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Subject:Re: Users writing their own procedures From:Andrew Plato <gilliankitty -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com Date:Thu, 22 Jan 2004 23:15:01 -0800 (PST)
"Eileen Neumann" <eileenn -at- the-wire -dot- com> wrote in message news:225771 -at- techwr-l -dot- -dot- -dot-
>
> Hi Whirlers,
>
> I maintain an employee intranet that holds banking procedures. Another
> division has decided that they need their procedures to go online as well.
> As my department doesn't have the resources to start documenting these
> other procedures from scratch, the powers that be have decided to have an
> experienced user document the procedures and have me fix them up
> afterwards.
>
> I'm a little miffed at the idea that of course 'anyone' can write down
> procedures if they know them. However, I also think this might work and
> save us some time. I'm thinking of giving the individual a template and
> have them write in FrontPage. They won't know html, but front page is
> pretty easy, seems to me.
>
> Anyone have any experience with this type of situation? Thoughts or tips?
Yes. Anybody can write procedures. Sorry to break this news to you, but other
people, besides technical writers, can write. Lawyers, doctors, engineers,
auto-mechanics, asphalt layers - all have the ability to write. They might not
write very WELL, but that's a judgement call. Technical writers are not the
only humans on earth allowed to write.
A document's value is about 90% contained in its content. The format, style,
and all the other incidental stuff you're worrying about adds very little value
to the material. As such, maybe the powers that be don't give a rat's butt
about templates, styles, or your levels of professional comfort. Maybe they
just want the job done.
Andrew Plato
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