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Subject:Re: listing "credits" in a manual From:Robert Plamondon <robert -at- PLAMONDON -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 17 Sep 1996 09:46:45 PDT
I always put complete credits in manuals. For one thing, it got my name
plastered all over everything. For another, it made hiring easier. Tech
writers rarely get recognition, and here I was giving credit where
credit is due in black and white. But perhaps the best advantage of
having credits was that all the people who coughed up content for the
manual got their names in print. The reaction of the engineers and
technicians to getting their name in print was overwhelmingly positive.
I put credits on the inside front cover, after the title and copyright
information, but before the trademark boilerplate and corporate address.
This makes the credits findable but ignorable.
When people asked if credits were a proper corporate procedure, I always
said, "Of course they are. Really widely distributed documents, like
journal papers, trade magazine articles, and annual reports, always
have credits. In other documentation, some companies give credit,
and some don't. But if they don't, it's just laziness. If they give
credit in the annual report, it can't possibly be un-corporate to
give credit."
-- Robert
--
Robert Plamondon, President/Managing Editor, High-Tech Technical Writing, Inc.
36475 Norton Creek Road * Blodgett * Oregon * 97326
robert -at- plamondon -dot- com * (541) 453-5841 * Fax: (541) 453-4139
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