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:Re. Is grammar fair game for techwr-l? From:geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA Date:Thu, 8 Feb 1996 13:22:58 -0600
I'll chime in on Eric's side. If you want to discuss the
mechanics of writing (i.e., grammar, usage, style), you'd
be better off to join the copyediting list. You can ask
your questions directly to a group of editors, who are both
more likely to know the answer and more likely to be
interested in reading and answering the question.
(In retrospect, that sounds a tad elitist; if so, sorry, no
intent to offend... just trying to point you to the most
efficient source.) To join copyediting-l, send the message
subscribe copyediting-l [your name, minus the brackets]
to the cornell listserver
listproc -at- cornell -dot- edu
with nothing in the subject line. You'll find a few
techwhirlers there, and an equally friendly environment.
That's not to say that broader grammatical etc. issues
(e.g., how to develop a style guide vs. the topic "how to
use which and that" in a style guide) are inappropriate for
techwr-l. The discussion of select vs. choose vs. pick vs.
click for describing menu and dialog choices seems relevant
here because it's a common issue and affects many list
members in their daily writing. FWIW.
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one of our
reports, it don't represent FERIC's opinion.