Main description:

This collection of articles is the first attempt by academics and professional writers to delve into the world of content management systems. The knowledge economy's greatest asset and primary problem is information management: finding it, validating it, re-purposing it, keeping it current, and keeping it safe. In the last few years content management software has become as common as word-processing software was five years ago. But unlike word processors, which are designed for single authorization and local storage, content management systems are designed to accommodate large-scale information production, with many authors providing many different pieces of information kept in a web-accessible database, any piece of which might find its way into electronic documents that the author doesn't even know exist. These software systems are complex, to say the least, and their impact on the field of writing will be immense.

Contents:

Introduction PART I CMS Implementation CHAPTER ONE Experiences with Building a Narrative Web Content Management System: Best Practices for Developing Specialized Content Management Systems (and Lessons Learned for the Classroom) Rudy McDaniel CHAPTER TWO Analyze Before You Act: CMS and Knowledge Transfer Carol Siri Johnson and Susan Fowler CHAPTER THREE Learning with Limits: New Faculty and Course Management Systems Julie Staggers, Meredith W. Zoetewey, and Michael Pennell PART II CMS and Technical Communication Pedagogy CHAPTER FOUR Why We Should Teach XML: An Argument for Technical Acuity Becky Jo Gesteland McShane CHAPTER FIVE Digital Delivery and Communication Technologies: Understanding Content Management Systems through Rhetorical Theory Michelle F. Eble CHAPTER SIX Topography of Educational Place(s): Technical Communication, Instructor Preparedness, and Hybrid Courses Lisa Meloncon PART III CMS and the Profession of Technical Communication CHAPTER SEVEN Content Management Systems and Technical Communication: Rolling with the Tide Robin Evans CHAPTER EIGHT Single Sourcing and the Return to Positivism: The Threat of Plain-Style, Arhetorical Technical Communication Practices Jeffrey Bacha CHAPTER NINE Content Management in an International Outsourcing Framework: A Perspective for Technical Communicators Kirk St. Amant CHAPTER TEN The Technical Editor as New Media Author: How CMSs Affect Editorial Authority Nicole Amare CHAPTER ELEVEN Applying Cohesion and Contrastive Rhetoric Research to Content Management Practices Lyn F. Gattis Meet the Contributors Index