Re[2]: Impact of information explosion on our profession (

[Joyce Flaherty <flahertj -at- SMTPGW -dot- LIEBERT -dot- COM>]

Non-linear paradigm, thought for the day:

   "When re-engineering [a process], the scope of the analysis is
   not limited to the technology is use.  The people involved,
   their skills, the flow of the information, and the assumptions
   guiding the specific systems in place are not sacred and can
   be challenged."
                            B Travis and D Waldt
                            The SGML Implementation Guide

Tim Altom wrote regarding the non-linear paradigm:
> I think there's a wall in the way of such a "scattershot"
> paradigm,though, and it's the same bugaboo that plagues database
> designers. Getting the data into the thing isn't the problem. It's
> finding it and getting it back out and then incorporating it in the
> right spot. In any database extraction scheme there are millions of
> possible mistakes and perhaps only one right configuration.
<snip>

I recall having a heated exchange with Vince Putman (president of
our list curmudgeon club) about a year ago.  He was arguing that
he never heard of a company that ranked the editor higher than
the writer, and that the very idea is ludicrous.

I worked for a company that did just that.  Our only product was
chemical information.  Our only service was storage and retrieval
of chemical information.

The technical progression is (was):
        abstractor (at the bottom, somewhat equivalent to writer)
        indexer
        abstract editor
        index editor
        nomenclature expert (always at a salary higher than the mgr)

Obviously the most important job is getting the information into
the database in such a way that it can be found and retrieved.  Look
for the editor, or indexer, or indexer editor, to outrank the writer
in the new environment.

joyce flaherty
flahertj -at- smtpgw -dot- liebert -dot- com