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this discussion has been really fascinating for me, because it has done an excellent job in delineating a lot of the issues that come up regularly on this and other lists.
I've never been just a writer, and always thought the title of Technical Writer was far too limiting. I have been known as an Information Archtiect, an Information Designer, a Documentation Specialist, and a Technical Writer/Editor. I also have lots of titles from the marketing communications side of the house. In my current gig my title is Documentation/Knowledge Manager, and in some ways that comes closer to summing up the wide array of stuff I'm responsible for than anything else. And it's why I continue to expand my studies, inquiries, and even some skill sets into the taxonomy, architecture, UI, and curriculum development arenas. My goal is to make sure that the people who need the information actually get the information in a form that's relevant and useful to them in using the product or service to do something important to them. So that means thinking like a user, a designer, a bean counter, an engineer, a teacher and a manager at various points. It means thinking about how to collect and synthesize information to solve particular problems or take some action, and then actually going and doing that collection and synthesis. And it means figuring out how to store and organize it so it can be retrieved.
I'm not sure that even "technical communicator" adequately defines things, since I often have to create collateral and presentations that have relatively little "technical" content, but are necessary to communicating relevant stuff to people who need to know.
In the end, as long as the job description and the culture don't limit my horizons, they can call me whatever they want.
Regards,
Connie Giordano
> -------Original Message-------
> From: Chris Borokowski <athloi -at- yahoo -dot- com>
> Subject: Re: Tech Writing a Growing Field?
> Sent: 05 Apr '07 14:34
>
> Perceptive. I agree this is their intent, but that
> intent exists only because they do not realize that:
>
> 1. Technical writers accumulate product information
> and detailed knowledge of its use, especially when not
> under deadline to write the manual (WTFM).
>
> 2. Technical writers are conduits between developers,
> marketing and users to ensure the product does what it
> is bought to do, in all of the circumstances where it
> applies.
>
> 3. Technical writers are often, as people who think
> about the architecture of the program in the context
> of the user experience, "user advocates" who make the
> program and its interfaces function better.
>
> 4. All of these roles lead up to a participation in
> the design of the product, as much as the process of
> coding it (at this point, the most flexible albeit
> most labor-intensive). Technical writers as
> articulators can make sense of the design process, and
> distill it to a logical map. They can refine this map
> in a way that people caught in the trenches of
> marketing, development or user testing cannot. In this
> role, technical writers are an integral part of the
> design process and can do more.
>
> I have seen plenty of technological changes over time.
> We cannot resist change by fighting mentalities that
> appeal to business and common sense desires for
> efficiency. We have to keep growing, and make
> ourselves more competitive by making ourselves more
> important to the process of developing and selling
> technology, knowing full well that most of the profit
> comes from user support.
>
> For these reasons, I embrace the title "technical
> communicator" and suggest others do as well. We can't
> defend turf that isn't ours to own, but we can make
> ourselves grow with the process of technological
> development and take on a larger role in exchange for
> greater permanence.
>
> As this role will be somewhat more difficult than an
> undisciplined hack can tolerate, it's also better for
> the field.
>
> The above might look a bit Pollyanna... I'm too
> familiar with the fate of, say, DEC Alpha specialists
> as market forces (unjustly) moved on. But I think it's
> our best shot, based on not insubstantial experience.
> I'd like to hear from more of the more experienced
> writers on the list about this.
>
> --- Nancy Allison <maker -at- verizon -dot- net> wrote:
>
> > I see a creeping desire on the part of companies to
> > believe that if only they can create the cleanest,
> > most precise CMS and single-sourcing solution . . .
> > . the documentation will write itself? The engineers
> > really *can* write the doc, because the structured
> > doc interface will force them to write for users? .
> > . . something like that!
>
> User Interface design blog
>http://user-advocacy.blogspot.com/
> Code::Design::UI::Consulting
>http://www.dionysius.com/
>
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________________
> Don't pick lemons.
> See all the new 2007 cars at Yahoo! Autos.
>http://autos.yahoo.com/new_cars.html
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