Re: The word "documentation"

["Ridder, Fred" <F -dot- Ridder -at- DIALOGIC -dot- COM>]

Mark Dempsey <Mark -dot- Dempsey -at- osi -dot- com> wrote (in part):

>Websters' first (and most applicable) definition for "documentation" is
>this: "the act or an instance of furnishing or authenticating with
>documents."
>
>It's always annoyed me that this perfectly good noun has also been used
>to described manuals, guides, etc.  "Documentation" is the *act* of
>writing manuals, according to Websters, not the manuals themselves.

It is important to note that Webster's lists definitions in historical
order rather than in order of applicability or common use. (This is one
of the things I like least about Webster's dictionary.)  To quote from
the Explanatory Notes in Webster's Ninth: "The order of senses
within an entry is historical: the sense known to have been used
first in English is entered first."

In other words, the definition you want us to use for the word
"documentation" is the original use of the word, dating back to 1884.

I would say that in the context of technical writing, the fourth (and
most recent) definition in Webster's aptly applies:
"the usu. printed instructions, comments, and information for using
a particular piece or system of computer software or hardware".

Fred Ridder  (mailto:f -dot- ridder -at- dialogic -dot- com)
Senior Technical Writer
Dialogic Corporation, Parsippany, NJ

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