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Re: Asking for Author Credit In The Documentation?
Subject:Re: Asking for Author Credit In The Documentation? From:"Simon North" <sintac -at- home -dot- nl> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Sat, 04 Sep 2004 22:57:09 +0200
It's no help to the issue, but I thought I'd share the story anyway.
Years ago I worked on contract at the European Space Agency to write a
manual for the ESABASE satellite modeling and analysis software. On my very
first day they gave me a Vax computer tape holding the latest distibution of TeX
and said they'd like me to install it and write the manual in LaTeX. I spent a year
on the job; it turned out to be a massive project with a lot of hidden surprises,
not to mention having to learn to use TeX. Anyway, when the manual was
finished my boss, the head of the software support division, insisted that I put
my name on the inside cover as the author. In years to come when the manual
was referred to in academic papers I couldn't resist a smile when I saw myself
cited as the author.
If you are brought in as an external, why not get some credit? It would certainly
add weight to the portfolio, though I imagine it would be only fair to give a
discount in return. In a corporate culture though I would be very opposed to it.
I've seen too many writers get a little too proprietory over 'their' manuals when
it's far better to have ego-less ownerless documentation -- after al, it's the
company's documentation not ours.
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