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After the surge of critical and theoretical studies in the early 1990s, the narrow emphasis on the workplace in technical communication has become the occasional focus of critique. Three researchers have proposed the examination of new, non-workplace sites: Tabeaux’ (cite) historical research analyzes women’s domestic technical writing in the English renaissance, with a focus on the professional status of midwifery; Savage (2003) calls for an examination of technical writing in “alternative” workplaces such as contractor-client relationships and home offices; Kimball, who ventures furthest from the workplace context, calls for research of extra-institutional documentation in “dangerous” cases such as computer hacking, fraud, and terrorism manuals [p. 2 -- check]. However, with the exception of Tabeaux, whose historical investigation of the professional status of midwifery and on the working conditions of midwives retains obvious ties to the traditional emphasis on workplace studies in technical communication, these calls for research in non-workplace sites remain unanswered: no actual historical or empirical research in technical communication has ventured outside of the workplace into new and “dangerous” sites.