--- title: "Academics and Practitioners Posts" description: "Academics and practitioners content covers posts related to the ongoing intersection between academic research and practitioner-relevant topics, especially if academic research or interviews are directly involved. The following content is..." canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/category-academics-and-practitioners/index.html --- > For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://idratherbewriting.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of all pages are available by appending .md to any page URL. # Academics and Practitioners Posts Academics and practitioners content covers posts related to the ongoing intersection between academic research and practitioner-relevant topics, especially if academic research or interviews are directly involved. The following content is in the **academics-and-practitioners** category: #### [Six new books in tech comm: a roundup](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/new-books-tech-comm-2026) | Sep 7, 2026 #### [The gap between academic and industry technical writing: What it is, why it exists, why it's important, and what we can do about it (Part II)](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/gap-between-industry-and-academia-tw-part2) | Jul 12, 2026 #### [The gap between academic and industry technical writing: What it is, why it exists, why it's important, and what we can do about it (Part I)](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/gap-between-industry-and-academia-tw-part1) | Jul 12, 2026 #### [The Emerging Picture of a Changed Profession: Cyborg Technical Writers — Augmented, Not Replaced, by AI](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/cyborg-model-emerging-talk) | Apr 5, 2026 #### [Will tech writers survive AI? Perspectives from two professors, Nupoor Ranade and Jeremy Merritt](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/will-tech-writers-survive-ai-academics-nupoor-jeremy) | Mar 21, 2026 #### [Guest post: Generative AI, technical writing, and evolving thoughts on future horizons, by Jeremy Rosselot-Merritt](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/gen-ai-techcomm-evolving-future) | Nov 6, 2025 #### [The problem with single-sourced docs when fact checking with AI](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/is-single-sourcing-over) | Jun 9, 2025 #### [Symposium on Usability and Design in France in April 2025](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/strasberg-symposium-usability-and-design) | Nov 3, 2024 #### [Prompt engineering series: Reverse engineering the recipe for excellent documentation](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/prompt-engineering-reverse-engineering) | Mar 4, 2024 #### [[Podcast] Breaking ground: New API documentation course at UW, with Bob Watson](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/api-documentation-course-uw-bob-watson) | Jan 5, 2024 #### [Doing research with AI tools -- avoiding the trap of fabricated URLs](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/research-with-ai-dealing-with-fake-research) | Nov 9, 2023 #### [New article: AI and APIs: What works, what doesn't](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/ai-and-apis-what-works-and-doesnt) | Sep 28, 2023 #### [New topic in API course: Using AI tools to write build and publish scripts](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/ai-tools-writing-build-and-publish-scripts) | Jul 19, 2023 #### [New topic in API doc course: AI document engineering with pattern-based prompts](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/ai-document-engineering-patterns) | Jul 6, 2023 #### [Telling your conversion story into tech comm](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/writing-the-conversion-story-toward-tech-comm) | Jun 25, 2023 #### [How to find academic research to back up your tech comm decisions](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/how-to-find-academic-research-tech-comm) | May 19, 2023 #### [AI starting to diminish work for student essay ghostwriters](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/ai-diminishing-academic-ghostwriters-cheating) | May 19, 2023 #### [Newsletter: Doctave, Chatbase, SiteGPT, small CLs, TC bibliography](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/doctave-microchat-small-cls-bibliography) | May 9, 2023 #### [Review of "Hashtag #TechComm: An Overview of Members, Networks, and Themes from 2016-2019"](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/hashtag-twitter-article/) | Jul 22, 2021 #### [WTD Australia event recording -- 'Remote discussion: Techcomm in the times of pandemic'](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/write-the-docs-australia-techcomm-times-of-pandemic/) | May 31, 2020 #### [Guest post: Why are technical writers often treated as such an unimportant part of a company?](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/why-technical-writers-treated-as-unimportant/) | May 31, 2020 #### [Are technical writers increasingly playing non-technical roles? Some thoughts on the evolution of technical writing roles](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/evolving-roles-of-technical-wrters/) | Mar 30, 2020 #### [Podcast: Users as producers of knowledge -- conversation with Nupoor Ranade about how tech writer roles are changing](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/users-as-producers-of-knowledge-nupoor-ranade/) | Mar 29, 2020 #### [New topic in API course: Five strategies for documenting code](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/strategies-for-documenting-code/) | Aug 8, 2019 #### [New topic in API course: Research on documenting code](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/research-on-documenting-code/) | Jul 29, 2019 #### [New video recordings of Raleigh API documentation workshop now available](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/video-recordings-for-raleigh-api-documentation-workshop/) | Apr 21, 2019 #### [Why I decided not to become a grasshopper expert, or, Not deciding your focus based on where readers are clicking](https://idratherbewriting.com/blog/dilemmas-about-focusing-on-traffic-momentum/) | Apr 9, 2019 #### [Recognizing Research Realities Across Technical Communication -- guest post by Kirk St. Amant](https://idratherbewriting.com/2019/04/01/research-realities-across-technical-communication/) | Apr 1, 2019 #### [Master's in technical writing at Mercer — FAQ](https://idratherbewriting.com/2019/03/26/masters-in-technical-writing-program-mercer/) | Mar 26, 2019 #### [Should you get a degree in a tech comm program? Two considerations to keep in mind](https://idratherbewriting.com/2019/03/13/should-you-enroll-in-tech-comm-program/) | Mar 13, 2019 #### [How to design API documentation for opportunistic (active, experiential) learning styles](https://idratherbewriting.com/2019/03/07/how-to-design-api-documentation-for-opportunistic-behavior/) | Mar 7, 2019 #### [Corporate exodus narratives: A close look at the tension between the corporation and academia](https://idratherbewriting.com/2019/03/01/corporate-exodus-narratives-tension-between-academia-and-corporation/) | Mar 1, 2019 #### [Asserting your expertise as a SME in the workplace: Q&A with Jennifer Mallette and Megan Gehrke](https://idratherbewriting.com/2019/02/15/asesrting-your-tc-expertise-in-the-workplace/) | Feb 15, 2019 #### [Research on code documentation -- when not to comment on code](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/12/20/when-not-to-comment-on-code/) | Dec 20, 2018 #### [Tech comm trends -- why tech writers will be collaborating more with engineers](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/10/09/tech-comm-trends-more-collaboration-with-engineers/) | Oct 9, 2018 #### [My conflicted thoughts about the decentralized web (while taking the Census of Technical Communicators survey)](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/08/06/conflicted-thoughts-on-decentralized-web-and-survey/) | Aug 6, 2018 #### [Reciprocal knowledge networks and the iFixit Technical Writing Project -- Conversation with Guiseppe Getto](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/25/how-the-network-shapes-knowledge-conversation-with-guiseppe-getto/) | Jul 25, 2018 #### [Looking at the theoretical foundations for tech comm -- Conversation with Lisa Melonçon](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/24/theoretical-foundations-for-tech-comm-conversation-with-lisa-meloncon/) | Jul 24, 2018 #### [Adventures of a Techie Academic with Lightweight DITA (LwDITA): Conversation with Carlos Evia](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/23/adventures-of-techie-academic-conversation-with-carlos-evia/) | Jul 23, 2018 #### [Teaching Technological Adaptability to Bridge the Gap (Guest post by Melonie McMichael)](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/18/learning-technology/) | Jul 18, 2018 #### [Combatting the "Make-It-Pretty" Philosophy: Technical Writers Fight Back (Guest post by Emily January Petersen)](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/18/stereotypes-about-tech-writers-in-workplace/) | Jul 18, 2018 #### [Results from my Academic/Practitioner Attitudes surveys now available](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/17/interpreting-results-of-academic-practitioner-survey/) | Jul 17, 2018 #### [The relationship between academics and practitioners -- Podcast with Kirk St. Amant](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/11/research-as-bridge-between-academics-and-practitioners-kirk-st-amant-podcast/) | Jul 11, 2018 #### [A short survey to measure academic/practitioner attitudes](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/07/02/survey-for-academics-and-practitioners/) | Jul 2, 2018 #### [Two open-ended surveys to gauge practitioner/academic attitudes](https://idratherbewriting.com/2018/02/06/survey-to-measure-tc-academic-practitioner-attitudes/) | Feb 6, 2018 #### [Podcast: The divide between academics and practitioners -- Interview with Lisa Meloncon](https://idratherbewriting.com/2015/08/10/lisa-meloncon-academic-practitioner-divide-podcast/) | Aug 10, 2015 #### [Why is there a divide between academics and practitioners in tech comm?](https://idratherbewriting.com/2015/08/05/acadmic-and-practitioner-divide/) | Aug 5, 2015 #### [Are Academics Just Talking to Themselves?](https://idratherbewriting.com/2010/10/18/are-academics-just-talking-to-themselves/) | Oct 18, 2010 #### [Is Rhetoric Relevant? Considering the "Message in Context" [Organizing Content #27]](https://idratherbewriting.com/2010/09/22/whence-rhetoric/) | Sep 22, 2010 #### [Reflections on Allison Reynold's Talk on Job Skills for the Workplace](https://idratherbewriting.com/2007/10/23/reflections-on-allison-reynolds-talk-on-job-skills-for-the-workplace/) | Oct 23, 2007