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 Abstracts Due: | May 21, 2004 |
| Notification to Authors: | June 11, 2004 |
| Full Papers Due: | July 16, 2004 |
Call for Papers
The full Call for Papers (CFP) is available in the following formats: