ATTW Bulletin

The information economy is based on the collection and the exchange of data and ideas. We all either contribute to or use materials from the information economy in most aspects of our everyday lives. Thus, the information economy exists as an environment in which we are all contributors and consumers. Within this system, effective communication is essential to success and means that individuals can contribute ideas and information effectively and make efficient use of the goods and services. In this way, each individual can play the dual role of content user (audience) and content creator (professional communicator). This ability to create new content also allows individuals to become online innovators and cyberspace entrepreneurs on a previously unprecedented level.

All of this content, however, requires continual evaluation and updating in a way that emphasizes the importance of information management and of hiring/employment practices that prioritize such activities (e.g., strategic human resource management). At the same time, organizations and individuals alike need to consider how to maintain open access to needed information without sacrificing personal privacy or corporate security. Few of us, however, understand all of these nuances of the information economy or the related communication factors that affect its operations. Yet such an understanding is needed for individuals to conceptualize better their professional roles in relation to this economy. For this reason, an examination of the information economy and its effects on professional communication practices can greatly benefit individuals in the professional and technical communication industries.

This special issue of the IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication seeks to “examine” this economic model by providing research articles, commentaries, and tutorials that explore the connections between communication practices and the products, practices, and services that constitute to the information economy. The objective of the special issue is to help individuals involved in professional communication practices better understand and participate in the information economy as both contributors and consumers.

Possible topic areas for this special issue include but are not limited to the following:

Establishing and assessing the value of knowledge work and knowledge products
Innovation and entrepreneurship issues related to communication in the information economy
Information design, usability, and accessibility
Virtual teams, online collaboration, and distributed models of work
Strategic human resources management of globally dispersed and mobile employees
Cross-cultural communication, globalization, outsourcing, translation, and localization
Legal policies and social issues related to the information economy
Media selection and multimodality
The role of and perspectives on teaching and training within the information economy
Content management, open source software, single sourcing, and XML

Submissions

Email abstracts (250-500 words) to Kirk St.Amant at kirk.stamant@gmail.com

Please include the following information in your abstract:

Title of the proposed article
Name, institutional affiliation, and contact information for author(s)
Overview of proposed article topic
Outline of the major ideas or concepts covered in the proposed article
Discussion of the contribution this article will make to research, teaching, or other professional practices in the field of technical communication

Timeline

Proposals/Abstracts due: April 10, 2008

Invitation to submit full papers for peer review: April 15, 2008

Full papers due: June 16, 2008

Tentative publication date: September 2009

Guidelines for submitting manuscripts

An invitation to submit a full paper for peer-review does not mean a paper has been accepted for publication. Rather, all papers will undergo a peer-review process, the results of which will be used to determine whether the paper will be published in this special issue of the IEEE-TPC .

Questions

The guest editors encourage you to contact them to discuss possible topics for an article. You can email any questions about this special issue to Kirk St. Amant .