Technical Communication and the Discipline of Content: Considerations for Research, Training, and Career...

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Rebekka Andersen (University of California Davis, USA) Carlos Evia (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA)

Technical Communication and the Discipline of Content

Considerations for Research, Training, and Career Readiness

Rebekka Andersen (University of California Davis, USA), Carlos Evia (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA)

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English

Routledge
22 September 2025

linguistics; Communication studies; Media studies; Computer-aided design (CAD); Computer science

Series: ATTW Series in Technical and Professional Communication

This book explores how workflows and technologies that treat content as computable data are changing the roles, work activities, and outputs of professional technical communicators.

It describes how the need for disciplinary approaches to design, manage, and deliver content has given rise to “the discipline of content” – content strategy, content design, content engineering, content operations – that increasingly defines a facet of technical communication work in modern organizations. This book draws on extensive research of the discipline of content and dozens of interviews with industry leaders, hiring managers, and academic administrators, educators, and alumni. These first-hand accounts outline how roles and activities in content organizations are changing, how these changes are impacting hiring needs and practices, and what skills and qualities students and early-career professionals now need to obtain content-related jobs and advance to strategic positions. This book also offers guidance for building curricular pathways that prepare students for work in the discipline of content and offers strategies for enhancing pathways through industry outreach and partnerships.

A thorough assessment of the implications of the discipline of content for technical communication, this book will be of interest to students and scholars in the fields of technical writing, professional and public writing, content strategy, content marketing and information design.

By: Rebekka Andersen (University of California Davis USA), Carlos Evia (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, USA)
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 229mm, Width: 152mm,
Weight: 620g
ISBN: 9781032588469
ISBN 10: 1032588462
Series: ATTW Series in Technical and Professional Communication
Pages: 314
Publication Date: 22 September 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Paperback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Rebekka Andersen is an Associate Professor and the Associate Director for Professional Writing in the University Writing Program at the University of California, Davis, United States. Carlos Evia is a Professor, Associate Dean, and Chief Technology Officer in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, United States. He is the author of Creating Intelligent Content with Lightweight DITA (Routledge, 2018).

Reviews for Technical Communication and the Discipline of Content: Considerations for Research, Training, and Career Readiness

“Andersen and Evia provide a comprehensive, yet accessible, explanation of the various categories of the content discipline. More importantly, they outline what it will take to prepare students for the kind of work going on right now in the workplace. Their approach is to teach carefully and specifically. This book will interest both academia and industry.” Tracy Bridgeford, University of Nebraska at Omaha, USA “Technical Communication and the Discipline of Content is exactly what the field of technical communication needs right now—rigorous empirical research that describes both how content work is evolving and what those shifts mean for educators, students, and practitioners of content strategy.” Erin Friess, University of North Texas, USA “Andersen and Evia share novel research into, and apply thoughtful reflection on, the core question of how the education of technical communicators needs to evolve especially now that AI has joined us at the table. For those of us working in this field, the time to engage this question is now. This book will help us to do this.” Joe Gollner, Managing Director of Gnostyx Research Inc., Canada