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Developing Technical Documentation and a Writing Group Within an Engineering Department
Subject:Developing Technical Documentation and a Writing Group Within an Engineering Department From:"Bill Herholz" <bherholz -at- comcast -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Sat, 4 Dec 2004 19:41:41 -0600
I am about to start a new job on Monday December 6th. I am near the end of
my career and have been a technical writer associated with engineering
groups for most of my career. In the past, I have always worked in
conjunction with other technical writers within a writing group, however in
my new position I will be the first writer and will probably be responsible
for organizing a technical writing department.
My question(s) revolve around what steps should be taken and in what order
in developing a technical writing department from scratch. I will be
supporting approximately 20-25 engineers and I can just imagine the writing
expertise I will find as I begin. I know there will be several different
types of writing including disassembly/assembly as well as some other tasks.
I don't believe there is any existing documentation but since the company is
a secondary defense contractor, it may be necessary to use the software and
styles used by the primary contractor. The audience levels may vary
depending on who the users of the documentation are. That can range from
factory workers and assemblers to other engineers. How would one estimate
the time required to move from point A to point B in organizing a technical
writing group?
Do you know anyone who has been in a similar situation or who would have
knowledge of what is required and the order in which a technical writing
department should be established? Has this topic been addressed in the past
within your newsgroup, and where would I find that topic? If the subject has
not been addressed, would it be possible to post this message to the board
in hopes that I could get some information from your membership?
Best Regards,
William J. (Bill) Herholz
"bherholz"@"comcast.net"
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