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RE: Honestly -- when an SME completely REWRITES your text ... GEEZ!
Subject:RE: Honestly -- when an SME completely REWRITES your text ... GEEZ! From:"Sarah Blake" <Sarah -dot- Blake -at- microfocus -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:43:25 +0100
> I have had such comments from SMEs such as "This is wrong!" (without
> saying what is right) and the ever-helpful "WTF!".
I've occasionally had comments such as "This is wrong!" when it wasn't.
Turned out that communication had been less than clear between the lead
developer (who was reviewing the doc) and the person actually
implementing the feature.
On one occasion, my accurate documentation of a feature that none of the
developers could remember coding led to semi-serious accusations that
I'd coded it myself...
As a result, there are two things I bear in mind when dealing with SME
reviews of the documentation.
1. The SME is not always right.
2. When making an SME-requested change to a doc, always keep some record
of which SME gave you the new information. Not just to cover yourself,
but to uncover any fundamental misconceptions within the team.
Sarah Blake
Senior Technical Author
Micro Focus
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