Word Help (problem solved)(OT)

Subject: Word Help (problem solved)(OT)
From: chasity mcwilliams <chas -at- fcs -dot- uga -dot- edu>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 09:57:29 -0700

I've already sent a response regarding the misunderstanding
of this thread. However, I feel that I need to make a few
more things clear.

As I said in my earlier email, the help I received did not
fall within the specifications for a Grad student writing a
Thesis for the University. I work for a smaller college at
the University and have been working with the Graduate
School's IT department on this particular project.

Everyone who has responded to my problem solved email seems
to have some gripe about hidden characters and improper
formatting. None of you have mentioned that sometimes as
tech communicators we have to do what we can to work
within the specifications we are given.

What makes matters worse is that somehow many of you have
gained the (wrong) impression that I discarded helpful
information provided by me on this list. That is not true.
Many of you sent me sample documents that do exactly what I
asked in the email. The problem with this is that those
documents cannot be used until after the specifications for
the Thesis are changed. I don't know how many of you have
worked in an academic environment, so I will say that it
usually take a very long time for something this important
to be changed and then approved for use.

I should also point out that the templates won't just be
handed over to students without explanation. Once they are
completed, I will be writing a read me file as part of the
training seminar that the Graduate students will be
required to take. My plan is to make it known to them
exactly what is happening and why it is not a good idea to
use Word in this way.

As I said in the earlier email, the students are trained by
me to use Word in building things like resumes (I'm still
not sure how resumes became a part of this discussion).
None of them will have the problems described by other
contributors to this thread.

I am sorry if some of you thought that your help and advice
were not appreciated. However, random speculation about my
work ethics and abilities as well the quality of student
that I am helping to build, are not only uncalled for, but
just plain rude.

I have encountered many situations on this list in which
the TW's hands were tied by the specifications given as
well as by the knowledge base of the audience. Those
people are usually met with some semblance of empathy on
the part of other members on this list. I am in the same
situation here. The fact that I didn't provide that
information in asking for help is my fault. It is one of
those failings that I can only improve as I work more in
this field.

Again, thank you to everyone who responded to my call for
help. Special thanks to those who actually sent documents.
When the new specifications are approved, they will be used
with gratitude.

Until then, there is nothing more that I can do to make
this document fall within the guidelines. If I were to
give the graduate students the documents that were sent to
me from this list, they would not pass the initial format
check. Since they are my audience, their concerns are more
important than wounded pride or whether or not someone from
this list would hire them.

Thank you for hearing me out.

chas


On Wed, 29 Nov 2000 08:29:10 -0600 bryan -dot- westbrook -at- amd -dot- com
wrote:

> I worked on a military writing project where the lead of
> the Operator level manual (the only one that had a paper
> copy) seemed to be afraid of page breaks. There is no
> telling how much time and money (ultimately from the DOD
> budget and our taxpaying pockets) were wasted on adjusting
> pages that had rolled (a few of these files were over 100
> pages).
>
> The biggest irony is that it's easier to insert a page
> break anyway if you hold the Ctrl key while hitting Enter
> (a trick I picked up while fixing some of that mess).
>
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Sharon Deitch [SMTP:sharon -at- sintecmedia -dot- com]
> > Sent: Wednesday, November 29, 2000 2:18 AM
> > To: TECHWR-L
> > Subject: RE: Word Help (problem solved)
> >
> > I HATE seeing spaces and paragraph marks all over
> documents that cross my > computer. Given a choice, I'd
> also delete a resume that was not properly >


----------------------
"You're not dying, you just can't think of anything
good to do."
-Ferris B.

chasity mcwilliams
chas -at- fcs -dot- uga -dot- edu


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY.
http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.

Sponsored by SOLUTIONS, Conferences and Seminars for Communicators
Publications Management Clinic, TECH*COMM 2001 Conference, and more
http://www.SolutionsEvents.com or 800-448-4230

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


Previous by Author: Word Help (problem solved)
Next by Author: Referral fees
Previous by Thread: RE: Formatting, proficiency (Word)
Next by Thread: Re: Quality docs


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads