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Subject:Re: What do you think? From:Dave Whelan <agi259 -at- FREENET -dot- MB -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 18 Jul 1997 12:03:38 -0500
I don't see the comments Nancy Hoft posted as really earth shattering.
Perhaps the instructors are a bit behind the times, but I think their
comments reflect a question that has been on my mind for a while: is
technical writing about using tools or disseminating infromation?
I think there is a lot more to technical writing than knowing how to use
certain computer programs. To me, the most challenging part of the job has
nothing to do with computers. It is deciding information reqiurements,
extracting required information from SMEs, and making that information
available to the selected audience in an appropriate manner.
I am not a technology-phobe: I have been around microcomputer technology
since Intel introduced the 4004 in the early seventies. In my former career
I designed hardware and firmware for microcomputer based systems, and I have
used many software tools on various platforms. I just think there is a
difference between technical writers who use software tools to do their jobs
better, and word processing or desk top publishing experts.
Knowing how to use the tools available to us is, of course, very important,
but in my experience after you have learned one type of word processor, it
is not that difficult to learn another. The fact that job ads insist on
candidates being experts in using a particular software tool (often even
specifying the version), IMO shows a lack of understanding of what technical
writing and technical writers are all about.
This is not to criticize the job ads or tool-oriented posts on this list: as
a freelance I love all job ad posters whatever they want, and most of the
useful information I get from this list is about how to use tools. But I
think that Nancy's instructors' reponses are telling us not to equate expert
knowledge of software tools with proficiency in technical writing.
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