Reyman.+Technical+Communication+and+the+Law

//Technical Communication Quarterly// 20.1 2010. 1-4. Print
 * Reyman, Jessica; Schuster, Mary Lay. "Technical Communication and the Law."**


 * Abstract**

This special issue features articles that address legal issues as they relate to technical communication research, pedagogy, and practice. The articles will assist instructors who wish to engage classes in activities that allow students to understand, analyze, and respond to legal dilemmas related to workplace activities. The articles will also highlight contemporary subjects for research inquiry in technical communication, including the relationship between technical communication and civic engagement, which often depends on the study of legal processes. It is our hope that this special issue will generate interest in the intersection of technical communication and the law and that it will provide readers of //TCQ// with a valuable and unique foundation for teaching and research in this area.


 * Argument**

The article “Technical Communication and the Law” is a special issue, which talks about practice and technical communication research in relation to legal issues. Technical communication in some textbooks relates the law to ethics and privacy. Researchers also look into intellectual property law. It argues that the law is of increasing interest to technical communication scholars. Areas of legal concern in technical communication textbooks is often difficult to understand. There are some introductory textbooks that introduce the law through ethics. It also discusses how an understanding of the relationship of copyright law and free speech are helpful for technical communicators as they are both the users and producers of copyrighted works.


 * Key Passages**

"Building on these existing works, the articles in this special issue present recent research on the intersection of technical communication and the law, such as in the domains of health-information privacy law, domestic violence cases, and jury instructions," (2).

"Whereas existing coverage on technical communication and the law offers illustrations of legal principles that draw from the experience of technical communication professionals, the challenge in these discussions is to show how complicated legal information can be integrated into the teaching practices of technical communication instructors,"(1-2).

"The authors argue that the learner-centered principles adopted by technical communication instructors and researchers, namely, increased novice-expert interactions between judge and jurors, may assist jurors in comprehending the tasks assigned to them,"(3).


 * Selected Works Cited**

Durack, K. T. (2006). Technology transfer and patents: Implications for the production of scientific knowledge. Technical Communication Quarterly, 15, 315–328.

Gurak, L. J., & Lannon, J. M. (2006). A concise guide to technical communication (3rd ed.). White ---. Plains, NY: Pearson Longman.

Herrington, T. (2003) A legal primer for the digital age. White Plains, NY: Pearson Longman.

Propen, A., & Schuster, M. L. (2008). Making academic work advocacy work: Technologies of power --. in the public arena. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 22, 299–329.