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Along the same lines, I ran into a situation recently where a TW was
updating some software documentation to a new version without having the
software in question installed. I was quite surprised to learn that, I never
have before, but from this thread, am I correct in assuming this is common?
In the case I mention, I think the TW was relying on the SME for pretty much
everything and when I asked why not run the software (and offered to provide
it) I was told there was no time to and why bother since the SME approved
everything. I did assert that even good SMEs are not in the business of
presenting material in the best way for a particular audience, or that SMEs
are often too close to the forest to see the trees, but I think my thoughts
were not enthusiastically received. I went on to question a particular item
in the doc, which eventually resulted in a non-functional feature being
removed from the software, which affected both the GUI and the
documentation.
My point is that I suppose there are TWs out there who just pound out docs
based on what they are told, though I have no idea how you can create
original content that way. However, until this point, I had considered that
rare. I had always thought using and learning (quickly) about the item you
were documenting was the best, nay, only way to effectively communicate the
subject in a way that is understandable to any target audience.
And, FWIW, I have frequently run into those whose comfort level with Word's
workflow has lead them to conclude FrameMaker is garbage. I have found that
I can pretty much use any tool I am presented with, sure I have a favorite,
but the specific tool is at least secondary to the goal of production.
Cheers,
________________________________________________
Sean Brierley
Adobe® Certified Expert
Quadralay WebWorks® Wizard <g>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bruce Byfield [SMTP:bbyfield -at- progeny -dot- com]
> Subject: Re: Interviewing Subject Matter Experts
>
> Andrew Plato wrote:
> >
> > The same. Most tech writers out there treat SME's like priests and
> > reverends. The fact is, most SMEs are morons doing the absolute minimum
> to
> > get paid. Trusting the information from these people is synonymous to
> > getting investigative news from the National Enquirer.
>
> Well, I wouldn't go quite this far. But I would say that the writer has
> to provide the focus rather than the SME. Many writers don't realize
> this fact - especially when just starting out.
>
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