Re: TW Theory... A Book?

[Geoff Mann <geoff -dot- mann -at- uxwordsense -dot- com>]

Thanks for sharing, Chris.

This is timely considering I recently read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance (which is partly a philosophical analysis of academia). Plus
information architecture is everywhere (in tech comm, on the streets...).
Sounds like you're not delving in the former (which is fine by me; small
doses...). IA though, despite the field and practices being more
contextually grounded than where it sounds like you're heading, IA
practitioners (e.g., Dan Klyn and his colleagues at The Understanding Group
<http://understandinggroup.com>) have a few thoughts or more to share on
the meaning of information... a potential area of research if you're not
already immersed in it.

As for a blog, I've read that publishing houses won't publish content
that's been self-published, but I have no direct experience with that. And
if you don't enjoy it anyway, wouldn't that take some of the fun away
writing it?

Enjoy!

On Sat, Oct 19, 2019 at 1:55 AM <techwr-l-request -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> wrote:

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>    1. TW Theory...  A Book? (Chris Despopoulos)
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> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
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> Message: 1
> Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2019 09:33:37 +0000 (UTC)
> From: Chris Despopoulos <despopoulos_chriss -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
> Subject: TW Theory...  A Book?
> Message-ID: <4998440 -dot- 2230893 -dot- 1571391217285 -at- mail -dot- yahoo -dot- com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Geoff says...
>
> Re: how do we arrive at such tips, I'd like to see a concerted effort to
> synthesize relevant principles and practices from related disciplines such
> as UX (broadly speaking), ethnography, statistics, and more, particularly
> in contexts of research and evaluation. [...] but the current spread of
> resources and
> TC-relevant info are so broad (not unlike the TC field I suppose) that it's
> somewhat of a barrier to our collective success and evolution. Eh? -- I
> look forward to your book, Chris.......................
>
>
> The approach I like divides TW into two main efforts...? To instruct and
> to inform.? I think we already have theory for instruction, from minimal
> manuals to learning/teaching theory and practices.? Kind of attached at the
> hip, it seems academia is looking hard at rhetoric, which (as far as I can
> tell) extends learning theory into aesthetic, social, and political
> issues.? I don't want to go there, as I don't see room for big
> innovations.? Maybe somebody else can see it better than I.
> What interests me is how writing "informs" the reader.? Of course that
> begs the question, what is "information"?? Here's a simple trick...? Ask as
> many people as you like to give you two concise definitions -- one for data
> and the other for information.? (I do this as a writing test for
> candidates.)? My bet is that you will get as many different definitions as
> people you ask.? And yes, the literature shows that your context "informs"
> your definitions, be it UX design, ethnography, anthropology, psychology,
> thermodynamics, philosophy, etc.
>
> It would be fun to see any definition sets this list could produce.
>
> Quite literally, I believe that given the right working definition of
> information, you can come up with the criteria you need for any writing
> situation.? And that's how you get these lists of tips.? But the good news
> is, you don't get them by rote...? You can trace each criterion back to a
> theoretical base, which is your working definition.? And from there, you
> can critically evaluate whether you meet your criteria, and whether your
> criteria meet your situation.
>
> There...? That's my book!? Should I do a blog?? (Disclaimer:? My wife
> hates blogs, so I'm not anxious to get started.)
>
> cud
>
>
>
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-- 
Geoff Mann, MLIS
Principal
WordSense Content Services, LLC
uxWordSense.com <http://uxwordsense.com/>
(810) 623-3169
Schedule a meeting <https://calendly.com/geoff-mann/30min>
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