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MBAs claim they are qualified to manage any business; familiarity doesn't
matter, they say, because
management is management. We've all seen the results, and that belief is now
well on its way to disrepute.
Similarly, the substitute teacher leading the biology class for the day may be
able to teach well,
but the lack of understanding of the subject matter shows immediately. I was
(once upon a time)
certified to teach high-school math and physics, but nothing else.
I used to think that a good technical writer could write about anything without
needing to understand it,
but after seeing too many examples of the results I no longer feel that way. I
believe that if you don't
understand the subject matter, it shows. The symptom is most often passages
like this:
>SPRITZING THE SPROCKET
>The DataWhiz system includes an advanced spritzing feature that enables you to
spritz sprockets.
>Select the feature from the Main Menu.
[And that's it...! -- sfj]
This is not to say that a good technical writer can't *learn* the subject
matter, given time. But I don't agree that
experience/knowledge is unnecessary.
-- Steve
================================================================
Steven Jong, Documentation Specialist ("Typo? What tpyo?")
Lightbridge, Inc, 281 Winter St., Waltham, MA 02154 USA
<jong -at- lightbridge -dot- com>, 617.672.4902 [voice], 617.890.2681 [FAX]
