Re: A Controversial Thought

[Maria Townsley <maria -at- MSD -dot- MEASUREX -dot- COM>]

Happens all the time here.  I don't know how I could possibly do
my job without it.  I document every aspect of our product - programming
tools, system manager doc, user applications, database admin.  Every
technical person in every department will sit down with me to make sure
that their part is explained correctly.

One of my favorites is the manager of tools development.  When one of the
programmers asks him about tool usage, he says "Look it up in the manual."
It teaches our programmers to try to look it up before they bother the
tool developers.  If it's not in there, one or the other will tell me about
it and it will be added in the next rev.  Also, our tools developers use
the documentation as a kind of "contract".  If it is described in the manual
a particular way, then it works that way.  If it isn't documented, then it
becomes an "unsupported" feature that can be changed without any major
notification.

My advantage is that I am the first and only tech writer they've ever had.
I trained them in how to treat a tech writer and what type of results to
expect.  There is definitely advantages to being an only tech writer.

-maria


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