Re: Re[2]: Who's the author?

[Glen Accardo <glen -at- SOFTINT -dot- COM>]

Vince Putman writes:

> > ...we all should start adding our name to the book somewhere.
> > I have never done it and now, with all of the false claims a company
> > hears at interviews, I wish I had.  Its likely, however, that most
> > companies will not allow you to put your name on *their* book.
> >

To which Shelly LaRock responds:

> How true!  I often wondered how I am supposed to make sure
> someone believes that I wrote a certain manual if my  name is not
> on it.  I suppose I could assume that the interviewer will believe
> me if I can explain every part of the manual or the work I did
> and some information about the system, but I sure wish there was
> an easier way, especially since our interviews on campus are only

I'm going to start putting my name on manuals strictly because they
are books, and all the books _I_ read have authors (yea, I know about
coroprate authors, but IBM didn't freaking write the manauls, a person
did).  I like knowing who the author is, and I can't help but feel that
there are others out there who want to know the same thing.  It's
probably just an ego thing -- something to show my mother.

The bottom line is that even if your name is on it, you haven't
proven that you've written it.  I always ask people LOTS of questions
about one of the manuals they bring it.  You'd best know everything
from the basis weight of the paper to the name of the person who told
you about the stuff on page 87.  I wanna know where you started, how
you got from there to where ever you stopped.  I want straight, honest
answers to where every part of that manual came from: format, information,
writing, graphics, editing, index entries, binders, covers, etc.

This gives me a much clearer perspective of your work than "I wrote
this buk.  hire me.  i is gud."  I'd much rather know that (like me),
you don't much care about fonts, the format was pretty much in place
when you started, but the information was inaccurate and you worked on
straigthening that out....  I did the index, so and so edited it, I
helped with the cover, all the legal info came from some VP down the
hall, Sabrina at Kinkos told me to use the other kind of paper.
With this information, not only do I know which skills you employed,
but I've found out how you juggle a gazillion pieces of information and
a potentially incomprehensible process -- which is something else
I wanna know!

------------
glen accardo                         glen -at- softint -dot- com
Software Interfaces, Inc.            (713) 492-0707 x122
Houston, TX 77084

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