Re: Economist magazine points to decline of tech writing

[Daniel Friedman <daniel -dot- friedman42 -at- gmail -dot- com>]

It's a little outdated, and it seems geared more towards technical writers
for industrial industries, rather than software development. But all in all
not bad. These ones all seem accurate to things I do. Not all encompassing,
doesn't include participation in product development, QA, marketing, etc.,
but those are "extra hats" rather than my core responsibilities.


   - Organize material and complete writing assignment according to set
   standards regarding order, clarity, conciseness, style, and terminology.
   - Maintain records and files of work and revisions.
   - Edit, standardize, or make changes to material prepared by other
   writers or establishment personnel.
   - Select photographs, drawings, sketches, diagrams, and charts to
   illustrate material.
   - Interview production and engineering personnel and read journals and
   other material to become familiar with product technologies and production
   methods.
   - Develop or maintain online help documentation.


I did chuckle a bit when they mentioned that technical writers use Scanners
a lot. When's the last time anyone here used a scanner other than for an
employment agreement / legal document?

On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 11:55 AM, Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com>
wrote:

> Here's the entry for technical writers from O*NET, which provided the
> bulk of the data for the study's algorithm:
>
> http://www.onetonline.org/link/summary/27-3042.00
>
> The Tasks section includes mostly things I never do ("arrange for
> typing"?) and is missing the core tasks I spend most of my time on.
>
> Garbage in, garbage out.
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-- 
*Daniel Friedman*
*friedmantechpublications.com* <http://friedmantechpublications.com>
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