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My company took the names out several years ago. It's good to have a
history of who wrote what, but in the final deliverable it's not
appropriate, IMO. If it's an internal deliverable, go for it. But for
products being bought and sold over the web and in B&M stores, it's
not terribly good practice. For example, if I happen to buy a product
and find the manual useless, and see a name there, I can:
1) Write that person and tell them the docs suck (which could be a
good thing for feedback, but there are other mechanisms for that
instead of pinging a specific person)
2) note the name as someone not to hire
3) call the poor writer to task on public forums
etc...
It's certainly nice to see your name in print in association with a
product you helped complete, but be aware that it can have unpleasant
side effects.
On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:40:26 -0500, Beth Agnew <Beth -dot- Agnew -at- senecac -dot- on -dot- ca> wrote:
>
> I think there's a difference between "taking ownership" of your documents,
> and thinking you own them. I tell my students to take ownership, meaning
> they are responsible for the information in that publication and in many
> cases must be its champion. As you rightly point out, that does not mean
> getting upset if it is edited or reviewed. Of course the company holds
> copyright, but I also advocate putting your name in the publication, along
> with the names of the contributors (e.g., developers who provided
> information files and so on) where appropriate. If your name is on it for
> all to see, you're more likely to maintain a standard of quality, and it
> publicly acknowledges that you are responsible for the document.
>
> Unless you don't want to be. <g>
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