Re: A guide to technical writing from 1908

[Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>]

Chapline's "Operating and Maintenance Manual for the BINAC" is a
reasonable if largely symbolic starting point for the explosive growth
in the field in the 50s, when many major companies added documentation
departments, "technical writer" became a common job title, and the
precursors of the STC were founded.

Even the most cursory history of the field traces it back many
centuries. Anybody who calls Chapline the first technical writer
without qualification has spent no time at all reading up on the
matter, which was probably the case for whatever editor wrote that bad
headline on the piece you linked to.

On Sun, Jan 4, 2015 at 5:44 AM, Rick Lippincott <rjl6955 -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>>Is anyone claiming that tech writing started with the computer age, Rick?
>
> Yep.
>
> For starts, all the people who claimed the first tech writer was
> Robert Champline.
>
> http://www.writingassist.com/newsroom/first-technical-writer-joseph-chapline/
>
> --Rick Lippincott
>
> On 1/1/15, Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au> wrote:
>>> Another nail in the coffin of the myth that tech writing started
>> with
>>> the computer age.
>>
>> Is anyone claiming that tech writing started with the computer age,
>> Rick?
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doc-To-Help: The Quickest Way to Author and Publish Online Help, Policy & Procedure Guides, eBooks, and more using Microsoft Word | http://bit.ly/doctohelp2015

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- 

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications?  Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions?  Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives