ERIC ED398586: Electronic Literacies in the Workplace: Technologies of Writing. Advances in Computers and Composition Studies Series.

378 Pages·1996·3.7 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
CS 215 431
ED 398 586
Sullivan, Patricia, Ed.; Dautermann, Jennie, Ed.
AUTHOR
Electronic Literacies in the Workplace: Technologies
TITLE
of Writing. Advances is Computers and Composition
Studies Series.
National Council of Teachers of English, Urbana,
INSTITUTION
Ill.
ISBN-0-8141-1307-9
REPORT NO
PUB DATE
96
NOTE
377p.
National Council of Tea hers of English, 1111 W.
AVAILABLE FROM
Kenyon Road, Urbana, IL-61801-1096 (Stock No.
13079-3050: $19.95 members, $26.95 nonmembers).
Descriptive (:41)
Reports Reports
PUB TYPE
Research/Technical (1431-- Collected Works
General
(020)
EDRS PRICE
MFO1 /PC16 Plus Postage.
Case Studies; *Computer 13tworks; Editing;
DESCRIPTORS
*Electronic Mail; Electr,-_tic Text; Higher Education;
Hypermedia; Internship POgrams; *Organizational
Climate; Organizational (..mmunication; *Workplace
Literacy; *Writing Proce.s.;,es; Writing Research
*Writing Contexts
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Contending that technologr, especially when it
networks writers to other writers, is more than a mere scribal tool,
this book presents 14 essays designed to ignite interest in
technology as one of the material condit .ins of workplace writing
Written Literacy and
contexts. After an introduction ( "Issues'
Electronic Literacy in Workplace Settini--" by Jennie Dautermann and
Patricia Sullivan), essays in the book ite (1) "Writing with
Electronic Tools in Midwestern Businesse:' (Jennie Dautermann); (2)
"Specialized Language as a Barrier to Aumated Information
(3) "Eleizronic Mail in Two Corporate
Technologies" (Susan B. Jones);
(4) "Writin3 Technologies at White
Workplaces" (Brenda R. Sims);
"Writiy?-g and Database Technology:
Sands" (Powell G. Henderson);
(5)
Extending the Definition of Writing in tie Workplace" (Barbara
(6) "After Automation: Hypertext and Corporate Structures"
Mirel);
(7) "Automating the
(Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart A. Sciber);
Writing Process: Two Case Studies" (Dou,las R. Wieringa and others);
(8) "Online Editing, Mark-Up Models, and the Workplace Lives of
Editors and Writers" (David K. Farkas nnd Steven E. Poltrock);
(9)
"Who 'Owns' Electronic Texts?" (Tharon W. Howard); (10) "Networking
Technology in the Classroom: Whose Interests Are We Serving?" (Craig
(11) "Gaining Electronic ,iteracy: Workplace Simulations
J. Hansen);
in the Classroom" (Nancy Allen); (12) "Tales from the Crossing:
Professional Communication Internships in the Electronic Workplace"
(Robert R. Johnson); (13) "Theorizing E-mail for the Practice,
Instruction, and Study of Literacy" (Cynthia L. Selfe); and (14)
"Working across Methodological Interfaces: The Study of Computers and
Writing in the Workplace" (James E. Porter and Patricia Sullivan).
(RS)
Electronic
Literacies
in the Workplace
of Writing
Technologies
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of Educational Research and Improvement
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Minor changes have been made to
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Points of view or opinions stated in this
e
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0 THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
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INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC)
Edited by
Patricia Sullivan
and
Jennie Dautermann
Electronic Literacies
in the Workplace
Advances in Computers and Composition Studies
Series Editors:
Gail E. Hawisher
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Cynthia L. Selfe
Michigan Technological University
Series Design Editor:
James R. Kalmbach
Illinois State University
Creating a Computer-Supported Writing Facility:
A Blueprint for Action
Evolving Perspectives on Computers and Composition Studies:
Questions for the 1990s
Writing Teachers Writing Software:
Creating Our Place in the Electronic Age
Electronic Literacies in the Workplace:
Technologies of Writing
4
Electronic Literacies
in the Workplace
Technologies of Writing
Edited by
Patricia Sullivan
Purdue University
Jennie Dautermann
Miami University
NCTE
5
Hazel Davis, Bobbi Fisher, Keith
NCTE Editorial Board: Colette Daiute,
Ronald Jobe, Richard Luckert,
Gilyard, Brenda Greene, Gail Hawisher,
Boyer, ex officio.
Karen Smith, Chair, ex officio, Dawn
Associates
Manuscript Editors: Humanities & Sciences
Hutchinson
Production Editors: Michael Greer, Jamie
Kalmbach
Interior Design: Adapted from James R.
Cover Design: Loren Kirkwood
NCTE Stock Number: 13079-3050
of English, 1111 Kenyon Road,
©1996 by the National Council of Teachers
Computers and Composition, Michi-
Urbana, Illinois 61801-1096, and by
Houghton, Michigan 49931, University of
gan Technological University,
IL 61801. All rights reserved.
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana,
Printed in the United States of America.
the University of Illinois at
Michigan Technological University and
educational institutions /
Urbana-Champaign are equal opportunity
equal opportunity employers.
journals and other publications to provide
It is the policy of NCTE in its
and the
discussion of ideas concerning the content
a forum for the open
Publicity accorded to any
teaching of English and the language arts.
endorsement by the Executive
particular point of view does not imply
membership at large, except
Committee, the Board of Directors, or the
such endorsement is clearly speci-
in announcements of policy, where
fied.
Data
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication
technologies of writing/ edited
Electronic literacies in the workplace:
by Patricia Sullivan, Jennie Dautermann.
computers and composition studies)
p. cm(Advances in
index.
Includes bibliographical references and
ISBN 0-8141-1307-9
processing. 2. Business
1. Business communicationData
literacy. 4. Workplace
writingData processing. 3. Computer
II. Dautermann, Jennie. III.
literacy. I. Sullivan, Patricia, 1951
.
Series.
HF5718.E42 1996
96-2657
651.8dc20
CIP
Contents
Introduction: Issues of Written Literacy
and
Electronic Literacy in Workplace
Settings
vii
Jennie Dautermann and Patricia
Sullivan
I Workplace Cultures
as Contexts for Technology and
Writing
1
1. Writing with Electronic Tools
in Midwestern
Businesses
3
Jennie Dautermann
2. Specialized Language
as a Barrier to Automated
Information Technologies
23
Susan B. Jones
3. Electronic Mail in Two
Corporate Workplaces
41
Brenda R. Sims
4. Writing Technologies
at White Sands
65
Powell G. Henderson
II Electronic Challenges
to Traditional Notions of
Writers and Writing
89
5. Writing and Database Technology:
Extending
the Definition of Writing in the
Workplace
91
Barbara Mirel
6. After Automation: Hypertext
and Corporate
Structures
115
Johndan Johnson-Eilola and Stuart
A. Selber
Contents
vi
Process: Two Case Studies 142
7. Automating the Writing
McCallum,
Douglas R. Wieringa, Marvin C.
Yasutake,
Jennifer Morgan, Joseph Y.
Schumacher Jr.
Hachiro Isoda, and Robert M.
Models, and the
8. Online Editing, Mark-up
154
Workplace Lives of Editors and Writers
Poltrock
David K. Farkas and Steven E.
177
9. Who "Owns" Electronic Texts?
Tharon W. Howard
between Electronic
III Contrasts and Crossovers
199
and the Workplace
Literacy Efforts in the Academy
the Classroom: Whose
10. Networking Technology in
201
Interests Are We Serving?
Craig J. Hansen
Workplace Simulations
11. Gaining Electronic Literacy:
216
in the Classroom
Nancy Allen
Professional Communi-
12. Tales from the Crossing:
238
Workplace
cation Internships in the Electronic
Robert R. Johnson
of Electronic Literacy in
IV Approaches to the Study
253
Workplace Settings
Practice, Instruction,
13. Theorizing E-mail for the
255
and Study of Literacy
Cynthia L. Selfe
Interfaces: The
14. Working across Methodological
in the Workplace 294
Study of Computers and Writing
Sullivan
James E. Porter and Patricia
323
Editors
325
Contributors
331
Index
8
Introduction
Issues of Written Literacy
and Electronic Literacy
in Workplace Settings
Jennie Dautermann
Miami University
Patricia Sullivan
Purdue University
Composition studies often links "computers and writing,"
"computers and literacy," "computers and workplaces," "writ-
ing and workplaces," or "literacy and workplaces." Seldom,
though, do we simultaneously consider "computers," "literacy,"
"workplace," and "writing." Such a linking exposes a number of
gaps in our thinking about how writing issues are constructed in
working livesgaps that we need to explore in order to build a
set of issues that can drive the study of computers and writing in
our workplaces. For example:
Workforce and Literacy: At least since the publication of
Workforce 2000 in 1987, preparing workers for the vastly and
rapidly changing workplace has spurred workplace literacy
efforts. Yet, the resulting programs have been grounded in
basic skills. Shouldn't our notions of workplace literacy also
be tied to critical college literacies, since jobs requiring a col-
lege education (or more) are the ones that Workforce 2000 pre-
dicts will increase?
Workplaces and Writing and Computers: Writing-in-the-work-
place research has helped us understand professional writ-
ing and rhetoric in workplace settings. Inquiries into how
people write in particular workplaces have expanded our
vii
Introduction
viii .
knowledge of the social factors in writing and have begun to
change the writing instruction of future professionals. But,
to date, how technology relates to workplace writing has not
been central to this research. How can we find out the im-
pact of technologies on writing in the workplace?
Computers and Writing and Literacy: Computers have been
theorized alternatively as neutral or as instruments of capi-
talist oppression or as opening spaces for democracy, with
debates over the implications of each portrayal. Such debates
have shown how writing at the machine challenges, seduces,
and enriches our theories of writing and reading. But these
discussions have focused on critical literacies in school set-
tings. How will such discussions change in workplace set-
tings?
Computers and Workplaces: Workplaces are rapidly integrat-
ing a number of electronic mediaelectronic mail, voice mail,
Internet communication, and faxesinto the fabric of com-
munication at work. Research on communication in organi-
zations, however, focuses on adoption and acceptance of
media and not on issues of reading and composing in par-
ticular contexts. Thus, the questions that we would consider
critical to written/electronic literacy in the workplace have
not been asked about electronic media in the workplace. What
is the nature of the computer's impact on workplaces as lit-
erate environments?
This collection aims to explore some of these gaps as a way to
promote a fuller, more thoughtful approach to the uses of com-
puters in the workplace. We contend that technology, especially
when it networks writers to other writers, is more than a mere
scribal tool. It offersat the very leasta connection to new
sources of information, a site for rethinking structures of texts,
and an opportunity for interaction with co-writers. If we view
technology as a mere scribal tool, it handicaps our efforts to un-
derstand workplace literacy in its fullest sense. What is needed,
we think, is an interdisciplinary effort that combines and rethinks
what we know about written literacy, about computers and writ-
1 0