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Subject:Re: Assumptions, the audience and arithmetic? From:"John Fleming" <johnf -at- ecn -dot- ab -dot- ca> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 16 Aug 2001 12:38:50 -0600
A variant on your idea had crossed my mind.
Yes, my SME is an expert--a team lead who's been with the company for
close to 20 years. Makes this person an expert.
The variant has more to do with the mathematical background of us as
tech writers. If my perception of the typical tech writer is correct,
there aren't many of us I can't walk circles around when it comes to
math. The notable exception is Dianne Evans who post to this list
serve and who has mentioned having a math degree.
Hence, my SME may be assuming I have a similar level of math
competency to other writers she has worked with in the past. That is,
she is attempting to explain something to me based on prior experience
that isn't relevant in this situation.
In which case, an issue for me, and something I'm going to have to
learn to do better, is communicating my own math background to SMEs
when a large part of the procedure is math.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>
Sent: August 15, 2001 7:27 AM
Subject: Assumptions, the audience and arithmetic?
> John Fleming reports: <<At one point in the procedure is a series of
steps
> where the person... subtracts one number from another. The number
> subtracted is often negative (meaning, in layman's terms, change the
sign
> and add). When we hit this spot, my SME went into some pretty
convoluted and
> arcane descriptions of this process. Points about remembering when
to
> change the sign and add and so forth. Scary thing is, she had a
yellow
> sticky to remind her of some of these more arcane gyrations.>>
>
> This person sure sounds like an expert--with few exceptions (e.g.,
Steven
> Gould, David Suzuki) experts tend to understand the nitty-gritty
details so
> well that they can't explain their subject simply to any non-expert.
That's
> why God invented technical writers. "Note: If you're subtracting a
negative
> number, change the sign and add" is about as complicated as you need
to get
> outside of a course in introductory mathematics; _there_, the
"convoluted
> and arcane descriptions" might well be appropriate. Provide an
example or
> two that illustrate how this works and you've provided a concise,
effective
> explanation for anyone who needs it.
--
John Fleming
Technical Writer
Edmonton, Alberta
email: johnf -at- ecn -dot- ab -dot- ca
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