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Subject:tech wrs From:Cyndy Davis <kivrin -at- ZDNETMAIL -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 7 Aug 1998 10:28:45 -0700
Like many techwrlers, I felt an urge to slap the poster of a comment reffering to "dumb" questions and certification. Once that urge passed, I thought about the point of the post. Obviously, some tech writers have more knowledge than others, based on education and experience.
Even though I have an English degree, I find issues that I don't know the rule for, LED/ell-ee-dee is a prime example. I did happen to look in a style manual when I had the same type of question, but I also knew what type of topic to look for.
There are times my boss looks to me for grammar answers since she has a Journalism degree and did not have a strong grammar background. There are times that I look to her for rules that I didn't learn in my classes.
I appreciate the times that people on this list have answered seemingly "dumb" questions that I:
- wanted a second opinion on
- didn't know how to research
- wanted opinions to back up a feeling
- wanted to see if I brought up other issues that I didn't consider
- needed to check if my education was right (maybe I remembered wrong or its a variable rule)
This list serves an important function, and I for one appreciate it's existence. I sort message by subject line, I don't read RoboHelp msgs, for instance. But I appreciate even seeing repeated questions since it reminds me that not everyone is perfect but there are many of us trying our best.
