sort of activity it is referring to. It should contain
an abstract (for papers),
a description (for exhibition participants), or an explanation (for Idea Market
or brainstorming
sessions proposals) of approximately 500 to 800 words (1 to 2 pages).
Please consider the possibility to propose more than one activity!
All proposals will be reviewed by the program committee. Those who submit a pro
posal will
receive a reaction before February 1st 1995.
Send your registration to the address shown.
Request for Information
The Interacting
Communication Conference
Dortmund, Germany
13-15 November 1995
Yes, Please keep me informed about Forum 95
I am considering presenting a paper
Possible topic (enclose details)
I would more likely just attend the conference
I'm not sure that I will be able to attend, but please keep me informed
Name
Institute or
Organisation
Address
Country
Post Code Tel ( )
FAX
Mail to:
tekom (Forum 95) Fax to:
Markelstr.34 Germany
D-7000 +711 650767
Stuttgart 1
Germany
The Forum Formula
The Forum formula includes divergent activities, which will form a lively, varie
d, interesting and
above all activating program.
Idea market
Brainstorming sessions
Sort-and-build groups
Paper presentations
Networking lunch
Exhibition
Since preparations for Forum 95 are still in progress, not all activities can be
announced yet. But
the program committee is working on several possibilities.
A video conference, including participants from all over the world
An E-mail conference or list, starting some weeks before, and ending some week
s after Forum
95
Excursions to companies and organisations in the Rurh area
An attractive social program and partners program.
Publications
Three publications will appear connected with Forum 95.
The Preseedings: a book containing not only the full program, but also materia
ls for
discussions, brainstorming sessions, etc.
The Postharvest: a book containing results of sessions, materials, reports and
commentaries.
The Proceedings: a collection of selected and reviewed papers, subjected to sc
ientific standards
and to be published by a scientific publisher - especially intended for research
reports.
Forum 95 will be organised jointly by four societies for Technical Communication
IEEE Professional Communication (USA/Canada)
ISTC Institute for Scientific & Technical Communicators (United Kingdom)
STIC-QTD Studiekring voor Technische Informatie en Communicatie/Quality of Tec
hnical
Communication (The Netherlands)
tekom Gesellschaft f r technische Kommunikation (Germany)