Collecting knowledge products: Why position statements matter in professionalizing and understanding Professional and Technical Writing

This paper focuses on the need for composing and articulating knowledge products - i.e., position statements, such as standards and goals for assessment, and the role of technology, in the field of professional and technical writing. The main argument of this paper is that such knowledge products help further professionalize and shape a discipline by providing the necessary statements from professional organizations to support which serve to support its members and articulate further a professional identity. The three main points covered include 1) what are knowledge products and why are they useful to a discipline; 2) how have such knowledge products been used in other disciplines and with what effect(s); and 3) where to begin in articulating and collecting knowledge products with regard to the field of professional and technical writing.