Annotated Directory of Internet Resources

Professional Organizations

ACM SigCHI. The Association for Computing Machinery's Special-Interest Group for Computer-Human Integration is an organization devoted to the design, evaluation, implementation, and study of interactive computing systems for human use. Their web site offers general information about membership, involvement, committees, mailing lists, and links to related news.

American Communication Association (ACA). The web site for this national professional organization of scholars, students, and practitioners in communication studies offers chat rooms, teaching aids, and presentations. For practicing writers, it provides a list of electronic references, and a link to American Communication Journal, a publication intended for the everyday reader.

Association for Business Communication (ABC). The ABC is an international organization committed to fostering excellence in business-communication scholarship, research, education, and practice. Its resource page links to the web sites for several business-communication journals and to other more general sites such as "The Center for Excellence in Writing" at Portland State University.

Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW). As an organization of instructors devoted to developing technical communication as a discipline, the writers of this site update the technical communication news section regularly and post job listings, calls for papers, and teaching and professional resources.

Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility (CPSR). A public-interest alliance of computer scientists and others concerned about the effects of computer technology on society, CPSR works to "influence decisions regarding the development and use of computers because those decisions have far-reaching consequences and reflect our basic values and priorities." Read their newsletter for information on Internet governance, ethics, cyber rights, and other issues that interest those in technical communication.

CPTSC: Council for Programs in Technical and Scientific Communication. A professional organization for leaders of academic programs in technical and scientific communication. Their web site offers a newsletter, a forum, job postings, conference information, and an archive.

IEEE Professional Communication Society. Members of IEEE seek to explore "the theory and application of all forms of communication technology." Towards this end, they offer a newsletter and an online bulletin board where people can post messages and debate hot topics.

Institute of Scientific and Technical Communicators. The web site of this United Kingdom-based organization contains an extensive set of links to international technical-communication organizations and to non-U.S. vendors.

International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). As an organization devoted to providing "products, services, activities and networking opportunities to help people and organizations achieve excellence in public relations, employee communication, marketing communication, public affairs and other forms of communication," the IABC makes good on its claims. The "Ask the Experts" page on this web site allows you to view previously asked questions and answers on topics such as ethics, communication management, and corporate communication. You can also read archived articles that appeared in the journal Communication World.

International Organization for Standardization. Ever wonder why credit cards are the same size and width the world over? As an organization whose mission is "to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity," ISO is responsible for setting world-wide technical standards for products ranging from credit cards to wire cables to international country telephone codes.

National Assoication of Science Writers (NASW). This organization is for science reporters and provides a forum to improve their craft and encourage conditions that promote good science writing.

Society for Technical Communication (STC). The web site for the world's largest professional organization for technical communicators contains a wealth of information about academic programs in technical communication, abstracts of articles from Technical Communication, and an extensive set of resource links.

Back to top

Legal and Ethical

Codes of Conduct/Practice/Ethics from Around the World. This site offers links to numerous codes, primarily from computer-related organizations but also from many other professions.

Copyright Clearance Center Inc. Online. As experts on copyright issues, CCC features information about legal issues related to the photocopying and other uses of copyrighted materials. They also include a link to the International Federation of Reproduction Rights, an organization that provides useful information for anyone who writes for an international audience and who needs to consider multicultural communication issues.

FindLaw. Contains numerous links to Internet-related legal issues.

Intellectual Property Law Primer for Multimedia Developers. This 1996 essay by attorneys J. Dianne Brinson and Mark F. Radcliffe is based on the Multimedia Law and Business Handbook, which provides accurate information on legal issues in the multimedia industry. Brinson and Radcliffe include examples of companies that lost money due to their poor understanding of copyright law, but they also explain ways that others can avoid these pitfalls.

Lawyer Library: Guide to Cyberspace Law. The LegalMatch site offers links various legal issues related to the communication, distribution, and transactions via the Internet or other networked technologies and devices.

TI Ethics Quick Test. Texas Instruments' web site on ethics is a good example of communicating an ethical code to employees. It accompanies Figure 2.1 "TI's Ethics Quick Test."

The Center for Democracy & Technology. This civil-liberties advocacy organization features regularly updated headlines on current legal news related to data privacy, Internet and free speech, and wiretapping.

The Copyright Act of 1976 (amended 1994). Read the hypertext version of copyright law courtesy of Cornell University.

The UCLA Online Institute for Cyberspace Law and Policy. The Institute features numerous links to resources on Internet-related legal issues, including an extensive bibliography of recent books and journals, along with a growing number of links to the works themselves.

U.S. Copyright Office. The federal government's office has more information on copyright law.

U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The federal government's office provides more information on patents and trademarks.

10 Big Myths about Copyright Explained. Brad Templeton, Chairman of the Board of Electronic Frontier Foundation, a group that seeks to protect liberties and privacy in cyberspace, attempts to rebut common myths about copyright on the net. He also covers issues related to USENET/Internet publication.

Back to top

Writing

A Plain English Handbook. The Security and Exchange Commission's handbook contains advice on positive constructions.

Common Grammar and Spelling Mistakes. Online Schools web site includes explanations and links regarding many common grammar and spelling problems.

Daily Grammar. Through this site, you can have grammar and punctuation lessons e-mailed to you daily, or you can browse all the lessons in the unusually comprehensive archive.

Exercise Central. The largest collection of editing exercises available online, this site provides practice for mastering the skills of editing grammar, style, punctuation, and mechanics. Many of the exercises are designed to help foster coherent and concise writing.

Garbl's Writing Resources Online. This annotated directory of web sites focuses on creativity, the writing process, English grammar, style and usage, reference sources, plain language, and active writing. Many of the sites offer advice on the writing process as a whole, from writing the first draft to revising and polishing your work.

Literacy Education Online. St. Cloud State University's online writing lab discusses strategies for writing interesting introductions and effective conclusions. Along with tips on how to correct basic grammar errors, the site offers advice on organizing your writing, and writing in a business or technical setting.

Paradigm Online. Writing Assistant Professor Charles Guilford's site includes an excellent discussion of the writing process and pays particular attention to common writing errors. Guilford's tips on the discovery process, organizing, and revising will also benefit all writers.

Pen to Paper: Common Grammar and Punctuation Errors. GoPromos.com web site lists common grammar and punctuation errors with examples.

Plain Language. This site from the federal government includes several guides and before-and-after samples.

Resources for Writers. The Writing Center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Insitute provides links for a variety of resources for writers.

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation. From Jane Straus, this site presents explanations and exercises (with correct answers).

The Passive Engineer. Helen Moody's essay will help you learn when it's appropriate to use the passive voice.

Userlab Inc. See UserLab's manual for more about Simplified English.

Web Writing Style Guide . College writing teachers joined together to create this guide for undergraduate writing classes. Based on contempory theories and best practices, it is a valuable resource for learning about writing for the web.

Words about Words. Mindy McAdams' provides definitions of terms that copy editors use to communicate about their work with examples.

Writer's Handbook. The University of Wisconsin Writing Center includes instruction on sentence construction and development. Topics considered in the Writer's Handbook include academic writing, research, peer reviews, documentation styles, grammar and style guidelines, letters, and application essays.

Writing Guidelines for Engineering and Science Students. These thorough guidelines include information about technical-communication situations, as well as sample documents that are good examples of principles of excellence in technical communication, namely accessibility, comprehensiveness, professional appearance, and correctness.

Writing with Gender-Fair Language. Jenny R. Redfern's essay includes information on sexist writing.

ESL Grammar Links. This site provides links with references, exercises, quizzes, and teaching resources related to English as a Second Language (ESL).

The Best Online Guide to ESL Reference Materials. This site provides a comprehensive online guide to reference materials on the Internet for English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers.

Internet Resources on Citing: The Trademark of a Good Writer. This Marcaria.com site includes links providing writers with information and tools about citing resources.

A Guide to Writing for College by Veritas Prep. This site provides links to resources to help college students improve their writing skills.

Back to top

Proposals

A Proposal Writing Short Course. From the Foundation Center, this site covers the ins and outs of writing external research proposals, from strategy to formatting. The site also lists the top reasons that proposals are rejected and offers tips on writing under a short deadline.

Grants Information Collection . From the University of Wisconsin, a set of links to numerous resources about grant and proposal writing. Many of these resources include sample proposals.

Back to top

E-mail and Netiquette

Basics of Electronic Writing. These guidelines by Joe Essid, the director of the Writing Center at the University of Richmond, continue the discussion of the principles of netiquette. He offers lots of practical advice about writing e-mails and participating in online discussions.

Everything E-Mail. Mary Houten-Kemp's site contains a section called E-mail Tips, which links to a number of online documents about using e-mail effectively.

IEEE E-Mail Netiquette Guidelines. From the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc., this site contains useful advice about netiquette.

Back to top

Design

HTML Goodies. Joe Burns offers numerous images, as well as HTML tutorials for beginners, intermediates, and professionals.

Microsoft Excel Tutorial. This site will help you learn to create a Gantt chart.

Microsoft Typography. This extensive set of links includes typography news headlines and a constantly updated database of almost 600 type- and typography-related sites.

SYMBOLS.com. Touting itself as "the world's largest online encyclopedia of graphic symbols," Symbols.com contains more than 2,500 Western signs arranged into 54 groups according to their graphic characteristics. In 1,600 articles, the signs' histories, uses, and meanings are thoroughly discussed. The signs range from ideograms carved in mammoth teeth by Cro-Magnon men, to hobo signs and subway graffiti, to all kinds of safety symbols. The site is searchable and downloadable.

The FontSite. This online magazine for type and graphic professionals presents articles about typography in the digital world, as well as free font downloads.

Usability.gov. A rich site that discusses how to do usability testing on web sites to make them easier to use and more effective. It also provides links to other resources on usability and web design.

xblog. This collection of links covers many aspects of visual communication, including web, information, interface, and graphic design; logos; symbols; and usability.

Back to top

Safety Information

Dumb Warnings. This site shows the consequences of numerous pointless lawsuits. It also features Instructions, rules, and other information frequently placed on packages.

MaverickLabel.com. This site provides information on how to design labels in accord with ANSI specifications.

Back to top