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Subject:Re: Technical Writer Education (tools!?!) From:"John P. Brinegar" <johnbri -at- PRIMENET -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 16 May 1998 15:16:14 -0600
Sombody wrote:
>Dear Robert and Christie Carr,
>
>At the bare minimum, all tech writers should have knowledge of Microsoft
>Word, and many do.
<snip>
Hold on!!
MS Word is just one of the tools used by some (many even) but not all
techwriters. And it's only a tool.
An all too common misconception is that the primary qualifiers for tech
writers are the tools they know how to use. Anyone who has the talent,
education, knowledge, and experience to be a useful tech writer can learn
to use a new tool in a short while.
The tools often are, but seldom should be, a significant consideration in
hiring a tech writer. Talent, education, knowledge, and experience are what
are important.
Maybe the writer understands this and didn't mean to imply that this tool
is so important, but that's the impression I got and I just couldn't remain
silent on the subject.
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John P. Brinegar http://www.primenet.com/~johnbri/index.html
Consulting and development Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.A.
-Performance support systems (602) 278-7398
-Technical communications johnbri -at- primenet -dot- com or dad -at- vr2link -dot- com
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