TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:How to treat doc errata? From:Jane Bergen <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 24 Oct 1996 10:32:51 +0600
The inevitable has happened.... a document we sent to the printer
needs a change on one page, thanks to a last-minute switch by
engineering (grrr).
We will fix the error for future printing, but for **the copies we just
got back from the printer yesterday** (said through clenched teeth),
what is the best approach? I am considering:
a) doing nothing. It's fairly minor and most users could figure it
out. But on the other hand, they might think we have not figured it
out yet either.
b) inserting a loose page calling attention to the error and giving
the correct information. These manuals are wire bound and we can't
fix them.
c) adding a little blurb in the readme file. No one reads these
anyway......do they?
I hope this is on-topic....fingers crossed, eyes closed....I've never
seen it discussed before, but it does affect most technical writers.
Thanks.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Jane Bergen, Technical Writer
janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
AnswerSoft, Inc.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
