Locker Article: Success v. Failures

This article was interesting to me because I have worked in the legal field for some time, both for a government agency and now a corporation. I have seen collaborations as discussed in the article similar to Group 1 and Group 2. Locker highlights the failures in Group 1 to include: power struggle, devaluing team members, poor communication, poor acceptance of criticism, individual not team effort, tasks defined as purely legal, viewed feedback/revisions negatively and lack of organizational culture. At one time or another, we have witnessed some or all of these failures. My employment in the government agency law department fit the decription of the autonomy 'Jim' felt attorneys should have. Attorneys worked on their cases individually, not sharing work effort with others and would only discuss cases with the general counsel if an issue arose. There was a certain 'attitude' amongst the attorneys, whereas, they felt they could 'handle' situations without the contribution of others. The tasks and writing here were narrowly defined and carried out as legal. Although that was the organizational culture of this agency and it usually worked most of the time.

Now that I work in a corporate law department it is interesting to watch the transition legal staff makes from private sector to corporate. Corporate culture is very different from private practice or a government agency. In corporations people collaborate all the time, or they at least try to. Locker discusses the success Group 2 had in their collaboration to include: flexibility, equal team contributions, genuinely cared for each other, good communication, planned and executed together, tasks and writing were defined and carried out broadly (legal / non-legal intentions), informed/educated the audience throught their writing, viewed revision process as a means to improve document and they were acclimated in their oranizational culture. Group 2 had a stellar team. While collaboration occurs regularly in corporations, I find it very challenging because you work with such a large group of people. These individuals are different via their cultures, methods of learning, work experience and the way in which they social interact with one another. I found that to have successful collaboration it helps if you know and understand who you are working with. In my work environment a problem I see is in communication with one another on issues outside of their own specialized areas. Working on a project, I will seldom get emails/correspondence that do not speak to the project group audience but rather to an individual area. People seem to struggle with broadening information to make the email/correspondence understandable and useful to all.

In regards to classroom collaboration, the difference I see is between standard full-time students and the adult learners. I have not had negative collaborations at the university but I have had better collaborations, usually with adult learners. I think that is to be expected considering the additional work and life experience they have. Most of them have learned to collaborate fairly efficiently at this point in life.

Copyright Evolution: Act of 1710

I chose this picture because it demonstrates the time when copyright laws were recognized and by whom. The beginning paragraph below Queen Anne's name states "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Copies of Printed Books in the Authors or purchasers of such Copies, during the Times therein mentioned."

Place on pg. 81 before last paragraph

Elizabethan Period Playwrites

During this period, writing for profit took form. Our text points out that most early plays, "appeared without an author's name on the title page." I chose this one because it did acknowledge the author, even if by initial only. I feel that this demonstrates advancement towards modern day authorship.

Place on pg. 81 before 1st full paragraph

Renaissance Period of Transition: Printing

I felt these pictures highlight an important change: the development of the printing press. The ability to create a large volume of printed texts for readers became a 'profit-making' endeavor. Although as Bonham-Carter points out "writing was not yet regarded as a profession," the press created a new means of literary communication amongst educated people.

Place on pg. 79 after last paragraph

Middle Ages Authorship

I feel this picture demonstrates the practices of the Middle Ages. It appears that both the man on the left is copying a text, whereas the man on the right may be writing his own original. Allen and Jauss make a point that "there was no distinction made between the person who wrote a text and the person who copied it."

Place pg. 78 after 1st paragraph

Toy Paper Airplane

This was a fun exercise demonstrating the basic concept of collaboration.  My partner Kathy and I were able to collaborate very easily throughout the exercise.  I felt we practiced under the basic definition of collaboration: two or more people writing (drafting) a document together. However, our collaborative process also fell under other definitions.  For example, Allen describe collaboration using 3 features: 1) production of shared document; 2) substantive interaction among members; and 3) shared decision making power over the responsibility for the document. While I drafted the initial document, Kathy added comments and together we made final edits and agreed on our complete product.  Our experience as partners was very positive.  It is important to understand that even a simple exercise could become difficult depending on the definitions and attitudes of individuals and groups towards collaboration.

Debs Article

After reading the Debs article the first question that came to mind was, 'Why is defining collaborative writing so difficult?' Simply stated, to collaborate means to work together. While reading the article, I had the impression that the researchers tried to imply this basic definition with some adding their own twist to it. What surprised me the most is the various interpretations individuals and businesses have of collaborative writing. I related most to, "collaborative writing means two or more people writing (drafting) a document together." This simple, broad definition can work in any environment and is a good base to build upon. Take into consideration the different venues collaborative writing supports: corporations/business, the fields of medicine, science and technology, etc. Each of these areas will use collaborative writing differently and have to adjust it to their needs.

I find the real challenge with collaborative writing is not in the definition but in the overall process. For many, it's challenging to take a step back and look at the big picture to determine the audience, purpose document fills and how to make it usable. I work for a corporation and collaborating is a daily function. Working with a diverse group of individuals on a project is difficult. Some team members more than others have a hard time understanding and grasping the concept of audience and problems exist many times because there a lack of leadership in project groups. I'm currently working on a project and has provided employees with 2 documents to resource for information, 1) a records management procedures manual and 2) a records management policy. I read both documents completely and was left wondering did an individual or team put them together, did anyone edit them and did they understand who their audience was. The 2 documents overlapped significantly and some information within was contradictory. I'm confused as to the documents purpose and I'm on the project implementation team and wonder how effective will they be for our employees.

I liked the article and found it provided good background on collaborative writing and the problems associated with it.

Collaborative Writing

Boun giorno. Good morning and hello, to Pr. Richards and my fellow online classmates! My name is Krystal and I'm in the Bachelor program for Rhetoric and Professional Writing. I am currently a paralegal for an insurance company but would eventually like to shift gears to technical writing in a different context. Outside of work and school, I spend my time taking my daughter to travel soccer, playing with my two black labs and enjoying time with my family doing various outdoor activities.

I look forward to class and meeting all of you. Ciao!