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Subject:Re: What is our real area of expertise? From:Andrew Plato <intrepid_es -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 11 Dec 2000 13:48:05 -0800 (PST)
"Thomas Quine" wrote...
> Just keeping abreast of new technologies in my field (think XML, WBT, new
> applications every day, etc.) is more than I can handle. Trying to build
> expertise in my client's field is a losing strategy - I don't have the space
> in my brain to store it all.
The "I am not smart enough to know content and communication knowledge" strikes
me as a rather weak defense. It seems to defend ignorance.
Reformatting technical content into a "delivery package" isn't technical
writing. You may be able to produce some moderately useful material. But how do
you really know you're communicating the correct information?
I had an engineer swear up and down to me last month that the reason this web
server wasn't working because of faults in Microsoft IIS. Had I taken this guy
at his word - which sounded very logical - I would have documented the
installation incorrectly. I knew something was strange so I investigated.
Relying on my Windows 2000 experience, I knew that it was more likely that the
engineer had misconfigured the security accounts and applied them to the wrong
directories. My investigation proved I was correct and as such I reversed the
edits of the engineer and documented the product properly.
I could not have made this determination if I did not have a basic
understanding of security in Windows 2000. Had I just reformatted the
engineer's instructions to be clear - they would have been wrong.
> So I learn the bare minimum on a project and
> rely utterly on the subject matter experts. The minute the project ends, I
> erase that knowledge from the little "hard drive" in my brain.
That seems like a total waste. Each project should help the next. Each time I
document a product I learn more and more about software. The reason I knew
this engineer's edits were fishy was because I documented a Windows NT security
implementation about 5 years ago. My knowledge from one project helped me in
another.
This is why fundamental scientific and technical knowledge is so important. If
you know the basics, you can extrapolate that knowledge to the specifics and
make reasonable judgments to the validity of information handed to you.
> The client is not hiring you as a subject matter expert - they usually have
> the experts on staff. They need your expertise in gathering, sorting,
> packaging, and delivering information. I think that's where you have to
> focus your studies.
Yes, you are not a SME. But failure to check the validity if information is
just a grievous an ommission as using poor grammar or inconsistent layout. In
order to check the validity of information you need to know if something might
be invalid. Hence, you need technical skills to make sound and reasonable
judgments about the text you're releasing as accurate.
Imagine a journalist with your attitude. He didn't need to check facts, just
make sure all the data handed to him was formatted properly. This journalist
would quickly lose his/her job.
You are a journalist. A TECHNICAL journalist. You must check your facts. And
the first place to check them is inside your own brain.
Andrew Plato
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