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.
I know information is easily available but there is some we should KNOW without
looking it up. At university my second and third year exams were 'open book' -
you could bring anything you liked into the exam with you. Second year was the
eye-opener for everyone (didn't count towards the degree as such - just had to
pass them) and lots of people got lower marks than expected. I think this was
the idea, to get us to buck up our ideas for the final year. Basically we were
told you'll be classed as engineers when you leave and will have reference books
to check things. Here CHECK is the important word - we had to answer 5 out of 8
questions. If you KNEW the stuff but had to check the occasional formula etc,
no problem. However, if you have the idea that you can just look everything up
then you end up answering maybe 3-4 question and have dropped 20% of the marks
straight away.
It the same with SMEs - as somebody said we, rightfully, expect them to know
about the hardware software etc. If they need to CHECK something specific, fine
but they should know most of it . Like us, if we're asked the general structure
of a User manual etc we don't go and look it up - we KNOW the general
structure; there may be specific sections that need to be added but the general
structure is there.
Two posts in the one day, time to go back to sleep!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Develop HTML-based Help with Macromedia Dreamweaver! (STC Discount.)
**NEW DATE/LOCATION!** January 16-17, 2001, New York, NY. http://www.weisner.com/training/dreamweaver_help.htm or 800-646-9989.
Take XML and Tech Writing courses online! Our instructor-led courses
(4-6 hrs/wk) give you "hands on" experience at your convenience. STC members
get 20% off! http://www.online-learning.com/index.html.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
