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Mark Dsouza wondered: <<In the organization where I am working we are
establishing a sign-off for technical accuracy. Perhaps somebody can let me
know whether product documents should be signed-off for technical accuracy
and coverage of functionality by the development team or the technical
writer and why.>>
One thing I've learned in 20+ years of editing is that the author is never
the best person to approve their own work. I include myself in that verdict,
speaking as author: if you misunderstand something when you're writing it,
you're unlikely to suddenly understand it correctly when you review it. If
the developers are the technical experts, then they by definition must be
the ones who sign off on technical accuracy and completeness. They're the
only ones (apart from perhaps a really good project manager) who can do
this. This is particularly true with large applications that are constantly
changing; in that situation, it's nearly impossible for you to scan the
entire product daily to see what has changed.
You didn't ask, but I'll note anyways that signoffs are meaningless unless
people are held responsible for their signatures. (Also speaking based on 20
years of signoffs.) If there's no positive incentive to do a good review,
and no negative consequences for doing shoddy reviews, you might as well not
bother with the whole effort. You'll just annoy everyone with the extra
paperwork and encourage them to sign without reading.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"Wisdom is one of the few things that look bigger the further away it
is."--Terry Pratchett
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