Devoted to technical writing and technical writers

I'm not sure if books are the best medium for technical writers to stay up-to-date. The basics of technical writing will probably always be the same, and could be covered by one good book. Only rarely do new techniques come along, for example, single sourcing, so maybe I'd need an updated edition of that first book.

Any small "news", for example, Robohelp/Flare, could be picked up in a magazine article or a blog post.

Perhaps technical writing is unique in that the techniques and disciplines of good technical writing are usually largely independent of the tools or platforms used. I work in a Framemaker environment now, and used to work in a Word environment before. How I do my work hasn't really changed, even though the particular tools have.

It's the same for all IT professionals. There are core skills (coding, procedural writing, UI design, graphics), and hot tools (the latest Intel C++ compiler, Framemaker, flash, Photoshop). The skills don’t change too quickly, but the tools do, and keeping up with this part of the industry is important.

I agree with your assertion that "technical writers tend to not accept the idea that they need to stay up-to-date on their skills, and therefore, they don't buy books that talk about those skills." Except it's not the skills they don't keep up with, it's the Industry that they don't keep up with.

In just about every skilled field, some workers are enthusiastic about the direction and advances of their field, and others are less captured by what they do at the 9-5.

Construction is probably the same as IT: One mechanical contractor might only know about the techniques and materials he/she learned about in trade school, and stick that knowledge for years. But a great contractor keeps up on all the latest energy saving materials and tools that can save him/her time, and give the customer a better product.

I don't know why, but a large number of tech writers, relative to the IT industry don't feel they have a real stake in it. If they were in a doctor's waiting room, my stereotype is that they would probably flip through the PC Magazine long after going through People, Time, SI, or what have you, first. Certainly not ever computer programmer would go to PC Magazine first, but probably a higher percentage than the TWs.

Then again, some tech writers do not think about Framemaker on the weekend, but they know enough that to remain competitive in the industry, they have to keep up with the news.

So I agree with the question, “how do you make TWs curious about their field?”

I have one idea, but it reveals only my issues: At some point along the way, TWs should understand that due to us taking on a number of roles, we become the de facto publishing department for an organization. In some way, a primer on all that’s involved in modern publishing would be helpful. The fact that the mechanics of publishing is so expansive might make TWs realize that there’s plenty to learn and be mindful of when getting their work into the users hands/computers.

There is a new technical communication blog that focuses on exactly this. Read docedge.blogger.com.

I guess it's actually docedge.blogspot.com.

dude (Commahater), it's http://docedge.blogspot.com/

Check out this introduction article on Technical communication:
Technical_communication
Content:
1.Professions
2.Formats
3.Tools
4.Resources