TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Leigh wrote:
...This need to have his/her name on the document is a lack of experience in
the industry and immaturity. These are company documents and do not belong
to individual.
I disagree completely. And I would like to think of myself as mature (with
20 years experience).
First off, it is not about owning documents. It is about individual
contributions and recognition of work. Corporate identities hide
individuals.
I have worked at many companies with many writers and engineers.
They like recognition for their work.
I like to put two sections on the copyright page:
1. Acknowledgements (usually for engineers and other content providers and
collaborators)
2. Publication information
usually the publication editor and lead writer(s)
I feel this really makes people feel good about their work and its all about
thanking people.
We don't thank our sources and collaborators enough.
OTOH, I did run afoul of corporate policy once. My lead writer wanted to
thank R.E.M. and the Stones for getting her through her deadline. She
worked many 80 hour weeks to get a 3500 page manual set done on time. Many
late hours and lots of music. So I said sure, go ahead and write the
acknowledgement. The President said only engineers could be acknowledged.
And then went further to make sure I didn't thank anyone from marketing or
training; only engineers. It was silly. We took out the entire
Acknowledgement section from the manual set. o well.
If you are allowed to thank people, you should. And you should feel good
about it. Losing touch through corporate identity is not a great thing.
walden
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
Save $600: Create great-looking Help files and software demos with
RoboHelp Deluxe. Get RoboHelp and RoboDemo - our new demo software - for one
low price. OR Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in June with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
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.
