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Stimulated by your article reference, I read it a few moments ago. (After all, it is the least I could do for someone who expressed agreement with me! 8:) ).
I recommend it to others who may not have done so--and I have a further comment.
In most technical documentation shops I have seen, the "technical editor" is generally the *least* technical person on the staff, is usually paid less, and is generally confined to catching typographical errors, wrong page numbers or other formatting, and the like.
In my opinion, this is a significant barrier to editors doing the kind of substantive content editing you speak of in your article. On the other hand, I believe a strong case can and should be made that the technical editor should be a highly skilled technical writer first, who also cultivates the various editing-specific skills and who can serve as a mentor for new writers. This kind of talent should help give the documents a uniform voice consistent with the organization's style guide and ensure that the documents are the best they can be within reasonable allocations of resources available.
In fact, I am always surprised at how poorly many "writers" I have worked with actually approach their craft. While occasional typos on mail lists are very understandable, I fail to understand why they have not done checking themselves for spelling and grammar prior to sumitting a manuscript for editing. Some of the errors your article points out--such as the misuse of apostrophes--are common even by people who write for a living.
Therefore, upgrading the status, skill, experience, (and compensation!) of the technical editor I believe would pay large dividends for all of us and for the profession as a whole.
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