Re: Pros and Cons of including writer's name

[Barbara Maggart <Barbara -dot- Maggart -at- ALCONLABS -dot- COM>]

My company does not include authors' names on manuals, documents, etc.
Neither do they include programmers'/developers' names with the
software, nor scientists' names on a pharmaceutical product.  Any
individual identification or recognition takes place internally (or thru
industry-specific associations, etc.).

The whole idea behind the employee/employer relationship is that
employees forego the public (i.e. comsumer) recognition of individual
effort for the public recognition of the company as a whole.  Still, we
each require a certain amount of individual recognition and we do what
is necessary to achieve that personal satisfaction.  Some seek and find
that level of satisfaction within the current company; some seek another
employer; some strike out on their own.  Some are never satisfied
because ego becomes the incentive.  Some find a great deal of
satisfaction in their personal lives, and require less of it in their
business lives.

I'm usually not so philosophical, but we often seek individual
recognition where it is not the place to do so.  Individual "pats on the
back" are appropriate and necessary within the group that accomplished
the goal.  Beyond that, accomplishment of the goal was a GROUP effort.

barbara   <barbara -dot- maggart -at- alconlabs -dot- com>

>----------
>From:  pam[SMTP:pam -at- WORKGROUP -dot- COM]
>
>I am interested in finding out how many technical writiers have
>their name included as author of the manual or document that
>they write. Most of the companies I have worked for do not list
>authors' names at all.