BKTECHED.RVW 940421 Addison-Wesley Publishing Company P.O. Box 520 26 Prince Andrew Place Don Mills, Ontario M3C 2T8 416-447-5101 fax: 416-443-0948 Heather Rignanesi, Marketing, x340, 73171.657@Compuserve.com or Tiffany Moore, Publicity tiffanym@aw.com Bob Donegon bobd@aw.com John Wait, Editor, Corporate and Professional Publishing johnw@aw.com Tom Stone, Editor, Higher Education Division tomsto@aw.com Philip Sutherland, Schulman Series 74640.2405@compuserve.com Keith Wollman, Trade Computer Group keithw@aw.com Lisa Roth Blackman, Trade Computer Group lisaro@aw.com 1 Jacob Way Reading, MA 01867-9984 800-822-6339 617-944-3700 Fax: (617) 944-7273 5851 Guion Road Indianapolis, IN 46254 800-447-2226 "Technical Editing", Tarutz, 1992, 0-201-56356-8 A very practical guide to technical editing. This book could serve as an introduction to the editing process for someone new to the task. Senior technical writers and managers could use its guidance in dealing with writers. Writers could use it to understand the editing and publishing process, and to improve their own material. And, although Tarutz states that her book is subjective, and not technical, small shops could use it as an example of excellent writing, style and layout. Starting with a definition of technical editing, part one continues through chapters on basic editing rules, mind set, teamwork and rules *not* to use. Part two outlines the editor's job, covering the editorial process and types of reviews, common editing errors, levels of edit, breaking the rules, style guides, tips and tricks, and the specialties of computer manuals. Part three looks at career issues such as desktop publishing environments, time and project management, and how to get hired (and hire). Appendices include case studies of problem scenarios, sample style guides, a glossary and a thorough, annotated bibliography. Tarutz provides exercises to test the reader. As with most works dealing with language, itself, these tend to be "cute". They do, however, point out common, and commonly missed, errors. The book uses the technical manual's usual style of clearly separated blocks of text. The result is a set of easily distinguished concepts, and ease and speed of reading. Tarutz' clear and personable style adds to the readability of the text. If this doesn't become a classic guide, I want to know why. copyright Robert M. Slade, 1994 BKTECHED.RVW 940421 ====================== DECUS Canada Communications, Desktop, Education and Security group newsletters Editor and/or reviewer ROBERTS@decus.ca, RSlade@sfu.ca, Rob Slade at 1:153/733 Author "Robert Slade's Guide to Computer Viruses" (Oct. '94) Springer-Verlag