Re: Qualifications needed for Editing?
Karsten-
Thanks for the quick reply. If those are the only requirements, I think
I may be able to offer some help editing if needed. I'm a 5ESS
Maintenance Engineer and pretty much deal with technical documentation
on a daily basis a la Lucent Technologies. I also write some tutorials,
HOWTOs etc. for the switch technicians maintaining the switching
equipment. I don't know what info you will need from me, but I can send
you samples of my past work if needed.
Thanks again,
Dan Gonzalez
dgonzo(a)optonline.net
spam_me_silly(a)optonline.net
On Wed, 2003-12-24 at 05:49, Karsten Wade wrote:
On Tue, 2003-12-23 at 18:27, Daniel Gonzalez wrote:
> I was just curious as to what sort of qualifications are needed to
> become an editor? I'm not a programmer by any means (basic scripting
> etc) but would be very interested in editing/proof-reading etc. I
> apologize in advance if this is not the correct forum in which to ask my
> question.
I don't think this has been formally defined, although I'm sure someone
can dig up a job description for editor. But in the spirit of "it seems
to me", here are some ideas.
Technical Editors
People who focus primarily on catching technical errors. Activities
include:
* Performing all actions as directed in the tutorial
* Verifying accuracy of output
* Tracking down technical answers to questions writers have, or errors
they have made and don't know how to correct
Language Editors (Wordsmiths)
People who focus primarily on catching grammatical, spelling and
idiomatic errors in their language. Activities include:
* Reading for grammar, spelling and correct idiom usage
* Correcting transliteration errors
* Reading for clarity (language, flow of prose or narrative)
General Editors
These are tasks which could be performed by anyone:
* XML accuracy and tag usage
* Code formatting (adherence to standards)
* Refactoring for accuracy, clarity and tag usage
... just some thoughts ...
- Karsten