ABSTRACT
The process of metrication involves the adoption of the metric system as the primary mechanism for reporting various measurements in a range of contexts. Moreover, metrication is connected to a global context of measurement that is traceable to the International System of Units, which influences a range of technical and scientific activities related to the collection and the reporting of information. As a result of these factors, metrication presupposes a range of legal implications related to conveying accurate and acceptable informa - tion in myriad international situations. Such factors are further complicated by online media that project measurements (and the systems used to report numeric information) designed by and for members of one culture into broader, global contexts. Thus, computational technologies create a context that could result in unexpected, inter national legal problems (e.g., the 1999 loss of the Mars Climate Orbiter spacecraft was, in part, due to miscalculations associated with cal - culations done in customary expressions of pound-seconds instead of metric units of newton-seconds) (Stephenson et al., 1999). These connections to communi - cation have important implications for technical communicators, particularly those individuals who are working in a global context who are developing materials for broader international audiences or who are using online media to disseminate information globally. This chapter provides readers with an overview of what metrication is and an examination of its implications as related to technical communication practices. In so doing, the author examines how metrication might influence technical communication practices in global contexts. To achieve this objective, the chapter begins with a summary of certain international and industrial initiatives for the communication of metrication best practices. The chapter then examines the current state of metrication in light of a focus on best practices for metrication as
it relates to communication practices. In so doing, the chapter also notes how the global nature of online media can affect such factors.
