atw: Re: New Subscriber Saying Hello
- From: Kate Macumber <macumber@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Wed, 29 Oct 2003 14:47:03 +1100
Hi John,
There are technical writers out there documenting machinery and up until
recently, I was one of them.
I was working for a company that created fruit sorting machinery and
software. I found that writing machinery-based documentation was very
different from writing software documentation and had to broaden my
skill-set accordingly. For example, you need to be much more aware of OH&S
considerations (people can lose limbs if you don't document properly) and
you can't just take screen captures if you want to show a picture or two:
either you become a dab hand at technical drawing, are attached to a digital
camera or you become good friends with the drafting department (and in my
case, I did all three!).
Sometimes, too, paper documentation is the only sensible approach. Often
with machinery you may not be near a computer so online help is useless, as
was the case in my job. In addition, most of my user group were
computer-illiterate, so the last thing they needed was more of that "scary
computer stuff". In fact, I know of software documentation projects where
the media used is paper simply because the users are not very computer
literate.
Now I am back writing online help / paper materials for software
applications. Indeed, there seems to be a lot more of this sort of work
around, but that doesn't mean that other kinds of documentation work aren't
around and aren't needed.
Kind regards,
Kate.
-----Original Message-----
From: austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:austechwriter-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of John Bennett
Sent: Wednesday, 29 October 2003 1:56 PM
To: austechwriter@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: atw: New Subscriber Saying Hello
Hello, my name is John Bennett. I am a brand-new subscriber to this
group and would like to introduce myself.
I got involved in technical writing in 1986 while working in South
Africa with a lot of other UK expats. Before that I was a maintenance
fitter at a nuclear power station in Scotland. I have been in New
Zealand since 1996 and am still involved in technical writing.
I also subscribe to technical writing@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and am a member of
Technical Communicators of New Zealand Inc. (TCANZ). I find that in most
cases the topics discussed in all groups and associations involve
software systems, business process systems, or online help. Although
these topics are generally interesting, I always feel like an outsider
looking in.
Are there any other writers out there who are still involved in mostly
paper based operating, maintenance, and training style documentation for
mechanical, electrical, or electronic systems and equipment? Surely
there is still a need for this type of documentation and writers with
the technical knowledge and background!
John
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