Testimonials Needed for Software Purchase

[Johndan Johnson-Eilola <johndan -at- PURDUE -dot- EDU>]

I'm gathering testimonials about the value of experience using
FrameMaker and Dreamweaver for students in an undergrad tech writing
program. Here's the context: I'm attempting to convince our central
admin people that students in tech comm classes need better software
for document development and for website authoring than we currently
have. Our current setup provides PageMaker and (gak) Netscape
Composer as our primary packages for this work. Our students end up
having to convince employers that their experiences with these
programs will easily translate to FrameMaker and a higher-end wysiwyg
package like Dreamweaver, although they're not always successful in
making that argument.

I've been told it would be very helpful in my quest to get funding
for this purchase if I could gather testimonials from either
employers or successful job applicants regarding experience with
FrameMaker and Dreamweaver. In order to keep down traffic on the
list, you can email directly to me <johndan -at- purdue -dot- edu>. I'll post a
summary of responses if there's interest. (I'll also, BTW, be
gathering comments from our own students and alumni, but I want to
get as much material as possible.)

(I'm hoping I don't start a long thread about (a) which application
is better or (b) whether or not PageMaker does scale easily to
FrameMaker. For the record, I think students who know PageMaker +
basic design practices can pick up FrameMaker in a week or two on the
job, but in a perfect world I *would* like to use Frame in my courses
because of its specialized features. And I *do* use Dreamweaver for
all my own work, but can't currently use it in class because the
classroom/labs don't have the program.)

Thanks,




- Johndan Johnson-Eilola
  Director of Professional Writing
  Department of English                            voice: 765.494.3772
  Purdue University                         <mailto:johndan -at- purdue -dot- edu>
  West Lafayette, IN 47907-1356     <http://tempest.english.purdue.edu>


From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=