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Actually, my interpretation of what he was saying is that TWs who don't use
Word correctly won't use other tools correctly, either, and that they may be tool-
ignorant and -phobic to boot. (My apologies to Glen if I have misinterpreted
him.)
My point is that this is an overgeneralization. A lack of skill or knowledge in
using Word styles is not the same thing as not understanding how structure
makes a document easier to maintain, and you do yourself and your candidate
a disservice if you place too much emphasis on that.
On 29 Jan 2002 at 13:21, Douglas S. Bailey (AL) wrote:
> > On 29 Jan 2002 at 10:18, Glenn Maxey wrote:
> > >
> > > Right or wrong, if the candidate for a technical writing position
> > > doesn't use Word - a common tool of our trade - correctly, they
> > > won't use the other tools correctly either. Right or wrong, I
> > > extrapolate that their tool-ignorance and tool-phobia isn't
> > > limited to Word's features.
> >
> > And here I'll have to step in and disagree. I have NEVER had a tech
> writing job where I
> > needed to know Word. I used WordPerfect for years; now I use
> > FrameMaker. I
> use
> > both these programs "correctly", if by that you mean that I don't
> > format
> on the fly but
> > use the predefined styles (WP) and tags (FM).
<snip>
> Um, I don't think Glenn was speaking to the issue of tool phobia, or
> even of whether Word was a necessary TW tool. From the paragraph
> quoted at top it looks like he's commenting on whether a TW uses the
> tool correctly, not whether he uses the correct tool. There's a
> difference.
Lin Sims
Of course I'm willing to take 'No' for an answer, so long as 'No' was the answer I
was looking for.
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