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Bryan Westbrook wrote:
>
> With internal documents name credits are sometimes used to
> allow the readers to contact the author for further questions
> or feedback.
In response to the following from Joy Owen:
> I'm asking because an engineer on my team wants me to put his
> name down to
> credit him for docs that he's worked on. These are all internal IT
> documents.
>
> Anyone have any info on this?
>
To which I'll add:
Having your name in a doc is a 2-edged sword. Recognition is nice, and it's
a cheap way of getting people's cooperation and buy-in for a document. Some
places I've worked include this info, along with other stuff, in a Colophon
in the back of the book.
BUT...
IME, years after you've forgotten everything you ever knew about the
product, someone somewhere will find your name in that book and contact you
about some obscure problem. They can be quite persistent about it.
Case in point:
[Customer]: I have this book and it says you worked on the Mumble product.
[Me]: Uh, yeah, years ago. Why?
[Customer]: Well, I have this question. Can I do <some obscure operation>? I
tried it, and it didn't work.
[Me]: What does the book say?
[Customer]: It doesn't say I can't.
[Me]: Does it say you CAN?
[Customer]: No.
[Me]: Then you probably can't.
Marguerite
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