This special issue of
Technical Communication Quarterly
continues the work of the winter 2004 issue of gathering information and reflecting on the state of technical communication in its academic context. The two issues together provide historical background on the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW) as well as data on current academic members of the field and their jobs, their teaching and research, and their programs. The narrow goal of the issues is to help ATTW plan for the future by identifying needs, interests, and responsibilities of members, but the broader goal is to define for anyone with an interest the values and current practices as well as the gaps and visions of technical communication in its academic context.