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Subject:RE: General formatting question for a TOC From:"Dori Green" <dgreen -at- associatedbrands -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:45:19 -0500
I'm reminded of the job I had with 50 developers and engineers working
on the very first commercial cellular network. (So now I've _really_
dated myself!)
Management was trying to make all 50 learn nroff code. What a mess! I
responded by having them give me their material in whatever format they
preferred -- Word, WordPerfect, or ascii text. I organized the Bell
Labs and Mil Spec/Std reference documents into an easily-accessed
library, edited their text, added the accurate coding -- and still had
time to learn how to be the computer operator for the IBM mainframe and
answer a dozen phones.
My title was "documentation specialist". I had a Liberal Arts Science
degree and a B.A. in English with special studies in journalism and
computer science, and I had previously worked for six years as editor
and typist for a two-way radio manufacturer and had taught myself basic
electronics by building a Heathkit ham radio. I could read and check
both component location and schematic diagrams. And I typed 118 wpm but
they didn't dare call me "secretary".
I quit when I went to my boss to let him know I was ready for more
responsibility and he gave me six more phone lines.
The point of my story is that good formatting and content accuracy have
to work together. Either one without support from the other is just
plain bad communication. And sometimes a technical writer has to vote
with her feet.
Dori Green
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