Re: Forms, Etc

[Latisha LaRue <kfischer@keller.clarke.edu>]

Linda,
	Hmmm well as a staunch anti-beurocrat:) I'm nearly inclined to
agree with you.  But tutors fill out what the clients/writers need?  I'd
be afraid they were putting in their own words the needs of the other.  I
prefer to have those who avail themselves of our services state their
needs in their own words.  And can you imagine the data base if no forms
whatsoever are used?  I really liked the form we saw earlier here today
since it pinpointed about 98% of the needs our clients express when they
visit us.  Besides, I've seen scantron forms and frankly, *that* form was
no scantron:)
		Katie

On Mon, 5 Aug 1996 COBLENTZ@UHDVX3.dt.UH.edu wrote:

> I learned something very important from our Reading Lab Director, who said
> of a form I gave her that I wanted all users of the ASC to fill out, "We're
> not too thrilled about forms."
> 
> It struck the very depths of my being.  Hey, I have designed form after form
> after form to fulfill our purposes.  None of them suffice.  The problem
> is that they fulfill *our* purposes, not those of those who come to us.  
> 
> So I think the simpler the form, the better.  The more the form lets whoever
> is using it say what needs to be said, the better the form.
> 
> Think, for example, of those ubiquitous forms we all fill out in the doctor's
> office.  Does one of them meet our needs?  ("I've got this throbbing red
> thing on my cheek!  AM I dying of skin cancer? What the hell is going on? And
> by the way, don't worry.  You'll get paid, fella.") 
> 
> 
> Shouldn't we offer writers a chance to express what's on their minds rather
> than forcing them to cope with our jargon and *insurance imformation*?
> 
> I think tutors, not writers, should fill out the forms that supply the
> information we need.  Tutors can elicit the information from writers and
> convert it to our language.  
> 
> All this from a person who has tried endlessly to create perfect forms.  I'm
> a really good form maker!  It's not my proudest moment to admit to creating
> more red tape for the innocents who face the bureaucracy of writing centers.
> 
> Sincerely and with deep-felt warm wishes for success in creating the perfect 
> form,
> 
> The Faceless Bureaucrat, 
> Linda Coblentz
> UH-Downtown
> coblentz@dt.uh.edu
>  
>