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Subject:Re: FW: On line vs hard copy From:Lynda Shindley <LShindley -at- ANGEION -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 16 Jun 1997 13:26:03 -0500
There are specific applications where online will not be effective. I work for a medical company, and our manuals must be shipped with the packaged product (FDA req.). Doctors and nurses will not take the time to read online manuals and print them at their leisure. Our company will be producing hardcopy for quite a while.
Lynda Shindley
lshindley -at- angeion -dot- com
>>> "Glaser, Phil" <P -dot- Glaser -at- DIALOGIC -dot- COM> 06/15 9:12 AM >>>
>
>My apologies if this has been chewed on and regurgitated (which makes it
>kosher if it also splits a hoof), but contientious lurking here for some
>time made me feel that hard copy documentation is going the way of dinosaurs
>to be replaced by online.
>Should this become a thread , I promise to summarize and post. If already
>beaten to death, could someone point me to a proper reference?
>
>[Glaser, Phil]
>I'm all for this becoming a thread. It is a hot issue in my shop right now.
>We try to "single source" everything, which means that we write hard copy
>with a doc-to-help template and it then gets transformed into HLP and PDF,
>the latter of whcih the customer can print. The customer can also order the
>bound hard copy from my company separately. This approach works fairly easily
>because with few exceptions we do not do context sensitive help (we document
>APIs and programmer's guides). I am beginning to feel very strongly, however,
>that the design requirements of hard copy and online help systems are
>different enough that they really ought to be addressed as separate animals.
>As to whether we should or should ot do hard copy, the simple answer is -- go
>out and ask your customers. My guess is that mostof them will tell you they
>prefer hard copy. But every audience is different.
>
>Regards,
>
>Phil Glaser
>
>
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