8.0077 Conference: Technical Communication (1/536)

Elaine Brennan (EDITORS@BROWNVM.BITNET)
Wed, 22 Jun 1994 20:14:59 EDT

Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 8, No. 0077. Wednesday, 22 Jun 1994.

Date: Mon, 20 Jun 94 08:35:07 PST
From: "Ray Siemens" <siemens@unixg.ubc.ca>
Subject: Conf. Notice: ACM SigDoc '94

SIGDOC'94

PRELIMINARY PROGRAM

TECHNICAL COMMUNICATORS
AT THE GREAT DIVIDE:
FROM COMPUTING TO
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ACM 1994 SIGDOC CONFERENCE
OCTOBER 2 - 5, 1994
THE BANFF CENTRE FOR CONFERENCES

In 1982, SIGDOC held its first meeting. A respectable computer,
in those days, was still a mainframe or perhaps a minicomputer.
Microcomputers were just appearing on the scene. WordStar and
VisiCalc were coming into the vocabulary. A new breed of technical
writers was writing third-party manuals to explain to computer
neophytes what the vendor manuals didn't tell.

Twelve years later we convene in a vastly different world - a
world in which
* millions of microcomputers, mainframes, minis, and
supercomputers of many different makes and models are expected
to work together
* people believe they should be able to use a computer the way
they use their other toys and appliances - easily
* everyone who can afford a computer may not have the skills to
read about them
* people want more than the keyboard and mouse as primary
accesses to computers

The 80s brought us chunking, usability, ease-of-use, graphical
interface design, user friendly. The 90s' jargon includes
interoperability, device independence, virtual reality, the
information highway, and electronic document distribution.

The 1994 conference theme, "Technical Communicators at the
Great Divide: From Computing to Information Technology," gives us
a context to explore how we fit into this turn-of-the-century
world; to talk about the change and continuity in our roles as
documentors of information technology, and to share our
experiences as we stand at a watershed in our profession.

SIGDOC OFFICERS
Nina Wishbow, Bell Northern Research, Chair
Stephanie Rosenbaum, Tec-Ed, Vice Chair
Barbara Mirel, DePaul University, Secretary
Kathy Haramundanis, DEC, Treasurer
R. John Brockmann, U. of Delaware, Past Chair

SIGDOC'94 PROGRAM COMMITTEE
Susan B. Jones, MIT, Chair
Paul Beam, U. of Waterloo
John Brockmann, U. of Delaware
Stanley Dicks, Bellcore
Phyllis Galt, MIT
Barbara Mirel, DePaul University
Mimi Saffer, SAS Institute
Ray Siemens, UBC
Angela Patrick, Mead Data Central, Chair, Tutorials
Cathy Kincaid, Nova Corp. of Alberta, Chair, Banff Logistics
Chris Hallgren, Canadian PrePress Institute, Chair, Posters

GETTING TO BANFF
Banff is about an hour's drive from Calgary city limits, and
about an hour and 45 minutes from the Calgary International
Airport.

When you leave the airport, follow the signs for Barlow Trail
South. Once you're travelling south on Barlow, take the 16th
Avenue/Highway #1 West exit. Follow the signs for Banff/Lake
Louise (#1 Highway West). The Conference Centre is in the
Banff National Park. If you are driving, you will be charged
a $20 CDN entrance fee (per car) when you enter the park.
This fee is good for one week.

SPECIAL AIRFARES
Air Canada (and its connectors) is SIGDOC's official air
carrier. For special airfares, call 1-800-361-7585 to make
your reservation. Be sure to use our registered event number:
CV941218.

CAR RENTALS
In conjunction with Air Canada, AVIS Rental cars is providing
us with special conference rates. Discount number is B835539.

BUS SCHEDULES
Brewster Transportation runs daily bus trips from Calgary
International Airport to Banff at 3 pm and 6 pm. Fares are
adult $28.00 CDN (one way), child $14.00 CDN (one way). Buy
tickets at the Brewster counter in the airport.

CONFERENCE HOTEL
SIGDOC'94 has reserved the Banff Centre: Mountain Campus for
our annual conference. The Centre is really four centres in
one: the Centre for the Arts, the Centre for Conferences, the
Centre for Management, and the International Institute for
Innovation. Any profits made from the Conference Centre go
directly back to the performing arts programs at the Banff
Centre.

A room in the Banff Centre includes three meals and two
nutrition breaks a day, and access to a recreation centre
(pool, whirlpool, sauna, aerobics classes, gymnasium,
racquetball and squash courts, running track, weight-lifting
equipment) all for $106 CDN (single), or $167 CDN (double).
Please book your room before August 1, 1994. After August 1,
1994, rooms are on an "as-available" basis.


If you stay at another hotel, the Banff Centre will arrange a
lunch and nutrition break package for no more than $20.00 CDN
for each day that you attend. You can arrange this at the
registration desk.

OTHER HOTELS
The Banff Park Lodge (222 Lynx Street, P.O. Box 2200, Banff,
Alberta, Canada T0L 0C0) has been selected as the conference
overflow hotel. To get special conference rates, call 1-800-
661-9266 and mention you are attending the SIGDOC conference.
Please note, rooms are on an "as-available" basis. The Banff
Park Lodge is a 15-minute walk from the conference centre.

VIRTUAL REALITY & MULTIMEDIA TOUR
On Tuesday afternoon, October 4, the Banff Centre for the
Arts has arranged a tour of the Virtual Reality and
Multimedia labs. Stop by the registration desk to find out
the times and to sign up.

A TASTE OF BANFF/LAKE LOUISE
The Second Annual "A Taste Of Banff/Lake Louise" is October 1
and 2. Only 10 minutes from the conference centre, over 25 of
Banff and Lake Louise's finest restaurants will be waiting f
or you in heated festival tents. Great food and free
entertainment! Here's a sample from last year's menu: baked
tiger prawns with goat cheese and prosciutto with sun dried
tomatoes ($3.00), steamed Arctic Char in Chinese cabbage with
orange ginger sauce and brown basmati rice pilaf ($3.00),
escallop of venison with Black Pepper and Guinette Cherries
($3.00), . the list goes on and on.

All week you and your family can enjoy a variety of free
activities such as nature hikes, and art walk tours. (You may
need to arrange those a few days in advance).

DAY TOUR OF THE ICEFIELDS
Stay an extra day and join other conferees on the Highway and
Snocoach tour of the Columbia Icefield.


THE PROGRAM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2, 1994
TUTORIALS

TUTORIAL #1: Contextual Inquiry: Grounding Your Design in
User's Work

TIME: Full day, 9:00 am - 4:00 pm

INSTRUCTORS Mary Beth Raven, Ph.D., Dennis Wixon, Ph.D.,
Digital Equipment Corporation's Usability Expertise
Center

CONTENT: Introduces new, proven alternatives to traditional
interviewing through hands-on exercises. This
tutorial will particularly benefit those who are
taking on the responsibility of integrating
documentation into a product.


OBJECTIVE Participants will learn the fundamentals of the
contextual inquiry research approach, which
involves conducting field research with customers
and incorporating what is learned into product
development.


WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Designers, programmers, managers, writers, and
course developers.


FORMAT: Lecture, videotape demonstrations, and hands-on
exercises.


TUTORIAL #2: Human Factors in Multimedia Communications

TIME: Half-day, morning, 8:30 am - noon

INSTRUCTORS Arlen Michaels, scientist and electronic
communications advisor, Bell-Northern Research
Limited

CONTENT: Introduces the considerations involved when
developing information products that incorporate
additional human sensory stimulation through sight
and sound. This is based on Arlen's SIGDOC'92
tutorial on Human Factors in Multimedia.

OBJECTIVE Participants will learn the benefits and
limitations of multimedia communication from a
psychological perspective and explore new
approaches to interactive communication. This
tutorial is not about using multimedia tools, nor
is it a detailed prescription of multimedia design
methods.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Writers, editors, document planners, and other
technical communicators.

FORMAT: Lecture and audio/video presentation.



TUTORIAL #3: Tour of the Internet: Getting Up To Speed on
the Information Highway

TIME: Half-day, afternoon, 1:00 pm - 4:30 pm

INSTRUCTORS Joanne Costello, Manager, Network Support Services,
Christi-Anne Castro, Network Consultant,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

CONTENT: A fast-forward jump into the Internet and its invaluable
sources of information.

OBJECTIVE Participants will learn the background and benefits
of the Internet, how to navigate it, and its social
and ethical implications (such as copyright laws,
plagiarism, and intellectual property laws).

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:
Professionals who have or will have access to the
Internet and wish to use it to enrich their work.

FORMAT: Lecture and hands-on exercises.


REGISTRATION: All day
EVENING: Welcome to SIGDOC'94 Reception


MONDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1994
CONFERENCE PROGRAM

9am - 10am
Plenary Session: Greetings

10:30am - noon
Session 1: An Overview and Introduction to Mosaic and the
World Wide Web
Mosaic/World Wide Web presentation, Chris Hudel, Hewlett Packard
Canada


Session 2: On-line Help
Timing the Development of a Quality On-line Help System to
Minimize Panic and Save Costs, Bruce W. Knorr, Ann Norton,
WordPerfect Corp.

Changing the Documentation Paradigm: Design for On-line First,
Karl Smart, Matt Whitting, WordPerfect Corp.

Session 3: Models for Documentation and Training, Part 1
Writers and Trainers Unite! Experiencing a Paradigm Shift in
Technical Communication, Rob Houser, AT&T Global

A Combined Project Planning Model for Documentation/ Training at
BNR, Glenn C. Russell, Bell Northern Research

Luncheon Rigo Award: John M. Carroll, speaker: "Making History,
Giving Reason: Technical Communicators at the Great
Divide."

1:30pm - 3pm
Session 4: Behind the Scenes of Networked Information
Untangling the (World-Wide) Web, Tony Cahill, Michael G. Hinchey,
Liam Relihan, University of Limerick

Implementing an Interface to Networked Services, Abdul Hanan
Abdullah, Brian Gay, Aston University

Multi-Level Documentation of Organizational Architectures and
Processes, Rudolf K. Keller, Anuraag Garg, Amin Noaman, Tao Tao,
Centre de recherche informatique de Montreal (CRIM)

Session 5: Visual Design Tools

Object Help for GUIs, David Freeman, R.R. Donnelley & Sons
Company, Technology Center

Session 6: Development and the Customer
Engineer/Customer Communication Practices: A Study of Software
Engineering, John K. Horberg, RPI

Electric Rhetoric: Toward a Rhetoric of Electronic Documents, Kara
Heinrichs, University of Michigan

3pm - 5pm
Session 7: Documentation in a Distributed Environment
Interoperability: Rethinking the Documentation Paradigm,
Robbie Beam, Jaelyn Williams, WordPerfect Corp.

Implementing On-line Methods and Procedures in a Distributed
Client-Server Graphical User Interface Environment, Kenneth R.
Ohnemus, CSC Consulting and Diana F. Mallin, AT&T Bell Labs

Session 8: Information Design and Multimedia, Part 1
Leading the Design Team, Steven J. Reilly, David C. Woomer,
Intelligent Controls, Inc.

Multimedia: Towards an Electronic Performance Support System, Ann
Rockley and Desiree Sy, Information Design Solutions, Inc.

Session 9: Multi-Site/Multi-Culture Issues
Conducting Multi-Site Documentation Projects: What Works, What
Doesn't, Katherine Drew, Legent Corp.

Preparing for the Global Market, Susan Goodall, Powersoft Corp.

Evening Poster Session



TUESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1994


8:30am - 10am
Session 10: Creating a CD-ROM
Creating a CD-ROM Publication from Scratch: A Case Study, Brian J.
Thomas, SPIE

Session 11: CAL (Computer-Aided Learning)
Go Ahead, Help Yourself! User-Interactive On-line Help in a CAL
Authoring Environment, Paul Beam and Diane Burke, University of
Waterloo

CAL, Empowerment and the "Average User," Paul Beam, The Canadian
Imperial Bank of Commerce

Session 12: Models for Documentation and Training, Part 2
Integrating On-line Help, Documentation, and Training, R.
Stanley Dicks, Bellcore

Zen and the Art of Learning Support: Combining Documentation,
Training, and On-line Help Functions for a Unique Organizational
Approach to Information Development, Karen Goeller, Bellcore

10:30am - noon
Session 13: Information Design and Multimedia, Part 2
Creating Large Multimedia Titles, Rich Helms, Mark Ryan, IBM
Canada

Session 14: Information Design Perspectives
ConTextualizing the Environment: Narratives of Use in On-line
Documentation, Edward Barrett, James G. Paradis, MIT

A Theory of Organization, Joseph I. B. Gonzales. Shelton, CT

Session 15: Virtual Reality and Multimedia Tour

Luncheon Diana Award: John Seely Brown, Xerox PARC, speaker

1:30pm - 3pm
Session 16: Knowledge-Level Support of Scholarly Communities
Knowledge Acquisition and Representation Techniques in
Scholarly Communication, Brian R. Gaines, University of Calgary

Groupware Concept Mapping Techniques, R. Kremer, University of
Calgary

Active Documents Combining Multimedia and Expert Systems, Mildred
L. G. Shaw, University of Calgary

Session 17: Enhancing the Usability of System Interfaces
A Unified Approach to Indexing and Retrieval of Information, Kevin
Cox, City Polytechnic of Hong Kong

The Fate of Indexes in an On-line World, Mary Jane Northrop,
University of Michigan

The Work Flow in HyperText Modeling, Chris Hallgren, Canadian
PrePress Institute

Session 18: Designing Writers
Joining the GUI Design Team - One Writer's Experience, Leslie A.
Johnson, NeuralWare, Inc.

Virtual Reality, AI, and Instructional Text: Meeting Demands for
Realistic, Transparent, and Forgiving Environments, Scott DeLoach,
Atlanta, GA

3:30pm - 5pm
Session 19: Designing Information Services for Specific Communities
Building an Internet Resource for the Optical Engineering
Community, Rick Hermann, SPIE Press, Rich Donnelly, On-line SPIE-
The International Society for Optical Engineering

The Sephardic Electronic Archive - A Technological Leap in the
1990s, Yitzchak Kerem, Jerusalem, Israel

Session 20: Collaborating to Create Usable Products
Technical Writers and System Developers Collaborating in
Usability-Oriented Systems Development: A Case Study, Par
Carlshamre, Linkoping University

A New Vision of Help: Rhetorical Considerations for the
Humanization of Help, Patricia L. Brooksbank

Bridging the Communication Gap in the Workplace with Usability
Engineering, Desiree Sy, Information Design Solutions, Inc.

Session 21: Virtual Reality and Multimedia Tour (Repeat)

Banquet Diana Patterson, Past SIGDOC Chair, speaker


WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 1994

8:30am - 10am
Session 22: "Virtual" Communities
Multi-User Domains and Virtual Campuses: Implications for
Computer-Mediated Collaboration and Technical Communication, Brad
Mehlenbacher, Beth Hardin, Chris Barrett, and Jim Clagett, North
Carolina State University

Information Ecologies and System Design: The Israeli Mass
Multimedia Network, Menahem Blondheim, Ph.D., Hebrew University of
Jerusalem

The Changing Roles of Educators: Using E-mail, CD-ROM, and On-line
Documentation in the Technical Writing Classroom, Lynette, R.
Porter, The University of Findlay

Session 23: Using On-line Help Development Tools
Creating Helplus(TM): A Cooperative Method of GUI Design, Carla
Merrill, Phil Herold, SAS Institute Inc.

Creating On-line Help the Easy Way, Susan Goodall, Powersoft Corp.

Session 24: Roundtable
ACM Journals: Online or Paper?

10:30am - noon
Session 25: Facing the Future - A Panel
Traversing the Divide: Documentation Challenges of the 90s, Karl
Smart, moderator, Freda Husic - Apple, Peter Orbeton - Lotus,
Delanie Alcorn-Jones - Microsoft, Matt Whitting - WordPerfect

Session 26: Roundtable
SIGDOC Home Page: What should we do with it? How should we tend
it?

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
BONUS OFFER: TWO conferences - ONE trip!

The week preceding SIGDOC '94 is IPCC 94, the IEEE Professional
Communication Society Conference, September 28-30. Its theme is
"Scaling New Heights in Technical
Communication."

Contact Nancy C. Corbin, Publicity Chairman, PCS at
<ncorbin@lfs.Loral.com> or call (703) 367-6013 for more information or
to register for free workshops on Saturday October 1.

And join us all on Saturday evening for a SIGDOC/IPCC joint reception.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=a
Complete the attached Registration form. All registration fees
include a copy of the proceedings and an invitation to the
SIGDOC'94 welcoming party on Sunday night. Fees are in CANADIAN
DOLLARS. Send completed forms to:

Elsa Biswurm
Banff Centre for Conferences
Box 1020 - Station 11
Banff, Alberta, Canada T0L 0C0
Tele: (403) 762-6312
Fax: (403) 762-6388

------------------------------------------------------------------
PER # of
PERSON PEOPLE


ACM members $375.00 _____
SIG members $375.00 _____
IEEE/IPCC members $400.00 _____
Non-members $450.00 _____
Full-time students $75.00 _____
Full-day tutorial (members) $200.00 _____
Half-day tutorials (members) $100.00 _____
Full-day tutorial (non-members) $220.00 _____
Half-day tutorials (non-members) $110.00 _____

Banquet ticket $30.00 _____
Additional proceedings $35.00 _____
Icefields Highway Tour $40.00/adult _____
Snocoach tour* $27.50/child _____
(maximum 47 people, minimum 30 people)*

Please reserve a single room $106.00 _____
a double room $167.00 _____
at the Banff Conference Centre from: _____________
to: _____________

Make check or money order for $___________ (CDN)
payable to SIGDOC'94. Fees are in CANADIAN DOLLARS.

Cancellations and no shows A $35.00 charge will be levied for
cancellation or no shows. If you do not give the Centre a
24-hour cancellation notice you will be charged for that night's
accommodation.


Name:

Title:

Organization:

Address:

City/State:

Zip/Country:

Phone: Fax: Email:

Ray Siemens
University of British Columbia
siemens@unixg.ubc.ca