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Subject:Re: A good title for a tw? From:"Wilcox, John (Contractor)" <wilcoxj -at- WDNI -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 30 May 1997 11:28:00 -0700
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From: AlumsHubby -at- AOL -dot- COM
Technical writers is what we is and what we does. I've
worked in organizations where a "Documentation Specialist" slot existed
mainly for summer interns who stuffed binders -- where I am now, they've
tried to saddle me with that sobriquet and I'm resisting as protocol
allows.
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Hey, wait a minute. I'm a Documentation Specialist. That's the title
Weyerhaeuser gave me and I like it. It says more than TW. Hopefully,
it tells people that I do more than write about technical stuff,
documentation is my specialty. Anybody can do documentation of sorts,
but I (should) do a "special" job of it. If I had business cards, I
would probably use DS as my title on them.
On the other hand, my agency refers to me and advertises me as an
Instructional Designer. I like that better than TW, too. Again, it
says more.
I guess it all goes back to a contract I had at Microsoft in 1989 on the
LAN Manager 2.0 project. There I learned that TWs wrote, TEs edited,
graphics people did graphics, and documentation assistants did layout.
I like to do it all, and I have for all the years since, so TW is, for
me, a limiting term. I'm not saying I don't identify with it. It is
the most recognized term, and when someone asks me what I do for a
living, I say I'm a TW. And when I'm looking for a job, I look under
TW. But I wouldn't want to go back to being "just a TW" in the sense
that Microsoft uses the term.
Regards,
John Wilcox, Documentation Specialist
Timberlands Information Services
Weyerhaeuser, WWC 2E2
Tacoma, WA 98477-0001 USA
253-924-7972 wilcoxj -at- wdni -dot- com
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