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"Joyce Fetterman" <Joycef -at- gtsoftware -dot- com> wrote on 10/16/2007 02:41:57 PM:
> << Well, it's kind of hard to find what you're looking for if you don't
> know what it is that you need. ;-) Needs analysis must happen before
> tools research. If you have your needs nailed down, through that process
> you should have begun to pick up on the terminology.>> (from Bill
Swallow)
> I've recently been in a predicament similar to Tim's. Some of you have
> been writing help for a long time, and it's probably hard to remember
> what it was like as a stark beginner. It's very difficult to specify
> needs without a basic understanding of the possibilities. Many of the
Well said...and very difficult to see the forest--the problem--when you're
having a rough time climbing just one tree. Thanks for that, and the
resource suggestions, Joyce!
Thanks to all who responded, by the way. I appreciate every bit and lead!
This quandary does present an opportunity, though...I am considering
creating some kind of "basic training" article or website for beginning
tech writers, to help them unveil the forest more easily than you and I
had do, tree by tree. I would need collaborators, though for the
website...anyone interested please email me privately.
With neither time nor budget to take a full tech writing course, or do
extensive research, my "triage" mode has led me to Doc-To-Help as the
probable best solution...it does what we need it to--publish online as
well as print if needed--and it works from Word, my "launchpad"
application.
> terms on the help matrix were Greek to me. I've had a hard time finding
> resources that provide that most basic information.
By the way, I've received no digests since Oct. 15 at 2 am--essentially
Sunday night. Is the list down or has nobody posted recently? Going to
check my Techwhirl settings...
Tim Mantyla
"Why not go stark raving *glad*??"
Check out my sparkling-new blog on community, social justice and ecology
at tmantyla.blogspot.com
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