Comments on The Blockhead Blog: Documentation standards? Who needs them?

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is ver...

2008-11-08T11:14:00.000Z

Hello. This post is likeable, and your blog is very interesting, congratulations :-). I will add in my blogroll =)THANX FOR MAKING SUCH A COOL BLOG

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I like your point in the fourth paragraph. Maybe t...

2008-11-02T12:10:00.000Z

I like your point in the fourth paragraph. Maybe the larger companies come to accept the value of good standards for documentation because they are already familiar with standards through their industry. The stereotype for smaller companies is that really don't need any documentation, and if they do, the niece who received top grades in English class can handle the task! (All respect to nieces who received good grades in school!) My lame humour refers to the lack of focus and interest in documentation in some companies. If there was a basic set of standards for documentation, perhaps friends who are currently unemployed wouldn't need to present so many arguments as to why a company needs technical communication, they could merely present their own profile and the company would understand.

I agree with Jen that standards do not make good quality on their own. It makes the procedures, processes, and policies more visible, which helps with evaluations as she describes.

I haven't yet read the STC article but will do so....

2008-10-30T09:56:00.000Z

I haven't yet read the STC article but will do so. I'm currently involved in the selection process for localisation suppliers for my company, which is a large multinational ($20 million dollar project). There are over 50 suppliers competing so we need some way to make initial evaluations of their approach to quality. And indeed ISO 9001 and EN 15038 certification are 2 of the itmes on our quality scorecard. By themselves these don't ensure good quality but it allows us to see how structured their approach is to achieving consistent quality.

Cheers,
Jennifer O Neill

It's not "standards" in the general sense that are...

2008-10-29T16:39:00.000Z

It's not "standards" in the general sense that are important, it's the existence of an ISO International Standard that could be very important for technical writers, especially in industries that are already used to the need for compliance to ISO standards in other aspects of their activities.

Ideally, standards are important. But which ones? ...

2008-10-29T16:05:00.000Z

Ideally, standards are important. But which ones? And, why? Or, why not?

So many questions, so few answers.

Scott Abel
The Content Wrangler
http://thecontentwrangler.ning.com