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Subject:RE: Ethics and Job-Hunting From:"McDonald, Guy A." <Guy -dot- A -dot- McDonald -at- conoco -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 29 Nov 2001 11:26:15 -0600
Lest we forget - the audience for technical manuals involving nuclear power,
weapons, power plant operations, etc. is NOT the typical software end-user
guide.
In other industries, the *review* process is important and not minimal or
non-existent like you might find in software technical writing field. I
generalize here ... and realize some companies take document reviews
serious. However, there are plenty of people on this list who know that
getting a thorough technical review for a simple user guide is sometimes
difficult.
Not to mention, in non-IT fields where poor technical writing can cause
injury to property or life, support systems are in place to minimize risk.
For one, a nuclear work package does not get created by a sole writer. That
type of writing is a cooperative effort between various entities such as QA,
Engineering, Radiological Controls, Plant Management, etc.
The checks and balance of a multiple review process is the key to catching
errors in this type of writing. People lose their jobs where a sign-off is
obtained and the error should have been discovered prior to work. I dare say
it a rarity to find someone in the software business who loses their job
because one of you made an error and captured the wrong screenshot.
Exceptions to those of you who write for software applications that could
cause a major loss of revenue or injury to environment/individual(s).
Guy McDonald
Information Development Manager
Technical Information Architects, Inc. http://www.tiainfo.com
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I am assuming that the audience for THAT manual is not color blind?
~~~~~~~~~~~
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