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Technical Editing in the 21st Century According to Donna Roper, a technical publications editor for NASA, many other members of the technical community disagree with this logic. Instead, they believe technical editors not only must understand as much as possible about the subject but must work with the writer to enhance technical content. Roper further believes that technical editors who have a certain level of technical knowledge enjoy greater respect within the technical community and therefore wield more influence. In an in-house study that Roper conducted at the NASA facility in Virginia in 1993, 71% of the writers she surveyed believed technical editors should complete either several technical courses or an undergraduate minor in a technical field. Furthermore, 96% said technical editors need a background in English, and 95% said they also need a background in technical editing. However, only 32% of the respondents believed aeronautics and engineering were requisites for a technical editor at their NASA facility. In general, the survey suggests that editors who possess technical aptitude and whose education includes some technical courses contribute positively to the writereditor relationship and to the editorial process. But most importantly, 94% agree that they need to have editing skills and expertise, 75% believe they need an understanding of the publishing process, and 51% say technical editors must possess the proper personal characteristics to work with people. Of course, these statistics represent opinions from only one organization. However, from our experience, we believe that those opinions reflect what you will generally find: editors need some technical aptitude, but above all they need a good command of language. Most agencies and organizations require job applicants to take an entrance test to demonstrate their grammar and editing skills. Often the score on this test is the primary factor in determining whether or not an individual is hired.

Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. --Will Durant

Audience, Accuracy, Author What matters in technical editing are the three As: audience, accuracy, and author. Above all, the document should be correct. This means that an accurate text is grammatically correct as well as accurate in content. It is very difficult to know whether or not the content is accurate unless you as an editor understand how the product or policy is being described. Although you certainly do not have to know everything about technological tools (no one could possible know it all), it does help to possess more than just language and personality skills. Sure, you could edit an online technical manual or help menu that describes how to properly install a wireless router you have never used. But it would be better if you knew not only what a wireless router was but also how to actually install one yourself. Knowing