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Subject:Re: Active Ownership (and the editorial role) From:Jean Weber <jhweber -at- WHITSUNDAY -dot- NET -dot- AU> Date:Sun, 11 Jul 1999 08:58:11 +1000
The most recent issue of my newsletter includes a description of technical
editors' responsibilities, based on guidelines provided by a major
publisher of computer books. For those list members who might be
interested, here's the address:
The description covers only part of what I consider the technical editor's
role (because it deals with existing information provided by the writer),
but the duties do require a fairly high level of involvement with the product.
In my personal experience, as an editor I don't need quite the depth of
knowledge that the writer needs (unless I'm dealing with an inexperienced
or incompetent writer), but I do need a solid understanding of how the
product works, so I can spot flaws in the information flow, missing or too
detailed information, and so on -- from the readers' point of view. Item 5
in the article is, perhaps, the most relevant to this discussion.
