Editor's Column
September 2002

Welcome to the new online Ragged Left. It's been an exciting opportunity for me, as editor, to redesign the Ragged Left from scratch. The new format allows me to bring you more interesting articles and resources than ever. The changes in the industry these past couple of years have brought new challenges to all technical communicators, and I hope that the Ragged Left will continue to provide you with means to enhance and expand your career.

As always, I'm in search of articles for our monthly columns, so peruse the list below to see if any of our needs match your skills. This fall I'm working on issues to submit for the National STC competition, so your work might be read by a wider audience. In the coming months we'd also like to expand the Ragged Left staff with more volunteers. If you're interested in contributing to our industry, while expanding your portfolio, contact me.

See you at Vo's,

Jessica Livingston
Ragged Left Editor

Ragged Left Topic Needs
Below is a list of the articles we are most often searching for.

Monthly Recap
Each month we look for a volunteer to write a recap of the speaker's presentation at our monthly meeting. The length of that article should be around 350 words, although if it was a particularly engaging topic we can run a longer article. Attendance at the meeting would be necessary.

Resource Column
Every month we run a monthly resource column. Suggested topics include a review of software; new, new version, or related: a Website or other online resource related to our industry: books or other tools you found useful: a process, language, or class that was beneficial. To insure that your topic has not been recently covered, please clear the topic in advance with the editor. Suggested length: 375-750 words

Introduce New Members
Periodically we write a paragraph or two about new members in our chapter. This involves contacting the names we provide, interviewing them about their interests and involvement in the industry, and meshing it all into a cohesive article. It will take a bit longer to get the responses back, so this feature takes more lead-time than most.

Feature Articles
We're open to articles on unsolicited topics.

Submission Guidelines
Thank you for considering writing for the Ragged Left, the Berkeley STC chapter's award-winning monthly newsletter. Each month the Ragged Left publishes original articles and illustrations. This is a great opportunity to be published with a byline to add to your portfolio. We edit materials to meet our needs. You retain copyright, but grant every STC publication royalty-free permission to reproduce the article or illustration in print or any other medium.

Please contact the editor to make sure your intended topic is timely and appropriate, and for details of how to submit articles and illustrations. Deadline for unsolicited submissions is the 20th of the month preceding publication.

Copyright and Reprint Information
Ragged Left writers retain their copyright, but grant every STC publication royalty-free permission to reproduce the article or illustration in print or any other medium. Other STC publications are hereby granted permission to reprint articles from Ragged Left, provided such reprints credit the author and a copy of any publication containing such a reprint is sent to the Ragged Left editor. Our mailing address is: Newsletter, STC-Berkeley, PO Box 1007, Berkeley CA 94701-1007. If it is an electronic publication, email the editor.

Publication
The Ragged Left is published ten times a year. Monthly, except for December and August.