Re: marginal :-) definit...

Subject: Re: marginal :-) definit...
From: Bonni Graham <bonnig -at- AOL -dot- COM>
Date: Mon, 28 Mar 1994 22:40:11 EST

Kelly Hoffman (and others) asks:

"It would work for text that you expect will be read serially -- say, for
an introductory chapter or a tutorial book.

However, for a book that's more likely to be flipped through (random
access, rather than sequential ;-), how would you deal with multiple
references to the same term?"

Good point. I definitely would include definition locations in the index
(w/some indication that this is where the term is defined). It wouldn't work
in a reference book, that's true, and I probably wouldn't use this scheme in
that kind of manual. I guess I should have been more specific in that I
think it would work great for one of my client's books/audience. We happen
to know for a fact that they all do read the book, and read all of the book
(even the parts they don't all need to, which is why we're restructuring both
the program and the doc set <grin>).

The gist of the points that have been raised have to do with marginal
definitions' suitability for tutorials or intros -- and I wholeheartedly
agree. I don't want to have to search all over for a definition, and I might
have to in a reference book that used this scheme.

Thanks for the hole-poking -- it's helped me figure out how to structure the
things (and where to put them)!

BTW, I want to apologize for my execrable typing lately -- my fiance's
keyboard has keys that are slightly smaller than mine. His machine has the
modem, so I have to use it (growling the whole time). I'm already over
budget for my modem use this month (I guess it's time to raise the budget!),
so I've been trying to cut down on my logon time. I hope it hasn't
interfered with what I've been trying to say.

Bonni Graham
Manual Labour
President, SDSTC
BonniG -at- aol -dot- com


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