Meeting Notes
February 12, 2002 — Awards Banquet

Speaker says questions abound on the who and how of document archiving, storage, and retrieval

by Jennifer Lambe

Dr. David Armbruster was the guest speaker for the Middle Tennessee STC Technical Publications Awards Banquet, held at the Lowes Vanderbilt Plaza on February 12.

Nearly 50 chapter members and special guests attended the awards banquet, getting a firsthand look at some of the best in technical communications. (Award Details)

Dr. Armbruster stressed that the publications showcased at the awards banquet were important in order to keep the scientific and technical community from having to "reinvent the wheel."

He stressed that good writing and editing is often invisible, and that peer recognition, such as the awards banquet, is important for that reason. He also praised the judges for their work during the competition.

"Judging creates opportunities for learning new techniques and creative solutions to communication problems," he said.

As the main focal point of his speech, Dr. Armbruster posed thought-provoking questions of how modern digitalization will affect the emerging industry trend of single-sourcing information. He defined single-sourcing as the "encoding, archiving, and accessing of information."

Some of the current issues that impact archival and access of information he identified were:

• Determination of how important it is to document and record our history. Dr. Armbruster referenced a drug study performed in 2001 at St. Johns University by a doctor who had written a protocol for a drug study. The doctor researched existing information for any known drug interactions, however, during the research process, the doctor missed an article written in the 1960's, which described a dangerous drug interaction. As a result of this oversight, a study participant died. The doctor missed the article because it wasn't archived.
• The Internet has complicated information access. Some peer-reviewed journals refuse to publish any information that has already appeared on the Web, for example, draft dissertations, because the journals only want to publish new material.
• Access is not universal. Many research libraries are dropping journal subscriptions because their budgets haven't kept pace with subscription rate increases. In addition, access to some resources is limited to campus addresses, others are available only to libraries, and in some cases, access is restricted to one or two terminals on campus.
• Most scientific and technical information does not exist online and it never will. Time and cost constraints prevent old or outdated information from being digitized. In essence, background data that led to current conclusions is not available in an electronic format.
• How to determine what should be archived. Electronic documents do save space. However, what should be archived - drafts, editorial comments, advertisements, etc.?
• Who should determine the final version of an online document? In addition, how will the reader know if a document is the final version? When a document is updated, should we remove the previous version?
• If an electronic journal is discontinued, back issues are often not available to readers. Such is not the case with paper-based journals.
• Who should be responsible for archiving? Professional societies? The government? Libraries?
• Media obsolescence can make information inaccessible. For example, information created in obsolete versions of software or saved on a 5-inch floppy disk. How do we know whether we will be able to access today's electronic information 10 or 15 years from now?
• Currently, there are no archiving standards. Should information be saved as HTML, XML, PDFs, etc.?

Best of Show went to Jane Russ, Becky Ploeger, and Brett Dye for a Deloitte & Touche benefits enrollment package.

Pamela Wesley, McLeod Software, for writing, editing, design, and illustration, LoadMaster Enterprise Dispatch Administration Guide - Merit

Claudia Viken, HCA, for writing, Working with ORB - Merit

Judith Meyer, HCA, for design and illustration, Working with ORB - Merit

Janet Bell, HCA, for design and illustration, Working with ORB - Merit

Pete Larson, Tanner Corporate Services, for writing, BOA Direct Payments Initiation User Guide - Merit

George Cassidy, Tanner Corporate Services, for editing, BOA Direct Payments Initiation User Guide - Merit

Bank of America, BOA Direct Payments Initiation User Guide - Merit

Melissa Weber, Gallagher Financial Systems, for writing and design, Comsquared Ascent Capture Training Manual - Merit

Laura Liles, HCA, for writing, editing, and design, HealthStream Student Job Aid - Merit

Cindy Kershner, Tanner Corporate Services, for writing, The Guide: A Marketing & Public Relations Resource 2001 - Excellence

Bill Swain, Tanner Corporate Services, for design, The Guide: A Marketing & Public Relations Resource 2001 - Excellence

Rita Johnson, Tanner Corporate Services, for design, The Guide: A Marketing & Public Relations Resource 2001 - Excellence

Quorum Health Resources, LLC, The Guide: A Marketing & Public Relations Resource 2001 - Excellence

Joe Slagle, Gallagher Financial Systems, for design, Gallagher Executive Summary - Excellence

Lillian Hamilton, Gallagher Financial Systems, for writing, Gallagher Executive Summary - Excellence

Amy Oldham, Gallagher Financial Systems, for writing and editing, Gallagher Executive Summary - Excellence

Amanda Gaston, Square D Company, for writing, design, and illustration, Primary High Current Injection Field Test Procedure for Modified Differential Ground Fault Protection Systems - Excellence

Pat Cosky, Tanner Corporate Services, for editing, The Learning Institute at Quorum Educational Offerings Catalog 2001 - Distinguished

George Cassidy, Tanner Corporate Services, for writing and editing, The Learning Institute at Quorum Educational Offerings Catalog 2001 - Distinguished

Quorum Health Resources, LLC, The Learning Institute at Quorum Educational Offerings Catalog 2001 - Distinguished

Christina Dunn, HCA, for writing, Key Differences in Windows and Office 2000 - Distinguished

Judith Meyer, HCA, for design, Key Differences in Windows and Office 2000 - Distinguished

Emily J. Parker, Square D Company, for writing, editing, design, and illustration, Square D Multi-Link Structured Wiring System - Distinguished

Tim Hunter, Square D Company, for illustration, Square D Multi-Link Structured Wiring System - Distinguished

Jane Russ, Deloitte & Touche, for writing and editing, 2002 Enrollment - Distinguished

Becky Ploeger, Deloitte & Touche, for design, 2002 Enrollment - Distinguished

Brett Dye, Deloitte & Touche, for design, 2002 Enrollment - Distinguished

Jane Russ, Becky Ploeger, Bret Dye - Deloitte & Touche, 2002 Enrollment - Best of Show