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Subject:RE: them engineers From:"Smith, Martin" <martin -dot- smith -at- encorp -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 22 May 2000 14:36:24 -0600
Regarding Chuck Martin's assertion that "...we are professional engineers
who are as critical to the success of a project as any programmer..." I
would simply state that I wish technical writers were perceived in this way.
If technical writing degree programs were as rigorous and rooted in the hard
sciences as engineering programs this would most likely be the case. As it
is, many technical writers have not earned this level of respect and those
that have must first prove themselves to the engineering staff. The only
solution I see to this dilemma is to augment a liberal arts background with
coursework in one's chosen industry. A technical writer should be able to
participate as an equal player during engineering meetings and not require
extensive hand-holding while writing documentation.
