Re: document ownership/plagiarism (kind of long)

[Kris Olberg <kjolberg -at- IX -dot- NETCOM -dot- COM>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephanie Holland <SLHOLLAND -at- MICRONPC -dot- COM>
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
Date: Tuesday, October 21, 1997 5:31 PM
Subject: document ownership/plagiarism (kind of long)

>People who aren't writers from other departments in our company are
>occasionally copying large sections of our documents and creating other
>documents with them.

Technically, the material belongs to the company, not your department.

If I was in your position, I'd be wondering why the work needed to be
modified. Could if be that the needs of those copying and modifying the work
aren't being met or are being "over"met? Could you use this as a learning
experience to understand why this is happening? You might gain insight into
how you can improve your processes to produce documentation that meets the
needs of your readers WITHOUT modification.

Sorry if I sound harsh--I am not implying that your or your department's
work is bad. Obviously I don't have the information to make that judgement.
Rather than viewing this as a bad thing, try to view it as a good thing by
getting something out of it. It's amazing what a change in perspective can
do!

Regards...Kris
------------------------------
kolberg -at- actamed -dot- com
kris -at- olberg -dot- com


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