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-----Original Message-----
From: Jason Willebeek-LeMair [mailto:jlemair -at- cisco -dot- com]
-----Original Message-----
From: Andrew Plato [mailto:gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com]
These types of reviews are going to be mostly for style, layout, and
design.
Something that is very subjective. Furthermore, most reviewers will not
possess
the technical or scientific skills to evaluate the value or accuracy of
the
content.
Thus, such a review might be a nice way to see how others feel about
your
style, but it won't give you much in the way of insight to the value of
the
material.
-----Jason's Pithy Addition-----
This is dead on.
<snip>
Basically, the review left off one of the most important aspects of
technical communication--the actual communication of information. Now,
even if the reviewers knew nothing about the subject matter, they should
still
be able to get a feel for the logical presentation of the information.
If I recall, he had to fill out a bunch of info about the audience and
the
purpose of the manual. They could easily see if the manual lived up to
those
areas. Instead, the judging was based entirely on superficial criteria.
<snip>
I realize that it is difficult to judge an item on the accuracy of the
content
when you might not be an expert in that content area. However, if, as a
lot
of people on this list claim, we can write about and edit information
that
we
do not have the technical background to understand, then can we not also
review
a manual on more than just the pretty colors and fonts? Can we not look
at
the
organization and logical flow of the material?
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