Re: "Surviving the Dying Career of Technical Writing"

[Michael Hopwood <Michael -dot- Hopwood -at- Gleif -dot- org>]

Thanks to everyone for this really nice discussion, which precisely parallels the debate in the library/information profession where I come from (started out as a physics major with minors in German and Roman Civ - plenty of ancient tech writing there too, eh, Vitruvius?).

I donât have a problem with where you put the emphasis, **technical** writer or technical **writer**, especially if the field is IT (what IS information technology anyhow? They taught us how to program C++, build a computer and make semiconductors in physics school, but I never got to "build informationâ).

âLibrariansâ and other âinformation professionalsâ (check out the Rex Libris comic for a Friday take on this) started out as subject matter experts who got roped into a grey area of collating and communicating ârelevant stuffâ then got supplemented by âoutsidersâ when the information exploded. Then identity crisis.

One thing that definitely stands out is the need for constant self-development.


On 3/23/16, 2:02 AM, "techwr-l-bounces+michael -dot- hopwood=gleif -dot- org -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com on behalf of William Sherman" <techwr-l-bounces+michael -dot- hopwood=gleif -dot- org -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com on behalf of bsherman77 -at- embarqmail -dot- com> wrote:

>These two hit it, I think.  One thing I have hit on for years is that 
>TECHNICAL writers have become less and less technical over the years. They 
>have stressed more the tools and how to use them than the knowledge of the 
>subject you are supposed to explain to others.
>
>You may be the best at handling a saw and knowing how to hammer nails, but 
>if you have no idea how to frame a door, plum a wall, or a host of other 
>things, I'm not going to pay you to be a carpenter.
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