Categories: Communication Design, Technology
Summary:
Hayhoe presents his views of the knowledge, skills, and abilities that a professional technical communicator must possess. In this process, he defined the field of technical communication. He included discussions of: (1) knowledge of communication concepts and techniques; (2) knowledge of technical subject domains; and (3) knowledge of software tool.
Prior to concluding, Hayhoe questions the assumption that the professionals in the field's expertise rests on their knowledge of software packages. He reinforces the idea that the ability to write, edit, design, illustrate, and use multimedia qualify someone as a professional.
Citation-worthy:
"What sets technical communicators apart from word processing operators and desktop publishers is not our ability to use software, but rather our ability to communicate technical information effectively (Hayhoe, 2000, p. 151).
"The majority of technical communicators come to the profession without academic training in the field, and the overwhelming majority of technical communicators do not belong to professional organizations that promote the importance of communication skills. As a result, not even everyone in our field has accepted the centrality of communication skills to our work, much less those outside it (Hayhoe, 2000, p. 152).
"Although our knowledge is usually less extensive than that of the subject matter experts with whom we work, we need more than a basic understanding of the technology, science, or other specialized information we convey to the users of the information products we create" (Hayhoe, 2000, p. 152).
"Although our jobs have evolved to some degree as the tools have changed, the essential tasks of communicating have remained much as they were... hundreds of years before the common era. ... Tools have essentially simplified rote development and production tasks by automating them. ..." (Hayhoe, 2000, p. 153).
