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.
> Janet Valade wrote:
> >In most companies, Word is already used throughout the company.
> <snip>
> >...analysis needs to include...time spent converting (to and from Word)
> ><snip>
> >...if...people throughout the company...share docs
> ><snip>
> >Who is going to maintain that document...in your tool-of-choice?
I'm not a contractor and never have been. I've always provided in-house
support to the IT community at the company I work for - operations manuals,
system release notes, user guides, job aids, etc. But both at my prior
company and at my current one, the intention has always been to turn over
ownership of the documents created by Tech Comm to the content owners who
requested our services. It's their call then whether to make minor updates
and corrections on their own, or to involve us again when there is a new
system release, a desire for linking to PDF documents from an intranet
website, whatever.
It would be utterly unrealistic for us to keep continued ownership of the
many documents we create. We don't own the content, and aren't the subject
matter experts. We're the documentation team. Sometimes our material
comes from lengthy interviews with SMEs, sometimes we get handed lots of
material written by several different people with widely differing English
and writing skills, sometimes we're the ones who come up with a
documentation idea that will provide real value added to the company, or
some subset of the company. The reason we use Word is that EVERYONE uses
Word. Draft documents can be sent as email attachments or put on a common
server for reviewer access, rather than killing trees to route dozens of
hardcopies.
Of course, Word has shortcomings. But the constant disparagement on this
list is a real downer. For some of us, it's the right tool. Your product
doesn't have a better glow when you tarnish someone else's - whether
they're stuck with it, or chose it. As I used to tell my son and his
friends, you can't build yourself up one inch by tearing someone else down.
My few pennies' worth.
Marilyn Baldwin
(mlbb -at- capgroup -dot- com)
