TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:standards From:Caryn Rizell <caryn -at- HPPTC95 -dot- ROSE -dot- HP -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 28 Jun 1994 13:21:52 PDT
Hi All!
I have been reading with interest the recent discussions about
how to do certain things (an SQL vs a SQL, shut down vs shutdown, etc).
I can't help wondering why we can't agree on a standard and
use it. Maybe all of us won't agree, but if most of us
agree (given that the standard is grammatically sound), why
not adopt it? Then we wouldn't have to spend the time
to rehash this stuff again and again.
I think the discussions are useful, but we should reach
a decision and stick with it as a group (all techncial
communicators).
I know that I would find life much easier that way. I would
much prefer to look something up in a style guide than to
reinvent the wheel each time. My time is certainly much
better spent on other things.
Wouldn't it be nice if our documents were consistent
from company to company as far as terminology? Not
only for us, but for our users.
Why can't we develop standards? I think that if we
agreed to have standards the 'how' would be easy.
Caryn Rizell
caryn -at- hpptc95 -dot- rose -dot- hp -dot- com
