SIGDOC Newsletter
June 2008 :: Volume 9, Number 2
Our Members
Notes from the Chair
Dear SIGDOC Members,
I hope that you are checking in on the SIGDOC 2008 Conference Website (http://www.sigdoc2008.net). This year's General Chair, Henrique O'Neill, Program Chair, Carlos Costa, and Local Arrangements Chair, Manuela Aparicio, have been busy organizing the conference site, reviewing and preparing the camera-ready proceedings, and coordinating local arrangements for this year's SIGDOC conference being held from September 22nd to 24th, 2008, in Lisbon, Portugal. The Program Committee for the conference, which reviewed the incoming paper proposals, lists an impressive 37 members -- twenty-three from the USA, nine from Europe, two from the UK, and one from Africa, South America, and Australia. Five of the program committee members are from industry and thirty-two from the academy. Last year's SIGDOC 2007 Conference contained an exciting range of topics, including papers on genre theory and content management, on multimodal interfaces and assistance programs, on pedagogies for communication design, on information design thoery, on cross-cultural communication, and on models of work, documentation, and emerging Web spaces for the design of communication. This year's conference promises to extend that research and to provide communication designers with the latest developments in International research and practice.
For those of you still deciding whether you will be able to attend this year's conference, please see the conference Website's information about the very reasonably-priced accommodations available to you while you are there: http://www.sigdoc2008.net/att.htm. Other information about Lisbon, Portugal, can be found in abundance at Virtual Portugal (http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/costadelisboa/index.html), via Wikipedia, for course (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisbon), and at goLisbon (http://www.golisbon.com).
Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed reading and viewing Steve Murphy's "What is Design of Communication?" series in the SIGDOC Newsletter. Developments in graphical design and its critical interaction with textual materials is still very much in its infancy for many communication designers. But, as Guri-Rozenblit (1998) aptly argues, diagrams, in combination with textual explanations, often facilitate the understanding of complex hierarchical and sequential relationships, in addition to being more memorable than textual or auditory descriptions. Hill (2004) adds that visual representations are particularly effective as arguments because of their "evocative power" and, more importantly, because they present sometimes complex arguments in believable snapshots that presume familiarity with the underlying argument and that, therefore, instantiate agreement without necessary dialectical interpretation. To my mind, one of the best theoretical treatments of visuals as communication representations is Kress and van Leeuwen's (1996) "Reading images: The grammar of visual design" for those interested in researching the topic further.
Guri-Rozenblit, S. (1988). The interrelations between diagrammatic representations and verbal explanations in learning from social science texts. Instructional Science, 17 (3), 219-234.
Hill, C. A. (2004). The psychology of rhetorical images. In C. A. Hill & M. Helmers (Eds.), Defining visual rhetorics (pp. 25-40). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Kress, G., & van Leeuwen, T. (1996). Reading images: The grammar of visual design. NY, NY: Routledge.
Looking forward to seeing you in Portugal!
Brad Mehlenbacher
Associate Professor, Training and Development (ACCE),
Adjunct/Associate Professor, Ergonomics (PSYCH),
and Affiliated Faculty, PhD in Communication, Rhetoric, and Digital Media
NC State University, Raleigh, NC 27695-7801
919.515.6242 (ph)
chair_sigdoc@acm.org (e-mail)
www4.ncsu.edu/~brad_m (url)
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Notes from the SIGDOC '08 Chair, Carlos Costa
The 26th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication (http://sigdoc2008.net) will be held in Lisbon, Portugal, in September 22-24, 2008 in ISCTE (http://www.iscte.pt).
Challenges for the SIGDOC 2008
SIGDOC comes from a technical writing tradition, where literature and rhetoric play an important role. Communication is now giving a broader focus, especially as influences coming from graphical design, web design, digital sound or digital multimedia. In Lisbon, we expect to discuss this focus of SIGDOC. This is an important step that is being done, without loosing its identity. In fact, from the revision process the heterogeneity of view point was identified. This is the result of including more participants from multimedia, computer science and graphical design.
For the second time, SIGDOC will take place outside the U.S. For the first time it takes places in a non-English speaking country. It is the ideal place to discuss an important issue either for the technical documentation, either for software engineering or for design of communication communities: translation, internationalization, localization, and globalization.
Bologna process is transforming and making an authentic revolution in the European university panorama. This may be faced either as a threat as an opportunity. In this context, the discussion of a curriculum in design of communication is an important step that may be done by the SIGDOC. It is a step that may contribute to its affirmation either in academia either in practitioner context.
Lisbon
Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguese) is the capital city of Portugal, located in the on the western coast of the European continent. Lisbon is a very old town; it used to be a Phoenician, Lusitanian, Roman, Visigotic and Moorish town. In the XII century it was conquered by the Portuguese king and soon became the capital city of this kingdom.
It was also from here that in the XV century, the first Europeans reached South America, southern Africa, and eastern Asia.
This is the reason why Portuguese is a language that is the official language in countries spread out around the world - Europe (Portugal), South America (Brazil), Africa (Angola, Mozambique, Guine Bissau, Cabo Verde and São Tomé e Principe), Asia and Oceania (East Timor), being also still spoken in Macau and some cities in India.
But Lisbon is not only about the past; it is also the “Lisbon Strategy” and “Treaty of Lisbon”, two important milestones in the European construction. The Lisbon Strategy, also known as the Lisbon Agenda or Lisbon Process, is an action and development plan for the European Union. The “Treaty of Lisbon” is a tentative of European constitution.
The 26th ACM International Conference on Design of Communication is one of the most international SIGDOC conferences not just as consequence of taking place outside the USA, but also because it involves members of the program committee representing virtually all the continents.
The first topic, Professions in DOC, is especially important, as long as SIGDOC is increasing and involving more and more people, with almost everybody outside from the traditional technical documentation field. This topic is also related to the discussion of academic programs. In fact, SIGDOC is a group opportunity for professional association that may play an important role in the definition of academic curricula.
English is “lingua franca” in technical and academic environments. But written and spoken language is an important issue in the SIGDOC. This environment, where English is not the native language, is an adequate place to discuss the issue of translation and localization.
Current list of tracks for the Conference
- Documentation and Design
- Usability
- Accessibility
- Evaluation and Experimentation
- DOC Modeling
- Information Design and Learning
- Information systems and architectures
- Knowledge Management
- Version Control
- Aesthetics and creativity
See you soon!
Carlos
Carlos J. Costa, Ph.D.
Departamento de Ciências e Tecnologias de Informação (http://dcti.iscte.pt)
Instituto Superior de Ciências do Trabalho e da Empresa (http://iscte.pt)
Lisboa - Portugal
SIGDOC '08 Program Chair
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SIGDOC Journal Proposal
Proposed Name
The previous SIGDOC journal was named The Journal of Computer Documentation. Since then, SIGDOC and the field in general has changed which will require a name change. The board will have to decide on a more appropriate name. Moving the journal into the ACM Transactions on… series would probably be best from a marketing and reputation view. Potential new names are:
- ACM Transactions on Communication and Information Design
- ACM Transactions on Information Design and Communication
- ACM Transactions on Design of Information and Communication
- ACM Transactions on Information Interaction and Communication
- ACM Transactions on Human-Information Interaction
- ACM Transactions on Human-Information Interaction and Communication
Scope of proposed publication
The journal seeks to be the premier archival journal for industry, management, and academia in the multidisciplinary field of the design and communication of information.
In support of the interdisciplinary nature of SIGDOC, the journal will strive to publish articles that cross discipline boundaries as they focus on the effective and efficient methods of designing and communicating information; disciplines will include technical communication, information design, information architecture, interaction design, and human-computer interaction.
A typical issue will consist of 3 or 4 articles with an editorial and introduction to the issue.
The editors will solicit a 1-2 page commentary for at least the lead article from a leading person in that field which will reflect on the significance of the article to the field.
Rationale for new publication
For many practicing and researching information designers, SIGDOC conference proceedings have become a viable and important publishing outlet, in large part due to the widespread availability of ACM’s Digital Library; many report more citations for their conference proceeding publications than for more traditional publication. But the proceedings, by their nature, do not allow or require the kind of depth and scope that would lead to more developed ideas and “journal” status that many academics need for tenure and promotion.
In addition, related journals now are receiving and accepting enough articles that they are developing an inventory (see list of journals below). This shows that the number of researchers is increasing and the article production rate can support another journal. With the multidisciplinary focus of the SIGDOC journal, we should be a primary market for many researchers, many of who do not have an obvious journal home in their fields.
The movement to user-centered design and the realization by companies of the importance of high quality user interaction in their products has greatly increased the number of practitioners in the area. This has resulted in an increased in academic programs. The field is experiencing a rapid growth of academic programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Besides the more established programs, several universities have recently started or have plans for PhD programs in technical communication. A new trend for programs in human-computer interaction with a focus on design and psychology rather than computer science are have also recently started.
Conferences which cover this field
- HCI International
- Usability Professional’s Association annual conference
- Society for Technical Communication annual conference
- ACM SIGCHI conference
- Association for Teachers of Technical Writing
Other publications which publish similar articles
A number of existing journals cover the interdisciplinary concerns of information designers, but none that focus sufficiently on the specific concerns of practicing, researching information designers. None will be a direct competitor for articles. For example,
- Technical Communication
- IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
Both journals publish articles that touch on issues such as human/computer interaction, content management, and design principles. But their broad audience often requires articles that can be read by a wide range of communicators, at the expense of more nuanced discussions of methods and technologies.
- Journal of Business and Technical Communication
- Technical Communication Quarterly
- Journal of Technical Writing and Communication
Each of these journals cover information design, but both are primarily academic journals devoted to the study of the teaching of writing, rather than design, and design articles can be few and far between.
- International Journal of Human-Computer Studies
- Journal of Usability Studies
These journals have a very useful but narrow focus, excluding discussions of the broad range of concerns faced by information designers.
Benefits to SIGDOC
- Develop a respected quarterly peer-reviewed journal for SIGDOC. SIGDOC’s conference proceedings are respected and peer reviewed, but do not allow for the sort of developed, verifiable, and generalizable work that is required in a lengthier journal article. They also frequently count less, if at all, for publishing researchers seeking tenure and promotion.
- Enhance SIGDOC’s reputation and increase membership. SIGDOC has been effective at disseminating its conference proceedings, but membership has remained relatively stagnant (true?) and many potential participants may not be able to add an additional conference to their rotation. A peer-reviewed journal has the potential to increase participation and encourage new discussion among colleagues from many fields and contexts.
- Increase multidisciplinary participation. SIGDOC has been dominated by practicing and academic technical communicators. A peer-reviewed journal could draw participants from the many related fields, including HCI, Web design, database management, and computer science.
Relationship to other ACM publications
The proposed journal covers research focused on user-centered design, communicating information and the usability of documentation, web-based system, and software application. Unlike most ACM publications, it deals with the human-system interaction from the screen to the person and not the algorithms and processing which populate the screen.
ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction (TOCHI)
Significant overlap. However, both journals are covering complementary fields which have substantial areas of research which are not appropriate for the other. In particular, the new journal has a wider scope than just interactive systems. For example, articles or issues which the SIGDOC journal would publish but are out of the scope of TOCHI include:
- developing or writing online help systems
- improving the design of printed documentation
- design of more effective procedures
- audience or task analysis for content development
ACM Transactions on Multimedia Computing, Communications and Applications
Little overlap. Articles tend to focus on design of algorithms or computer-to-computer communication methods to improve multimedia performance.
ACM Transactions on the Web (TWEB)
Little overlap. Articles tend to focus on design of algorithms to improve web performance. Interactions also covers similar material, although it is not a direct competitor since it is not peer reviewed.
Editorial process
Each of the associate editors will be responsible for one themed issue a year: developing a theme, soliciting articles, overseeing the peer review, and soliciting commentary. In addition, we will contact people who have presented papers at conferences, such as SIGDOC or ATTW, which could be expanded into articles appropriate for the journal.
Albers will be responsible for one other issue which will consist of articles received outside of the themed issues or of articles which were submitted too late for the themed issue. The fourth issue will be either a themed issue with a guest editor or edited by Albers. One issue may also consist of expanded and revised versions of papers presented at the SIGDOC conference.
Manuscript submissions and reviews will also be handled electronically in order to reduce processing time; electronic submittals will also facilitate revision of articles.
Material submitted to the journal should not have been published elsewhere, nor be under consideration elsewhere. Some issues may contain substantially revised versions of papers from conference proceedings.
All authors of material accepted for publication must comply with standard ACM copyright agreements before publication by signing appropriate forms (such as a copyright transfer form). There is no charge for publication in the journal, nor is any payment made to contributors for the right to publish the work.
Each editor will be responsible for an initial copyedit of the final articles. A final copyedit and page layout will be done by the lead editor.
East Carolina University will provide a graduate assistant to help with copyedit and page layout.
ACM will be responsible for the publishing and distribution.
Will articles go through a full refereeing process, or a less rigorous review process (transactions must use a refereeing process)?
All articles will be peer reviewed by two reviewers, one who will be an editorial board member.
How will the editorial board be structured and what role will the editor and other editorial board members play?
One of the peer reviewers for each article will be an editorial board member.
In the event one of the editors is replaced, the editorial board will be involved in the search process for a new editor and approving the selection.
Authors
The primary source of articles will be researchers in technical communication or human-computer interaction. We expect most of the authors will be academics. However, we will strive to ensure the articles are accessible to practitioners and have a practical focus.
Subscribers
All SIGDOC members (approximately 400) will receive the journal as part of their membership.
The journal will also be available in the ACM Digital Library.
Proposed editor-in-chief and editorial board members
Editors
Michael Albers (East Carolina University) Editor-in-chief.
Editing experience: Edited one book, Content and Complexity: Information Design in Technical Communication. Guest editor for 2 issues of Technical Communication, 1 issue of Technical Communication Quarterly, 1 issue of Journal of Usability Studies.
Editorial boards:
- IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
- Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ)
David Clark (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) Associate editor
Editing experience: Reviewer for Technical Communication Quarterly and Journal of Business and Technical Communication. In charge of the ATTW's Research Committee (which involves composing CFPs and evaluating proposals). Significant experience working in textbook publishing.
Brian Still (Texas Tech University ) Associate editor
Editing experience: Proceedings editor EEE PCS conference 2008. Guest editor for IEEE Transactions on Professional Communications. Special Issue Editor, Technical Communication Quarterly, Summer 2008 Issue on Online Health Communication. Co-Editor, Handbook of Research on Open Source Software (IGI Press, 2007)
Editorial boards:
- IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication
- International Journal of Open Source Software and Processes
- International Journal of E-Adoption (IJEA)
- Information Resources Management Journal (IRMJ)
- Editorial Advisory Review Board, Idea Group Inc.
Editorial board members
To be recruited.
Department editorial support
The Department of English at East Carolina University will provide computers and office space, graduate assistance support, and space on ECU’s computer for any web pages that may need to be created or maintained at a site other than the ACM site.
The Department of English at East Carolina University has an outstanding record of producing journals and currently is home to several literature and multi-cultural journals. The department has well-developed procedures for selecting and assigning graduate student editorial assistants and for providing administrative support to on-going editorial operations.
Example articles
Typical articles which would be published:
- Carlos J. Costa, José Silva, Manuela Aparício: "
Evaluating web usability using small display devices"
- Dave Clark: "
Content management and the production of genres"
- David G. Novick, Edith Elizalde, Nathaniel Bean:
"Toward a more accurate view of when and how people seek help with computer applications"
- David R. Wright: "
The decision pattern: capturing and communicating design intent"
- Fotis Liarokapis, Robert M. Newman: "Design experiences of multimodal mixed reality interfaces"
- Mark Zachry, Clay Spinuzzi, William Hart-Davidson: "
Visual documentation of knowledge work: an examination of competing approaches"
- P. J. Schemenaur, Catherine Pawlick: "Evaluating guidelines for writing user interface text"
Potential themed issue topics
- Content management: evaluation and assessment
- Social networking
- Design processes and project management
- Metadata and the semantic web
- Open source documentation
- Playing games online: using/designing games to teach/train
- Designing Online Interactive Training Modules
- Creating effective ambient communication designs
- The possibilities, implications, etc. of DITA on documentation
- Storyboards and prototypes: teaching interaction design
- The usability of interactive animation
- Holographs, Sensecams, and wearable or embedded chips: New information management technologies and their impact on communication design
- Virtual presentations for International settings and audiences
- Writing for Podcasts
- Communication design in medicine
Michael Albers
East Carolina University
2110 Bate Building
Greenville NC 27858
malbers@acm.org
252-355-5149
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