TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I forgot to add in my original reply that Chinese Americans are the group
I'm most familiar with who traditionally place their family name first; I
didn't mean to imply they're the only group.
Keith wondered: <<Geoff, are you saying that you think Surname, Given Name
is more clear than Last Name, First Name?>>
Nope. It's technically correct, but as I noted, "surname" isn't sufficiently
well understood that I'd use it with confidence for a broad audience.
<<For example, if I had only one field, named "given name," I'd have no idea
what to enter. If it were next to a field named "surname" I could figure it
out by process of elimination.>>
Just as you could figure out any other label by process of elimination. <g>
If you know one, you should then be able to figure out the other. But why
make the reader figure _anything_ out? Our goal is to smooth the path to
understanding, not accept solutions that people can eventually figure out.
And given the potential cost of processing hundreds or thousands of
incorrectly filled-in forms, it's not a good strategy to permit ambiguity.
<<I think any US resident very quickly learns what to consider their LAST
name and their FIRST name, if they have to do any paperwork at all in this
country (such as applying for a green card).>>
Having (very briefly) worked with refugees brought to Canada, I'm not
sanguine about this; the people we helped really needed a lot of handholding
to get through forms, and were quite happy to forget about the terminology
as soon as they were done with it. Certainly, someone who traditionally
places their last name first, and who's been here for any length of time,
will have filled out enough forms to understand that the American naming
system isn't the same as theirs. But you can't guarantee this. I'll stick to
my guns on this one: while "last/first name" will work fine for the majority
of your audience, "family/given or first name" will work for everyone.
<<Begging to differ for once,>>
No begging required. I put my foot in my mouth often enough, and being
challenged certainly keeps me honest and humble. Or at least more so than
otherwise... <g>
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
"The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can
think."--Edwin Schlossberg, designer (1945- )
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Save up to 50% with RoboHelp Deluxe. Get 2 great products for 1 low price!
You'll get RoboHelp Office PLUS RoboDemo, the software demonstration tool
that everyone's been talking about. Check it out and save! http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
