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snip> > Subject: (No Subject)
> >
> > A particularly gung-ho (and extremely irritating) marketing
> > chick has asked me for a draft of my current manual so she
> > can use the information for her data sheet on the product.
> > Nevermind that this is a slimy way of getting out of doing
> > her own research. I'm not getting in that with her.
>
> While others have made the point that this *is* research of a kind, I'll
> offer a different argument: you both work for the same company. If what
> she's doing benefits the company and the ultimate release of the product,
> who cares whether she's taking shortcuts? In some companies, they call
> that "efficiency," because why should she duplicate your work?
> snip end
If the marketing 'chick' is using you manual as a source, then you should be
flattered, not reluctant. As Mike says, this is an efficient use of her
time. Also, marketing may have some conceptual material or some customer
implementation notes available for you to use in the documentation. That
would be an efficient use of your time.
Her reader needs technical accuracy geared toward their business - your
reader needs technical accuracy geared toward their task: this information
is similar. Bottomline: writers, whether in Marketing, R&D, Training or
Support , need to work together to provide a technically accurate, cohesive
image to the customer/user.
