Business // Editing // General // Documentation // Science // University
Business Writing
Alliance for Computers and Writing. (1998). The alliance for computers
and writing. Retrieved April 3, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://english.ttu.edu/acw
The Alliance for Computers and Writing (ACW) is committed to supporting
teachers in the rhetorical use of computers in writing instruction. The
ACW enables teachers, researchers, publishers, writers, and even businesses
to work together to provide others with the means to use computer technology
successfully in their communication efforts. Members of the ACW receive
discounted rates on a leading academic journal dealing with computers
and writing instruction. They also have the opportunity to work with other
members, attend conferences, and utilize a large database of job information
and openings, which would interest professional writing students who are
beginning a career or working writers who are looking to change positions.
The Association of Business Communications. (1999). The association of business communications. Retrieved April 3, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.theabc.org/
In 1935, the Association of Business Communications (ABC) was established as an organization for business writing teachers with the goal of cultivating excellence in business communications research, education, and practice. It now has over 1300 individual and 800 institutional members, which include professionals in the fields of management, marketing, English, communications, information sciences, and many others. To these members, the ABC provides conventions, workshops, networking with other members and affiliates, access to job listings, and subscriptions to two renowned business communications journals. The ABC also provides awards for publishing, research, and teaching.
International Association of Business Communications (IABC). (2001). The international association of business communications home page. Retrieved April 5, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.iabc.com/
The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is recognized by the professional communications field as the professional organization of choice for those who want to succeed in the field of business communications. The IABC helps its members achieve excellence in many fields: public relations, employee and marketing communications, and public affairs. To its 13,000 worldwide members, the IABC offers publications, conferences, seminars, recognition programs and awards, and even discounts on overnight delivery services. Professional writers who are interested in public relations or marketing communications can gain from membership in this organization by working with others in the field of business communications, which could jump-start a career. This organization also offers awards, which would add prestige to a resume and help to land a dream job.
Editing
American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME). (1998). American society of magazine editors. Retrieved March 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://asme.magazine.org/
The American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) is a professional organization for editors of consumer magazines and business publications, which are edited, published and sold in the U.S. ASME provides an opportunity for magazine editors to meet with their peers for the exchange of information and ideas. ASME also works to defend its members against pressures that arise in publishing such as slander, libel, and arguments against the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This organization's site offers information about seminars, luncheons, junior editorial seminars, magazine workshops, and the yearly American Magazine Conference. This site is useful for undergraduate professional writing majors because it posts information on professional writing organizations writers can join to continue to improve their editing skills.
Associated Press. (2001). Associated press managing editors. Retrieved March 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.apme.com/index.html
The Associated Press Managing Editors organization has been dedicated to the improvement, advancement, and promotion of journalism through the members newspapers and through its relationship with the Associated Press since1935. Membership in this organization is reserved for managing editors, but portions of the site are accessible to all web readers. The organization offers a forum for editing and reviewing of smaller newspapers, and it offers a yearly conference with the seminars concerning the topics of editing. While designed for professionals already working as editors, this website useful to professional writing students as it makes them aware of resources when they enter the professional field.
General Writing
Miner, L. A Guide to proposal planning and writing. Retrieved on March 22, 2001
Available: http://www.uvm.edu/ 7ereshmpg/miners 7e1.htm
This website offers step-by-step instructions to students for planning and writing grant proposal. Miner, Director for Research and Sponsored Programs at Marquette University, teaches professionals the basics of grant proposal writing and helps them plan and write an excellent proposal. This website provides description, instruction, and samples for each process in the development of a grant proposal. This website can help professional writing majors who are interested in government and academic research learn more about the process of grant development.
National Writers Union. (2000). National writers union. Retrieved on March 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.nwu.org
The NWU or the National Writers Union works to improve "conditions for all writers through innovative organizing and invaluable professional development seminars." They offer grievance resolution, contact assistance, health insurance, libel and error and omissions insurance, a national job hotline, press passes, databases, networking, a quarterly magazine, and reduced prices for professional seminars, Publication Rights Clearinghouse enrollment, and NWU publications. Discounts are available for car rental and delivery service. Membership is open to all qualified writers and no one is barred because of age, disability, gender, ideology, literary genre, nationality, race, religion, or sexual orientation. One is eligible for membership "if you have published a book, a play, three articles, five poems, a short story, or an equal amount of newsletter, publicity, technical, commercial, government, or institution copy. You are also eligible for membership if you have written an equal amount of unpublished material and are actively writing and attempting to publish your work." Professional writing students can benefit from the system of help this organization provides to working professional writers.
The Official Misc.Writing Web Site. (2000). The official misc.writing web site. Retrieved March 3, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.scalar.com/mw
Misc.writing is an open forum for discussion and the sharing of online resources that have been contributed by its members who are writers of different experience levels and backgrounds. The main purpose of misc.writing as stated in its charter is Íto provide an online forum for discussion of writing, including technical, scholarly, artistic, journalistic, and mere day-to-day communicationÎ. The site also provides reviews on writing books, links for starting writers, and links to the writerÌs marketplace. The site takes a broad perspective on writing subjects, targeting beginning writers, writers wanting to improve their writing style in a profession, or writers trying to get their work published. This site is very useful for anyone involved in professional writing or just writing in general. An open discussion forum helps beginning writers to get in touch with writers of different levels of experience. The discussion in the chatrooms in this site is limited to writing topics for its members only.
Pomeroy B. (2001). Writer's toolbox. Retrieved on March 5, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.writerstoolbox.com/
This website is full of resources for writers and provides a community feeling with its forums, chats, mailing lists, and even writer personal pages section. This site offers resources for fiction, drama, technical writing, pr/promotion, journalism, research, business/markets/jobs, software, and creativity sites. The site was written by Pomeroy who has worked on the Internet Health Care Strategy Guide 2001 and has written numerous books and websites concerning using the web and writing on web. This site is useful to professional writing students because it allows students to access resources that pertain to their area of writing and aides in networking with other writers. Membership is open to all with no restrictions.
Vivian, K. (1998). The Professional Writer’s Source. Retrieved March 3, 2001, from the World Wide Web Available : http://www.users.cloud9.net/~kvivian/html/professional_writers__
source_l.html
The Professional Writer's Source is a site dedicated to providing professional writers with writing resources categorized specifically in their genres. Annotated information on writerÌs organizations, writing links, literature databases, and other links make this site useful to professional writing students. Vivian, author of this site, provides her perspective as a communications specialist with her 15 years of experience in the communications field. She provides samples of past projects she has worked on. She is also the author of the best-selling professional book: Winning Proposals: A Step-by-Step Guide to the Proposal Process (published by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1993), and numerous other professional publications. The site provides many useful articles on writing proposals, writing for the web, and tips on design and appearance. A section called the "Writer's Reference Desk" in this site offers grammar style guides, dictionaries, and encyclopedias. This site is a useful resource for undergraduate professional writers because it has an extensive section on professional writing organizations and associations ranging from business communications to education.
Writers Write Inc. (2001). Writers write: The write resource™ Retrieved on March 5, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.writerswrite.com
This site is a one-stop place for all sorts of writing needs. It offers an internet writing journal, contacts to book experts, book reviews, a newsletter, a job hotline, interviews with authors, classified ads, current events, book giveaways, links for business writing, publishing, journalism, poetry, technical writing, a live chat room, message boards, and resources for one to utilize in order to clarify his or her writing. This site is useful for professional writing students because it offers numerous resources and provides a sense of community with other writers in its monthly newsletter. The site is also reputable, evidenced by its many awards, citations numerous press releases, and mentions in multiple highly regarded newspapers and journals. Writers write is number one stop for all writing needs.
Software Documentation
Bombardieri, R.S. (1995). The society for technical communication. Retrieved on March 22, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.stc.org
The Society for Technical Communication (STC) is a professional association that advances the arts and sciences of technical communication. The members of this organization include technical writers, editors, web page designers, graphic designers, multimedia artists and students. This organization has several chapters all over the world, and offers conferences throughout the year. Along with professionals in the field, students can also become members in the STC. Even though this web site is not a university organization site, it has chapters at several universities. This organization can help professional writing students research current events and changes in their field and locate job opportunities.
Jones, S.B. (2000). SIGDOC home page. Retrieved March 2, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://acm.org/sigdochttp://acm.org/sigdoc
SIGDOC is a society of senior communications professionals, whose members create documentation in the computing community and use computers to create documentation in many styles and mediums. SIGDOC is a special interest group of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and holds a reputation for being the first educational and scientific computing society. SIGDOC's purpose is to inform communications professionals about advances in research, practical topics, and philosophies of documentation through conferences and a quarterly journal. Because the site is targeted at senior communications professionals, most of its resources are geared towards experts in the communication field. Its journals cover topics ranging from multimedia compatibility issues to technology concerns for geographically dispersed teamwork. The author wants his or her readers to be well informed about computer documentation basics and have a strong background in a scientific or computer related area. This site's scholarship links and graduate student competition links are useful to professional writing students.
Willis, J. (2001). SDP on the web. Retrieved February 27, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.sdpro.org/
The Society for Documentation Professionals (SDP) is the web site of this Massachusetts-based non-profit organization and promotes skills development and career growth for information design and delivery professionals by sharing information about technology and marketplace trends. Although the site features resources including a newsletter, a collection of links to professional organizations related to technical documentation, the site does not provide any more useful resources to the general professional writing student.
Science Writing
Saienni, R. (1997). Welcome to the american medical writers association. Retrieved April 3, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.amwa.org/
The primary goal of the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) is to enhance the level of professionalism of freelance medical writers. Anyone who is employed in a biomedical field can benefit from this organization: researchers, reporters, writers, editors, and even public relations specialists to name a few. Members of AMWA are given the chance to take courses to improve upon their professionalism. AMWA offers core curriculum certification in five specialty areas: editing/writing, freelance, pharmaceutical, public relations/advertising/marketing, and teaching. Advanced curriculum is also available, which is an extension of the core but also includes workshop criticism. With the opportunities for networking, certification in specific areas, and peer criticism, professional writing students interested in medical or pharmaceutical writing can benefit from all this organization has to offer.
Australian Society for Technical Communication. (1999). Welcome to the astc (vic). Retrieved February 27, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://home.vicnet.net.au/~astc/welcome.htm
The Australian Society for Technical Communication (ASTC) is a chapter or branch of the Society for Technical Communication for the region of Australia. The organization was established in 1989 by technical communicators interested in providing assistance to those working in this field. The website's purpose is to provide technical communicators with information on jobs, courses, and resources such as dictionaries, software tools, and useful technical writing related sites. Although the site is primarily dedicated to Australia and its surrounding regions, the site offers many resources from which users from different geographical locations can benefit. One of the site's most useful resources is the software section, which includes links to dictionaries, grammar style guides, and programs such as Adobe FrameMaker, RoboHelp, and other writing and publishing related software. This site could be of great interest to those wanting to know more about software used in the professional writing field. The site also offers a collection of links to various job search sites and agency contact lists that have positions available for technical writers. Universities that offer professional writing courses, as well as other organizations for the technical communication field, are also included on this site.
Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers--Professional Communication Society. (1998). IEEE-professional communications society. Retrieved April 4, 2001 from the World Wide Web: http://www.ieeepcs.org/
The Professional Communications Society (PCS) is an offshoot organization of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). The goal of the PCS is to help engineers and technical communicators develop written and verbal communication skills. New focuses now lie on distance learning, web design, document usability, team writing, and visual communications. Members are provided with advice, referrals, document reviews by PCS staff, awards, opportunities to attend conferences, and volunteer opportunities. Members of the PCS are encouraged in their documentation and presentation efforts and receive assistance in making these works more informative, technically accurate, and user-friendly. Because this organization provides its members with the evaluation of work, conferences, and chances to work with their communities, any professional writer who anticipates working closely with engineers in the future can gain membership in this organization.
Finn, B. (2000). National association of science writers. Retrieved April 3, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.nasw.org/
Science in the media is underrepresented and/or often wrongly represented. The National Association of Science Writers (NASW) recognizes this problem with the reporting of science news and is dedicated to providing the opportunity for science writers to fine-tune their skills, as well as accurately inform the general public of science news. Members of the NASW include freelance and professional writers, government and industry officials, research scientists, and university faculty. NASW offers direct member-to-member contact, a quarterly newsletter, press passes, prize sponsorship, and an opportunity to enroll in health and disability insurance. NASW makes available excellent networking and professional development opportunities for anyone interested in scientific writing.
University Organizations
Purdue University English 515 students. (2000). PW ink people. Retrieved March 22, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://flansburgh.english.purdue.edu/pw/club/index.html
Students from the English 515 class of 2000 at Purdue University have created this site for the Professional Writing Club. The PWInk site offers links to various places for research, links to portfolio information, resume information, links to document design, and job searches for professional writing majors. The professional writing club also has a listserv that encourages people in professional writing participate in an on-line chat, with the opportunity to ask questions about professional writing related topics. The PWInk site also offers assistance to professional writing students in getting internships or jobs. Professional writing students can gain experience by working on the various projects that the club offers every semester. Because this is a local Purdue organization, members must be enrolled at the university.
Sanders, P., & Harris, G. (1998). Professional writer’s portfolio. Retrieved March
22, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.unm.edu/~English/writing/professional/portfolio/
single.html
English 290 students at the University of New Mexico created this website. This website explains the step-by-step process of creating a portfolio, and present advantages of creating a portfolio and what the information to include and exclude in a portfolio. The website provides a sample portfolio. A portfolio enhances a student's chance of obtaining the job he or she wants. The recruiters can learn about the student's credential based on his or her portfolio. A portfolio presents a student as being a professional in their field of study. The information about creating portfolios has been adapted from the book, Professional Writing: A Guide to Successful Careers. Although this website is not of a professional organization, it helps students to develop their portfolios.
Sammon, T., et. al. Technical & Professional Writing Program. (2000). SFSU technical and professional writing. Retrieved on March 22, 2001, from the World Wide Web: http://www.sfsu.edu/~tpw
San Francisco State University offers an excellent technical and professional writing program. SFSU describes their Technical Professional Writing program as an academic program that helps students excel in writing for technology field. Along with a major or minor in TPW, the academic program also offers courses focusing in communication, technical and interdisciplinary departments. TPW academic program also offers other electives like: communication, editing & production, graphic design, training & non-print media, and disciplinary writing. These electives and mandatory lab policies improve students writing skills and help them adapt to working environment. SFSU also offers online course registration throughout the year. Other PW departments can obtain ideas from this web site. In addition, professional writing students can register online and take classes that may not be offered in their university or learn what projects SFSU technical and professional writing students are working on. Professional writing organizations can use the SFSU website to learn about new technology programs and work on the projects that the site offers to gain knowledge and experience.
copyright
© English 306: Introduction to Professional Writing, Spring '01
Purdue University
last updated 4.26.01
Purdue University
last updated 4.26.01