Re: Re[2]: Who's the author?

["Shelly M. LaRock" <smlarock -at- MTU -dot- EDU>]

Gary Gray said the following:
> ...so it only seemed natural for the "editor in chief" (i.e. the guy
> that did everything from soup to nuts on it) to have his name on it.
<snip>
> You get the credit, but you also realize that people know who
> is ultimately responsible for any mistakes in the document... putting
> your name on it makes you think a bit before releasing something.

I guess this is something I hadn't remembered.  I just finished
producing a magazine for Michigan Tech's Winter Carnival.  I am
editor in chief, and this year's edition turned out really good.  Last
year's was a learning experience, and I quickly found out that
whenever anyone found a mistake, even a missing comma, I was
the one who got another message on my answering machine.

Another potential problem with putting your name on something
might be if you work on a manual, and then with the next rewrite
or software release someone else works on it, possibly fouls
things up, but keeps your name on it since you were a major
contributor to the main content of the book.

I once worked on a project where I wrote an original
document, and several months  later (after I had left)
the client wanted some new information added.  The
writer who took over my position changed just about
everything around, but was "nice enough" to keep my
name on it as one of the writers.  Every now and then someone
makes a comment like, "Oh, *you* wrote that such-and-such
thing?  It's kind of hard to read since the changes have been
made."

I guess the fame and glory of having your name on something
sometimes has its drawbacks.  I'm not sure how companies who
list authors handle rewrites of the original work when it comes
to listing current authors.  Any ideas?

Shelly La Rock
smlarock -at- mtu -dot- edu
Michigan Tech University