Re: Request for change

[Karen Gwynn/Datatel <Karen_Gwynn -at- DATATEL -dot- COM>]

On 2/8/96 Fionnuala Broughan wrote:

     Yay Eric!

     I'm with you completely on this one. I've found a lot of useful
     information on this list over the last year or so; for example,
     solving some doc problems with Word; looking at electronic publishing;
     managing in tech writing; and so on.

     But I find these endless discussions on hyphens and
     restrictive/non-restrictive clauses a tad tedious, to say the least.
     And not a lot of use.

     What keeps me awake at night?

     How we will implement the conditional text option in Word so that we
     can single-source documents for different platforms.

     Do we stay with add-ons to Word to create our online help or do we
     create help from scratch?

     What is the best tool to use to convert WinHelp to OS/2 IPF files?

     How do we meet the deadline of producing three sets of docs (about 8
     books in each) within the next 8 weeks for software that hasn't even
     moved into testing yet and is still changing rapidly.

     How do I set about training the new writer starting next week so that
     he can get up-to-speed as quickly as possible without feeling
     overwhelmed, and at the same time produce quality work.

     How do we implement a version control system for our docs that
     describe a product that works on five platforms, in about 10
     languages, with five different database types?

     How do we work together with training to ensure that we all produce
     what's needed with as little duplication and as high a quality as
     possible.

     I could go on and on, but you get the idea, I'm sure. Frankly, I
     sometimes wish I had the time to worry about thats and whiches and
     hyphens and the like...

     But you know, most days it's fun.

     Fionnuala Broughan
     fb -at- pointdublin -dot- ccmail -dot- compuserve -dot- com


Wow! deja vu all over again. I have many of the same concerns that you listed
above and would _love_ to hear from others about what do to. So... if you are
up at night worrying about these things, why not post them (individually
please!) so we can ponder these bigger issues instead of hyphens and
restrictive/non-restrictive clauses?

Karen Gwynn
kwg -at- datatel -dot- com