Dismantling the Tower of Babel in Computer Documentation

Abstract

Whether to hire technical graduates or liberal arts graduates to train as technical writers has always been a problem in the computer industry. The technical graduate takes much longer to train as a writer, but he learns the technical subject much more quickly. The more complex the subject, the more likely the technical graduate is to be selected — and the longer it takes for him to become a skilled writer. How the problem was partially solved at NCR by the use of a restricted vocabulary is explained. An unsolved part of the problem is identified, and readers are urged to help find the solution.