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RE: What's a "documentation specialist", as opposed to a writer?
Subject:RE: What's a "documentation specialist", as opposed to a writer? From:"Latella, Vincent" <VINCENT -dot- LATELLA -at- saic -dot- com> To:"Suzette Leeming" <suzette -dot- leeming -at- gmail -dot- com>, "Janet Swisher" <jmswisher -at- gmail -dot- com> Date:Mon, 29 Dec 2008 10:51:37 -0500
Interesting!
I'm a stone's throw from earning a master of science in library and
information studies, and not once in any of my classes (and likewise not
in any program literature) have I seen or heard the term
"documentalist."
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+vincent -dot- latella=saic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+vincent -dot- latella=saic -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Suzette Leeming
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2008 10:04 AM
To: Janet Swisher
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: What's a "documentation specialist", as opposed to a
writer?
Close!
Here's the definition from Wikipedia:
*Documentalist* is a kind of
librarian<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Librarian>,
trained in
documentation<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Documentation_(field)>and
specializing in assisting researchers in their search for scientific
and
technical documentation. With the development of bibliographical
databases
such as MEDLINE, documentalists were professionals who searched such
databases on the behalf of users.
When the field of documentation changed its name to information
science<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_science>,
the term information specialist often replaced the term documentalist.
On Mon, Dec 29, 2008 at 9:42 AM, Janet Swisher <jmswisher -at- gmail -dot- com>
wrote:
> On Sat, Dec 27, 2008 at 9:05 PM, Suzette Leeming
> <suzette -dot- leeming -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> > In my current job, they were looking for a "Documentalist". What
they
> really
> > wanted/needed was someone with my skills. When I accepted the job, I
> > insisted on the title being "Technical Writer" and gave them a
> presentation
> > explaining the role of a technical writer, which was really what
they
> > needed. I joked about not wanted to have a title that had the word
> "mental"
> > in it.
>
> I would think a "Documentalist" would be someone who acquires
> technical information for documentation through psychic abilities. And
> doesn't that describe what a lot of us have to do? :-)
>
>
> --
> Visit my blog at: http://www.janetswisher.com
>
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