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To: techwr-l @ listserv.okstate.edu
cc:
Subject: proofing docs
Techwhirlers--
I'm a newbie in the tech-writing world, still getting my feet on the
ground.
My first major project at this company was updating a UNIX sysadmin manual.
This is probably our longest document and one that gets a lot of use. As a
matter of course, I sat down with the manual and a pencil for a
read-through. One of my fellow tech writers remarked that she doubted if
she'd ever read one of our manuals all the way through. Now, I do have a
good amount of editorial experience, and this just amazed me. To me it's a
basic step, just as basic as running a program when you're done writing it!
Since then, I've asked another person here (who has experience as a
documentation manager), and she said that it's quite common for manuals,
release notes, and suchlike things to go out from software companies
without ever being proofread.
Is this true in y'all's experience? If it is, does anyone have suggestions
as to how to keep up quality control in documentation that isn't read by
the people who write it? :-)
I apologize if this is a silly or overly-basic question. You can answer me
directly if you don't want to bore the more experienced techwhirlers.
Thanks--
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