Re- Quality/Usefulness of S

[Liz Babcock <Liz_Babcock -at- JDAM -dot- CHINALAKE -dot- NAVY -dot- MIL>]

Mail*Link(r) SMTP               Re: Quality/Usefulness of STC Books?

As a member of STC's Board of Directors, I've been feeling the need to respond
to Bobbi Kirby's 20 October comments on the above subject. Bobbi said in part:

< I'm writing to tell you about my experience with one STC publication in
< particular, _Basic Technical Writing_. <snip>

< I must warn you, however, that despite being published by the STC, this is
one < of the most poorly edited texts I've ever seen. I was embarassed that
STC
< would allow such a document to circulate--still am, in fact, since I have
not < seen the errors disappear in the four years I've used this text in my
classes. < If anyone connected with STC has the power or influence to do so, I
really
< encourage eliminating the gross spelling and grammatical errors throughout
the < text before printing anymore copies. <snip>

In order to be sure that the answer from STC would be as accurate and helpful
as possible, I asked Carol Barnum, STC's Assistant to the President for
Publications, to send me an answer that I could post. Carol is not a list
participant, but she does include her e-mail address for any further
correspondence on this subject. And here's Carol's message:

*****************

As Assistant to the President of STC for Publications, I would like to
respond to Bobbi Kirby's comments about a particular STC publication, Basic
Technical Writing.  She rightly points out that it contains many typos
which haven't been corrected in the four years she has used the book.

That book was published in 1987 as a collection of essays that had
previously appeared in the journal and in conference proceedings.  In those
days, we reprinted the pages as they originally appeared without additional
copyediting or typesetting.  So, if there were errors in the original
publications, they remained errors in the STC book.

Since I became the AP for Publications two years ago, we've changed the way
we publish our books.  We now use a professional copyediting service and we
typeset the manuscript.  Both of these moves have greatly improved the
quality and professionalism of our new titles.  When an old title like
Basic Technical Writing is worth keeping around, we leave it on the list
(even with all its flaws).  Other titles that have become dated have been
dropped from the list.  Still others are in the process of being revised
and updated.  Any books in this last category will be published under the
new copyediting and typesetting standard.

I hope that helps explain the history of the problem.  I also hope that you
and others will take a look at our new titles on usability testing and
perspectives on the profession of technical communication (as well as some
other recent titles on consulting and independent contracting, technical
editing, and teaching tips for technical writing). You will also be seeing
some very good new titles in press now and due out soon.

Carol Barnum
AP for Publications, STC
cbarnum -at- sct -dot- edu
*******************
Liz Babcock
liz_babcock -at- jdam -dot- chinalake -dot- navy -dot- mil