TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Perfect binding vs. 3-ring binders From:Laurence Burrows <burrows -at- IBM -dot- NET> Date:Sun, 27 Sep 1998 15:07:02 +1000
Horace Smith wrote:
--------------snip
2. Manuals in binders update easily. If the customer doesn't do the
update, that's not your problem.
--------------snip
Oh, but it is!
Unfiled Air Traffic Control amendments may kill more souls than just the
pilot, who, as a 'do it' person rather than a 'organiser', just never got
around to filing those amendments.
As a pilot and a publisher, I can attest to the number of unfiled
amendments I have seen in pilot's offices. The personality profile of a
successful pilot just doesn't match the task!
The only safe solution is the perfect / spiral bound manual with _big_
instructions:
. Take old manual; throw in rubbish bin.
. Open new manual. The coloured pages at the front summarize the changes.
After all, if your publication is not properly utilized by the intended
audience, then _you_ have failed just as surely as if you used the wrong
language or wrote the instructions so badly that they are incomprehensible.
