Re: Has anyone noticed...

["William Sherman" <bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com>]

Btu when I first started technical writing, we did develop the information.

Today's tech writer is frequently more a reporter than a writer, especially 
a TECHNICAL writer.  Back then, we had to be technically in tune with the 
product, we had to know it, we had to understand it, and we were the ones 
that provided a check and balance with the engineering staff, who frequently 
put mistakes in documentation.

The technical writer churned out of most colleges and universities today 
would never recognize a technical inaccuracy and pass it right on out to the 
customer.

We knew the product, we went to engineers for engineering changes, and we 
pulled it all in so that we were the only ones who had information from all 
points: each system, each engineer, each designer, each tester, and so on. 
We were the subject matter experts. Today in school, they teach that the 
engineers and the programmers are the SMEs and that tech writers simply 
interview them.



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>
Cc: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Sent: Monday, June 13, 2011 12:31 PM
Subject: Re: Has anyone noticed...