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> I, for one, am all for it! I've met too many people on the market
> who call themselves tech. writers/editors/communicators because they
> like to write or are interested in technology. Despite their good
> intentions, these people not only diminish the quality of
> communications as a whole (e.g., poorly written software manuals,
> jargon-filled reports, etc.) but are also reinforcing the notion
> that tech. communication isn't a *real* profession, that it's just a
> line of work you can go into if you've got the urge.
As one whose formative years were spent in the household of a member
of one of the traditional Professions (Medicine), I have to say that
I find it very hard to justify calling myself a "professional" and
have it mean anything other than simply that I am paid to write
technical manuals.
I've heard the arguments about "standards of Professionalism" in
many of the fields of endeavor in which I'm engaged. I get it from
the Air Force, from my employer, from woodworking magazines, ad
infinitum, ad nauseum. It's usually nothing more than a meaningless
morass of verbiage spewed by self-important pontificators who feel
the need to justify their existance.
> Any thoughts out there on the usefulness of certification?
Establishing standards of professional conduct or creating
certification processes for technical communicators does little to
enhance our positions if they do nothing but regurgitate what so
many other soi-disant "professional" organizations have already
inflicted on their members. I'm already a certified Firearms
Instructor, but it doesn't make me a better shooter or teacher; it
simply means that I attended a prescribed course of training taught
by a person who possessed the appropriate certification to teach
prospective instructors.
And the very thought of a _licensing_ procedure makes my Libertarian
heart turn to ice. Dear God, we've got enough government
interference in our lives already; are you actually proposing
_more_? Can you imagine the _lawsuits_ that could arise from
enraged computer users who don't bother to read the manuals? We can
write our hearts out, but there's no defense against foolishness.
And believe you me, I have seen lawsuits arising from idiots who
tried to pick up a running lawnmower and use it for a hedge trimmer
actually decided _in favor of the plaintiff_ because a warning
against doing so wasn't writ in letters of fire on the box or in the
Owner's Manual.
Certify and license technical writers, and you open the door to
making us all liable for damages arising from what we didn't write,
simply because some fat-bottomed idiot thinks it should have been
there.
Yet through all the clouds of smoke, Karin fires a shaft of sun to
illumine the drear:
> What kinds of tests could be devised to measure our skills?
*THAT'S IT* in a nutshell - _skills_.
Folks, technical communication isn't a Profession; it's a _craft_,
just like cabinetry or joinery. See the seams of the document; see
how the ideas presented dovetail together to make the structure of
the document sound; see how the writer sands out the rough prose and
planes away the unnecessary verbiage to yield the pure heart of the
subject matter.
If you want to really promote technical communication and provide a
standard by which we can be fairly and objectively judged, try the
Medieval solution: make the STC into a _guild_. Assign titles like
Apprentice, Journeyman, and Master; put apprenticed writers under
the tutelage of acknowledged masters and let them work their way up.
Look at Medicine: even if you graduate from medical school, you
must complete your internship and residency _under the guidance of
other doctors who underwent the same training themselves_. You have
to be accepted by the community (or guild, if you will) of
physicians, who have seen you practice and know your skills and
weaknesses, before you can ever stand on your own; if not, they
won't ever recommend patients to your care.
It's even done in Engineering, where you must work under the
guidance and instruction of a P.E. (Professional Engineer) for years
before you can aspire to become one.
Sure, we can continue to have colleges teaching students the theory
of technical communication, but we all understand that what is
taught in college too often has little relevance to the working
world of the employed tech writer.
Forget professionalism; think craftsmanship! Bill Horton for
Guildmaster!
(Author's Note: a small portion of this statement was written with
tongue firmly in cheek; it's up to you to discover which one.)
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\\ Robert C. Whitehead \\ Intergraph Corporation \\
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