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> we have reason to believe that the basic causes of this widespread
> dissatisfaction stems from an inadequate foundation (i.e. basic skill
> set) for doing this kind of work.
>
Yeah, documentation is often written by people who're not very good at
it. Not exactly earth-shattering news.
> "technical writers" have unreasonably placed their faith in software
> packages -- to wit: review all the information and discussion on
which
> software package to use or to avoid, their features, etc.
Beg your pardon? Using software is bad? Deary me, must have missed
something. I'll chuck out my PC right away and go back to that good old
stone tablet and chisel.
> nothing exists that resembles a methodology, rather, most discussion
> centers around "style" as if every manual should be different for some
> unspecified reason -- in fact, there is an annual contest at the
> university of waterloo that gives merit for "best looking manual".
I suppose by methodology this guy means an algorithm, i.e. a series of
simple steps you can teach to a monkey. In fact I've heard similar
complaints from managers, who want everything broken down into little
procedures that you can write down and that you can attach a dollar
figure to. In the real world there certainly are methodologies for
documentation, but mastering them takes a highly skilled professional
with years of experience. A lot of it is based on judgement and
intuition, alien concepts to the imagination-challenged.
> we view this work as a vital aspect of administrative management that
> has been overlooked for far too long -- in re-engineering a solution
> that should be people-, platform-, and application-independent it is
> necessary to research prevailing opinions, comments, and suggestions
> and then try to separte fact from fiction.
What a load of gobbledygook. Trouble is, a lot of the pointy-haired
management types we all love will be lapping up this stuff. This guy
definitely has a dodgy whiff to him. The refusal to reveal information
about himself and the interpretation of any critisism as wanting to
lynch him remind me of Scientology. Yuk.
Mike
--
Mike Dannenberg
ETAS GmbH & Co.KG
midannen -at- si -dot- bosch -dot- de
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