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.
Subject:Tech writers and ISO9000 From:R2 Innovations <R2innovations -at- MYNA -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 16 May 1997 00:13:09 +0000
I have heard, but have not personally confirmed it, that many ISO
consultants advise _against_ the use of technical writers for writing
ISO documentation.
I have been involved with the documentation aspects of ISO 9001 for
an aerospace electronic manufacturer for over 4 years and think that
the above situation is certainly shortsighted. Technical writers can
bring a great many skills to the table in assisting companies obtain
their ISO registration. These skills include:
effective interviewing -- they can dig out the important issues that
are often missed.
unbiased view -- they are not directly involved with the processes
and, therefore have an objective eye in determining what information
is really needed by the user
format knowledge -- they can format the information so that it is
useable by the reader, often encouraging, rather than discouraging,
the user to read the documentation
control knowledge -- they can often provide good insights into effective
methods of controlling the documentation once it has been created
I have been conducting full-day seminars on documenting ISO 9000 for
the past three years and have recently published a book on writing
compliant ISO documentation. Furhter information can be obtained at
my website www.myna.com/~r2innovn/
Ralph E. Robinson
R2 Innovations
Specializing in ISO 9000 documentation and implementation.
Author of "Documenting ISO 9000: Guidelines for Compliant
Documentation", available from R2 Innovations on the WWW
at http://www.myna.com/~r2innovn/.
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
