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Subject:Documentation Architect vs. Technical Expert ! From:dan -dot- gallagher -at- pulsartech -dot- com To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 1 Mar 2004 09:37:55 -0500
Hi Folks,
No I don't want to open the Too Technical thread. This concerns
"Documentation Architect vs. Technical expert" or some combination thereof.
I would like your feedback on something.
Background: I've been involved in electronics for a good 20 years now,
having seen the birth of PCs, to now and many things along the way, hence
being hired here. So I'm no ignoramus. But I'm also no protective relay or
transfer trip engineer either. I've been working here for 5 years now.
However, in my job, this company produces very technical comm. equipment,
namely Power-Line Carrier communications equipment and some fiber equipment
(which to me is way easier to understand and thus document). One of the
owners (who is also my boss) is a world renowned protective relay pioneer
and engineer.
Typically he and his protoge give me the text for the PLC product
documentation and I basically lay it out and do the graphics. But I feel
like others are stepping in to take over the documentation for this product
line. PLC is but 1/3 of my duties here. When I hear about some consultant
designing help or whatever, I get nervous that I don't know enough. Help is
supposed to be part of my job also. To make things worse, the next revision
of this product line is microprocessor based which makes me even less
knowledgeable on it.
How can I possibly know about this stuff, when these engineers are world
renowned experts on it? How can I possibly be viewed as worthy of doing
this documentation? Sorry, but I'm feeling somewhat vulnerable at this
point. I would like to keep up with things and be viewed as competant. But
I have no knowledge of Frequency shift keying or Power-Line Carrier. How
can I even begin to be worthy in their eyes, when these experts have been
at it since before I was born?
I hope you understand my self-imposed dilemna.
Thanks for being there. I'm grateful to be part of this group.
Daniel Gallagher -- Technical writer/Graphic designer
Pulsar Technologies, Inc.
4050 N.W. 121 Ave. Coral Springs, FL 33065 U.S.A.
954-344-9822 ext. 243 http://www.pulsartech.com
