paper -
85 Documentation Aerobics: Toning and Streamlining Your "Body of Documentation"
Teresa
M. Craighead, Cornell University
-Have some of your publications gotten flabby? Have
all the rewrites and updates left them serviceable but overweight and awkward?
-Is it time to flex some technological muscle and
create services that require fewer instructions to use?
-Are your writers getting too much of a workout trying
to keep up with the workload?
If yes, then it's time to think about toning up some
of those old friends in your documentation library.
This presentation will focus on how the Publications
and Information Group, Cornell Information Technologies, Cornell University,
has, over a two-year period, streamlined and simplified its publications while
serving its audience better. The talk will be illustrated with before and after
examples of real publications and will focus on a five-step re-engineering
action plan:
1. Watch for and advocate technology changes that give
you the opportunity to simplify documentation.
2. Respond to changes in your audience.
3. Be aware of evolving technology issues.
4. Seize every opportunity to use the web and
disentangle yourself from the time-consuming and costly process of print
production.
5. Find ways to ease the print production burden.
This presentation will also focus on why it is
important to take the time to re-engineer documentation.
-New technologies are always nipping at our heels, and
they need attention.
-We can't continue to do more and more using the same
old models. We can save our sanity and improve our products in the process.
-People don't read and they suffer from information
overload. A lean document that is inviting and less intimidating may have more
of a chance of competing for attention.
The talk will end with a look at what's next on Cornell's re-engineering list and/or a discussion of re-engineering challenges facing technical communicators at other schools.