Is it the Zen or the Art of Tech Writing...

[SIANNON -at- VISUS -dot- JNJ -dot- com]

I've noticed several posts over the past month prefaced by "I know this is 
a little off topic, but..." followed by a question I would assume to be 
thoroughly on-topic. This makes me curious as to what the members here 
define as "on topic" for technical writing.

Given the breadth of the field, and the diversity of the skillsets required 
within it, I don't think it's necessarily as simple a question as it first 
appears.  Breathing may be required to accomplish a tech writing assignment 
(the alternative being to asphyxiate and leave it incomplete), but yoga 
breathing techniques would be considered off-topic. If they were being 
submitted as one possible solution for dealing with the stress encountered 
the umpteenth time an SME tells you "don't worry about it" regarding a 
function you think needs to be documented more thoroughly, it would be 
on-topic.

So, what do *you* think the scope of this forum encompasses? 



My 2 cents?
-- Industry issues/news/discussions
   -- e.g., job market, licensing permutations, 
      new regulatory developments, philisophies of tech
      writing (role of the user, purpose of specific
      types of doc, etc.)...
-- Work environment issues/news/discussion
   -- e.g., dealing with SMEs, HR issues...
-- Tool questions/reviews
   -- e.g., questions on Framemaker, ForeHelp, 
      AuthorIT, Word, Acrobat, etc., including
      usage conventions (graphic formats, single-
      sourcing, revision control,...)
-- Resource/reference questions/reviews
   -- e.g., book reviews, style guides, reference
      and support sites...
-- Technical/grammatical questions
   -- e.g., acronyms, word usage, conventions for
      different audiences, readability and styles



Shauna I.
"...We are the magic-makers, and we are the dreamers of dreams..." 

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