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

["Gray,Gary P" <GRAY -at- BOS -dot- MSMAIL -dot- IDX -dot- COM>]

Shelly La Rock said:
>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 started out doing occasional contract work. When it came time to interview
for
a real job, the interviewer opened one of my writing samples and picked
something
out, asking me to explain it.... Unfortunately for me, it was some
programmer's reference manual and he picked an obscure detail for me to
explain... besides, after 3 manuals
in 5 months, I can't recall every detail of each one of them. Since this was
a contract job, I didn't have my name on it... boy, did I look bad.

>Do any of you ever think the day will come when we actually get
>our names on these things?  Or does it pretty much depend on the
>company?

Well, the company I formerly worked for actually did let me put my name on
my work. In fact, I had a digitized signature on the first page. Of course,
my project was the company's technical journal, so it only seemed natural
for the "editor in chief" (i.e. the guy that did everything from soup to
nuts on it) to have his name on it.

My current employer also gives credits not only to the authors of a work,
but the people that helped prepare it (sources for material, reviewers,
etc.) I look at this is a two
edged sword. You get the credit, but you also realize that people know who
is ultimately
responsible for any mistakes in the document... putting your name on it
makes you think a bit before releasing something.

I guess I have been lucky to work for two companies which credits their
authors. Maybe
writers going to interview at a company should ask for a sample of
documentation... then check to see if the document has any credits on it...

Gary Gray
IDX Systems Corp.
gray -at- idx -dot- com