I need your input - again

[Tracy James <O9AR -at- SDSUMUS -dot- SDSTATE -dot- EDU>]

Hello! - I'm back *grin*
Sometime ago, I wrote about an article I was writing. Well, I'm still
working on it. Thank you for everyone who answered, it is all _very_
helpful. But I have one more question - especially after seeing the
conversation the last couple of days.
My question is - what do you think a tech writer is and what are we
supposed to be doing. What exactly are are skills.
Someone recently mentioned the education required for tech writing
and I got the idea that the person was saying that we don't have time
to learn anything else. For my degree, I am required to have a
background in all the sciences and a minor in one of them. I will
admit that my minor has nothing little to do with the manual writing
I do at the moment but it does come in handy sometimes and the
people I work with (some anyways) don't treat me like an idiot. They
know that I have some understanding (It's Computer science by the way)
So, back to the point... I think a tech writer is more than just
someone who puts together documentation. Tech writers can be a very
valuable part of the team because the most basic idea behind our jobs
is to see things "innocently". Who better to see the flaw in
something.
Well, what do you think? Once again, if you don't want your name
in the article, tell me or don't include it in your letter. If you
don't mind being printed, please include your occupation.
oh, please send mail directly to me at: o9ar -at- sdsumus -dot- sdstate -dot- edu
:-) Tracy