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Subject:Re: ADMIN: Being nice to each other From:Sean McFerren <smcferre -at- CSC -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 7 Aug 1998 11:45:54 -0500
stephena -at- compbear -dot- com on 08/07/98 11:17:37 AM
Please respond to stephena -at- compbear -dot- com
To: TECHWR-L -at- listserv -dot- okstate -dot- edu
cc: (bcc: Sean T McFerren/TMG/CSC)
Subject: Re: ADMIN: Being nice to each other
stephena said:
<snip>
I think some list members tend to use the list as a personal
assistant. That's quite all right, since some don't mind answering these
types of questions, or spending time discussing them. But some of us don't,
and that's legitimate too. One thing that is very helpful are good Subject
lines. I can tell quickly which messages I'm NOT interested in, and which
ones I might want to read. (Aside: I wish the RoboHelp list enforced
this...there seem to be more messages without Subjects as there are with
'em.)
I don't know why folks feel that they HAVE to read every message that comes
across on a mailing list. Read what you want and chuck what you think is
dreck.<snip>
These are good points...here was my offline response to Mr. Green --
Stan:
Certainly, some of the questions posted to the Techwrlr list may seem remedial.
But, you must consider that people with a very wide range of experience subscribe
to this list. If a question is relevant to technical communication, yet you feel
it isn't of interest to the masses, send a response to the person offline. Your
concern for the reputation of technical writing is admirable. But, let me ask
you, isn't an individual seeking answers to questions and attempting to improve
their skills, preferable to someone not concerned with the quality of their work
passing themselves off as a tech writer?
Anything that dissuades an individual from asking a question when they need an
answer is counterproductive. I could easily make some nasty statement about your
apparent lack of proficiency with e-mail reflected in your duplicate posting, but
what purpose would that serve?
Sean McFerren
Performance Support Consultant
Computer Sciences Corporation/SCI Account
Houston, TX
smcferre -at- csc -dot- com
