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Subject:Re: 'author' vs. 'write' From:Diane Burke <dburke -at- RIGEL -dot- TYDAC -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 28 May 1997 13:54:08 +0000
>>Jill Burgchardt wrote:
>>>>
>>I've seen the word 'authoring' used with regard to preparation of CD roms.
>>Workstations with CD rom drives that can be written to are commonly
>marketed
>>as "authoring" stations. This makes me wonder if 'to author' has taken on
>>the meaning of 'to produce documentation for delivery on CD-rom'.
><<
>Parks, Beverly wrote:
>Likewise, my first experience with authoring used in this way was with
>Interleaf. As Jill said, the meaning may be "to produce documentation
>for delivery <snip>". I don't think the target medium is important, just
>the act of producing it in a final form. It's kind of a broadened
>definition of desktop publishing to cover more than just
>desktop-to-laser printer. Authoring includes desktop-to-CD,
>desktop-to-Web, etc.
>
The Concise Oxford Dictionary lists author as both a noun and a verb. As a
verb, it states "be an author" with author defined as a "writer of a
book" or "an originator of an event".
I agree with Bev that the target medium is unimportant. But, maybe the
act of authoring needs to encompass more than just "producing" which could
describe an event such as cutting the CD. It seems to me that "to author"
must also comprise some aspect of an originator.
Diane
--
Diane Burke
TYDAC Research Inc.
2 Gurdwara Road, Suite 210
Nepean, Ontario, Canada K2E 1A2
613-226-5525, Ext. 202
dburke -at- tydac -dot- com
"The human mind, once stretched to a new idea,
never goes back to its original dimensions."
-- Oliver Wendell Holmes
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