RE: What do you guys think of STCs new definition for technicalwriter?

["Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>]

I still like mine better.

-------
Technical communication is communication of technical subject matter to
general or specific audiences using any variety of graphics, publication, or
media tools.  A technical communicator is a person who performs any job or
holds any title within the field of technical communication. 
-------

What value would more detail add?  The qualifiers of "clear, concise,
comprehensive, accurate, correct, accessible, and professional" are
tautologous to the field of professional writing, so why do they need to be
stated?  The statement of specific deliverables seems unnecessary because it
is both limiting and deceptively expansive.  For example, requirements
documents are technical documents that do not seem to fit in or logically
follow from the list of sample documents and mentioning web sites, seems to
suggest that web developers are technical writers, which they are not.  

The last sentence of your definition is a little convoluted because it
contains too much information.  It mentions typical work environments for
technical communicators, but excludes government, it discusses technically
how the work is completed and follows with a repetitive list of examples
that gets a little confusing.  Like, writing is not a technology but that is
one inference from the sentence.  Also, the list of examples contains
unnecessary repetition, such as illustration and graphic design, which can
be replaced with something like, "graphics production."  "Photography,
video, and sound" is "audio-visual production" or "audio-visual media."  

I wonder about "tools and technologies" and "methods and technologies"
because the lines of distinction are a little blurry here.  Define a
"technical communication method" and a "technical communication technology."
Also, what happened to the comma you were going to add in "technologies
including"?  You could say, "technologies that include."

Lauren

> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+lauren=writeco -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com 
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+lauren=writeco -dot- net -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> ] On Behalf Of Mike Starr
> Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 12:49 PM
> To: Bill Swallow
> Cc: TECHWR-L
> Subject: Re: What do you guys think of STCs new definition 
> for technicalwriter?
> 
> We had a bit of a discussion of this over the weekend. Sean 
> did a rewrite and then I tweaked it as follows:
> 
> Technical communicators create a variety of print and online 
> documents that are clear, concise, comprehensive, accurate, 
> correct, accessible, and professional. Typical deliverables 
> include manuals, online documentation, proposals, policies 
> and procedures, and websites. Technical communicators work in 
> all types of businesses and industries around the world and 
> use a variety of methods, tools, and technologies including 
> writing, illustration, graphic design, photography, video, and sound.
> 
> Mike

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