Well, it seems like it's been forever, but I'm happy to be joining the ranks of those who have or will be publishing in the ID/IA space! Mike Albers and I are the happy co-editors of a volume that is titled Content and Complexity: Information Design in Technical Communication, which will be coming out by Erlbaum, hopefully by the end of the year. The book was a project of the members of the STC ID SIG, which I founded in 1997.

Unlike the recent spate of IA books (from , Christina, and Jesse), this is more of an academic volume than a consumer how-to. Other ID books have looked either at the more "traditional" information design in the print world (such as the books) or took a broader look at the subject (such as the book). In our case, the bulk of the volume focuses on aspects of information design as interpreted by those who practice in the technical communication space ... on applications such as reference manuals, online help, and interface design.

We're privileged to have had Karen Schriver (author of ) write our foreword. Here are the other chapters in the book and their authors:

Information Design in Motion - Beth Mazur

Physical, Cognitive, and Affective: A Three-Part Framework for Information Design - Saul Carliner

Collaborative Processes and Politics in Complex Information Design - David Sless

The Five Dimensions of Usability - Whitney Quesenbery

Applying Learning Theory to the Design of Web-Based Instruction - Susan Feinberg, Margaret Murphy, John Duda

What Makes Up A Procedure? - Hans van der Meij, Peter Blijleven, Leanne Jansen

Visual Design Methods in Interactive Applications - Jean Vanderdonckt

Contextual Inquiry as a Method of Information Design - Karl L. Smart

Dynamic Usability: Designing Usefulness Into Systems for Complex Tasks - Barbara Mirel

Complex Problem Solving and Content Analysis - Michael J. Albers

Applying Survey Research Methods to Gather Customer Data and to Obtain User Feedback - Beverly B. Zimmerman, Maribeth C. Clarke

Single Sourcing and Information Design - Ann Rockley

Redesigning to Make Better Use of Screen Real Estate - Geoff Hart

My apologies, in advance, to all my friends and family members who will be getting a little square-wrapped package for Christmas this year :). As we get closer, I'll be sharing more. Stay tuned!

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