TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Editing skills (was Re: Good Client, Bad Client redux)
Subject:Editing skills (was Re: Good Client, Bad Client redux) From:Beth Mazur <mazur -at- MAYA -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 6 May 1997 10:36:19 -0500
At 9:06 AM -0500 5/6/97, Buck & Tilly Buchanan wrote:
>FYI some mail programs begin with "Alexia Prendergast wrote:" even
>though Alexia only penned the answer later in the message.
>
>We don't write that little thingie that says "Alexia Prendergast Wrote:"
>Our mail software writes it (perhaps without concern that Alexia will be
>offended)!
>
>It's a great, but imperfect world. :-))
The fact that the mail software has a default setting for how it
attributes quoted material does not relieve the sender of the material
from making sure that the software got it correct.
In my opinion, making sure that attributions are correct is probably
more important than making sure that the material you send is
grammatically correct, spelled properly, etc.
I'm as amused as the next person and willing to cut lots of slack for
those momentary lapses (e.g., the person who write liable for libel
recently), as I've done those as well. We're all busy.
My spell checker, like many others, might very well let "panty check"
go by in a document when I meant "parity check." But it sure reflects
poorly on me regardless of the cause of the error...imperfect software
or my inability to notice.
I apologize in advance for the tone. But getting attributions correct is
*critical* on the Internet. Can we please all try harder?
Beth Mazur
mazur -at- maya -dot- com
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
