Call for Papers -- ACM SIGDOC 2004

The 22nd Annual International Conference on Design of Communication

October 10 - 13, 2004; Memphis, TN

www.sigdoc.org/2004



THEME: The Engineering of Quality Documentation

The engineering of quality documentation is a cross-disciplinary challenge affecting 
all team members, including technical writers, graphic artists, software developers, 
usability experts, and project managers. As the field of documentation matures, we 
would like to consider the implications of making design a systematic process of 
specification, creation, management, and evolution-in short, an engineering 
approach. How would the design of documentation and other communication 
artifacts and processes improve under an engineering model? What might be lost?

Documentation quality is an elusive concept that includes characteristics of the 
document product (such as readability and efficacy) and of the documentation 
process (such as automation and predictability). In this context, technical 
communicators' traditional knowledge and expertise is more important than ever. 
Designing effective communication may benefit from an engineering model of 
disciplined creativity.

SIGDOC 2004 will provide an opportunity for the exchange of information related 
to exciting new research and empirical results in areas such as:

* Tools and techniques for engineering quality documentation
* Assessing documentation quality attributes
* Changing roles of technical communicators in 2004 and beyond
* Single sourcing, artifact repositories, and document repurposing
* Methods to keep documentation accurate and up to date 



SUBMISSION PROCESS

SIGDOC 2004 will include technical papers and participatory workshops.  
Technical papers are subject to a two-stage, double blind peer-review process. 
Submit a 500-word paper abstract as plain text via email to sigdoc2004@acm.org, 
outlining the thesis, main points, and implications for the field. The body of the 
paper's abstract should be anonymous.

For approved paper abstracts, full papers not exceeding eight pages will be solicited 
and reviewed. Final acceptance for publication is contingent on registration for the 
conference. (In the case of multiple authors, at least one must register.) If you can't 
attend, a publication fee equivalent to the conference registration will be charged.
Workshop proposals not exceeding 1,000 words should be sent via email to 
sigdoc2004@acm.org. The proposal should describe the workshop's theme, 
leader(s), structure, expected length, and participant selection criteria.




IMPORTANT DATES

Paper Abstracts Due: April 30, 2004
Workshop Proposals Due: May 21, 2004
Notification to Authors: June 11, 2004
Full Papers Due: July 16, 2004
Camera-Ready Due: August 20, 2004




COMMITTEE

General Chair: Johndan Johnson-Eilola, Clarkson University, USA
Program Chair:  Shihong Huang, University of California, Riverside, USA
Arrangements Chair: Michael Albers, University of Memphis, USA


Program Committee:

Ashley Williams, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
Brad Mehlenbacher, North Carolina State University, USA
Cem Kaner, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
Clay Spinuzzi, University of Texas at Austin, USA
Damiano Distante, University of Lecce, Italy
David Novick, University of Texas at El Paso, USA
Dennis Smith, Carnegie Mellon Software Engineering Institute, USA
Diana Patterson, Mt. Royal College, Canada
Jonathan Maletic, Kent State University, USA
Kathy Haramundanis, HP Corp., USA
Ken Wong, University of Alberta, Canada
Michael Priestley, IBM Canada Ltd., Canada
Rob Pierce, IBM Corp., USA
Robert Newman, Coventry University, UK
Scott Tilley, Florida Institute of Technology, USA
Susan Jones, MIT, USA
Vanadis Crawford, IBM Tivoli Software, USA
William Hart-Davidson, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA