RE: Tracking Documentation History

Subject: RE: Tracking Documentation History
From: "Hemstreet, Deborah" <DHemstreet -at- kaydon -dot- com>
To: "Ronquillo, Michael" <mronquillo -at- equitrac -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:02:07 -0400

Hi Ron,

SHORT ANSWER:

Does it need to be part of the document? NO
Do you need it? YES
Does it have value to the customer? Not usually.

**Long form thoughts to help clarify the issue**

The document history is usually a critical part of your company's
compliance with different standards.

At issue is WHERE this information is stored. It does not need to be
kept as a physical part of the document, but it should not be removed
without coordinating such changes with your Quality Dept.

I worked at one company where we handled the doc history as follows:
1. For internal documents, an opening page with sign-off table
and doc history table. Users usually just skipped the first page and
went to the body of the document.
2. For external documents, the same opening page was maintained
separate from, but associated with, the document.
Example: Doc #SPI-45-01-000 and #SPI-40-01-000_op, etc.

Another option is to make this doc approval/history the LAST page of
your internal documents (much more convenient for your readers).

Finally, I have seen and used manuals that had the document history
inside. I thought it was a total waste of space, and have a feeling this
was done by someone misunderstanding the relevant standards for their
device.

Hope this is helpful

Deborah





-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+dhemstreet=kaydon -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+dhemstreet=kaydon -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
Behalf Of Ronquillo, Michael
Sent: Thursday, June 26, 2008 12:25 PM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Tracking Documentation History

Hey all,





What are your thoughts on tracking the documentation history in the
documentation?



For example, you would have a date and software release and have bullets
saying exactly what has been changed/updated. Is this good practice or
does it air out "dirty laundry". Does this have any value to the
customer?



I am considering dropping it because it's getting ridiculously long.
Also, it shows our company's mistakes. The only value it has is for our
support team so they know what's updated when answering queries from
customers. Is there a better method for tracking changes internally?



I'd love to hear what you guys do.



Thanks,

Mike



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