Technical communication or information design? : a New Zealand perspective : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Business Studies

This research aims to investigate and analyse current trends in New Zealand technical communication. Specifically, it considers how these trends compare to those evident in the United States of America, where the research shows a contemporary paradigm shift occurring from technical communication to information design. The findings of this research show that New Zealand technical communicators do have the core competencies of information designers and that technical communication in New Zealand is, indeed, undergoing a similar change to that happening internationally, especially in the United States of America. The research methodology of this study uses data from two sources: • Current literature on trends in technical communication and information design • A qualitative survey of New Zealand technical communication practitioners. Current literature in the field describes trends that suggest a shift in the core competencies of contemporary technical communicators. This literature largely emerges from an American context. These trends include: • A need for technical communicators to be part of the iterative design process of products and to be user advocates • A change from paper-based documents to online information • The advent of the Internet • The advent of single sourcing and knowledge management computer tools. This study concludes that technical communicators need a broad range of competencies to adapt to the trends described, and that it is no longer adequate for a professional technical communicator to simply be a good writer and document designer. However, this study also shows that New Zealand practitioners currently do demonstrate the key competencies of information designers, including highly developed skills in problem solving, planning and managing the process of product development, information management, usability testing, while continuing to carry out the more obvious tasks of technical communication, such as writing, audience analysis and document design. The main difference between the American and New Zealand technical communication trends analysed here is that technical communication in New Zealand is just becoming recognised as a profession, whereas in the States it has existed since World War Two (WW2). Because of this historical difference, it seems that New Zealand practitioners are not bound by traditional job titles as their American counterparts are, and also tend to have position designations that are more readily recognised by clients and users, such as "documentation specialist", or "document developer". To date, no formal research on technical communication or information design has been completed in New Zealand. Further research is recommended then, in order to gain a more detailed profile of practitioners and practices. This research could be used to address areas such as training needs and, more widely, could continue to raise awareness of the profession in New Zealand. Further research should focus on gathering information on the geographical distribution of practitioners, profiling tasks, tools and jobs, analysing salaries, and examining potential academic programme profiles that could meet the needs of potential information designers

Extending Invitations, Becoming Messmates

As music educators we can model proactive advocacy among community members to prevent individuals\u27 reactive violence in response to intolerance for differences. We can offer music-learning tables as safe spaces in which community members openly and collaboratively learn to know each other as individuals with diverse identities and interests. As messmates around the table, we can identify ways that researching, questioning, and being musical together can eradicate fears and the damaging effects of homophobia

Comparison of group and individual approaches : to the cognitive-behavioral treatment of bulimia

The current study is a comparative investigation of two treatment approaches to the eating disorder bulimia, A cognitive-behavioral group therapy approach was compared to a cognitive-behavioral individual psychotherapy approach. Eight subjects participated in group therapy while seven were involved in the individual mode. Group sessions lasted for approximately 90 minutes and occurred once weekly over a period of 8 weeks. Individual sessions were approximately 50 minutes in length, also occuring once each week over 8 weeks. Assessment measures were administered at pre-treatment, post-treatment and at 12-16 week follow-up. Quantitative examination of the results revealed undifferentiated rates of change across the two treatment groups. A conclusion that the two forms of treatment delivery are similarly effective in the treatment of bulimia is thought to be premature in light of the limitations of the study

Re-thinking youth work as initial mental health support for young people

Youth work is a practice that supports young people and bolsters mental health and well-being. In the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic, young people in the UK have experienced rising levels of mental distress. However, in the broader youth policy field, youth work is rarely acknowledged as a mental health support. This article draws upon research uncovering to what extent youth workers provide mental health support for young people. A survey questionnaire was distributed to youth workers across selected local authorities in central Scotland and north-east England. Our original findings show that most youth workers provide initial mental health support for young people and, since the pandemic, this has become a key component of youth work practice. The youth workers surveyed were confident that they had the skills, experience and training to provide such support but were struggling to meet increased demand due to funding shortages in the sector

A new man

How far would you go to feel comfortable in your own skin? Would you spend thousands of dollars for muscle damaging chest binders, ongoing rounds of shots or undergo invasive surgery? For Charlie Poulson, a junior in graphic design, none of these are questions

Post-Covid Youth Work and Mental Wellbeing of Young People Across Scotland and England

This article seeks to contribute to the debate about the current and future support needs of young people (aged 11-25) across Scotland and England who are experiencing mental distress in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic. In doing so, it focuses on the profession that works specifically with this age range – youth work - and youth work practice across Scotland and England, and then examines the challenges and opportunities for the profession. It concludes that youth work, and youth workers, are well placed to provide much needed initial mental health support to young people, but that the profession urgently needs the UK and Scottish Governments to financially (re)invest in its infrastructure to deliver this provision

Improving Access to Special Collections through Collaborative Digital Scholarship

The William Henry Seward papers are one of the largest and most frequently accessed collections at the University of Rochester, but legacy finding aids were incomplete, incorrect, and confusing for researchers. In 2012, a history professor initiated the Seward Family Digital Archive, a student-driven digital humanities project that digitizes, transcribes, and annotates the Seward family correspondence. In order to bridge the divide between the physical collection and the digital project, a project archivist was hired to create an enhanced finding aid and serve as a liaison between special collections, faculty and students working on the project, and library IT staff. The result of this collaboration is a finding aid that links collection description to images, transcriptions, and student research on the digital archive website. This new finding aid, completed in 2018, serves as a comprehensive research tool that greatly increases discoverability of collection materials and serves as an example of the opportunities for intersections between finding aids and digital projects. This project examines the relationship between special collections and digital scholarship and raises the larger questions: What are the next steps in establishing the role of archives in digital scholarship? What should these collaborations look like?University of Rocheste

Technology, Tools, and Time: Implementing the SAA/ACRL-RBMS Standardized Measures and Metrics for Public Services in Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries at Georgia Tech

Presented as a webinar sponsored by the Society of American Archivists Assessment of Measures and Metrics for Public Services Committee on June 29, 2021.Alison Reynolds, Research Services & Instruction Archivist, Georgia Institute of Technology Library, Atlanta, GA.The Georgia Tech Archives and Special Collections started implementing the SAA/ACRL-RBMS Standardized Measures and Metrics for Public Services in Archival Repositories and Special Collections Libraries in 2019. Implementation occurred slowly in stages determined by institutional priorities, staff buy-in and training, departmental restructuring, and changes in library-owned technology and tools available for data collection. The statistics and metrics gathered through the use of these guidelines has helped us make data-driven decisions, increased the visibility of archival work within the library, and helped show our department’s impact to library and institute administration. This presentation will discuss the stages of implementation, various tools used to collect and manage data, including Aeon, Jira, Confluence, and Excel spreadsheets, and next steps as we move towards an increasingly digital environment