RE: Fun Questions for Professionals!

[BMcClain -at- centura -dot- com]

Gawd, Graham..."That is, I think I disagree." --John Lennon

Please cite the source and author of this article.  "Disorientated"?
Sheesh.




Bill McClain
("Writers are always selling somebody out."  - Joan Didion)


P.S.  Don't go to the well too many times in getting us to do your homework
for you.  There's a fine distinction between that and merely asking for
opinions.  Not to sound snotty, but the below is an awful lot of work to ask
of people who are already busy.


-----Original Message-----
From: Graham Hay [mailto:waxasaurus -at- home -dot- com]
Sent: Monday, October 30, 2000 10:39 AM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Fun Questions for Professionals!


Good Morning!  This is yet another, 'mad cap' ploy from a college
student to benefit from the experience of professionals!
Please take a look at the questions below and do not feel compelled to
answer any of them.  Even if you just answer one of them you would be
helping me a great deal.  Thanks to everyone who has been kind enough to
answer many of my questions already.


1.) Please read this paragraph I extracted from an online article.

Linear hypertext, in which you present hypertext nodes in the form of a
long, linear, scrolling window, is easier to mentally model -- it's
boringly easy to see and navigate the information layout.  Hypercard is
an exciting trip -- cool, I'm lost in hyper space!  The BookManager or
Jbuilder online viewers, on the other hand merely present traditional
books and chapters, placed online with hypertext links added to scroll
down to a particular heading.  In linear text you aren't disorientated.
You know where you are and you know where your information is.
Everything stays put.  It's static.  How boringly efficient.  The goal
for nonfiction documents is indeed to hold the reader's attention, to
entertain them in a way, but hopefully not by giving them the vertigo of
being lost in hyperspace.

Do you agree or disagree with this statement and Why?

2.)What is the difference between 'cards' and 'articles' when writing
online documentation?

3.) Please comment on the information listed below.
linear hardcopy - great
linear online - great
nonlinear hardcopy - bad (hypothetical; 5X8 index cards)
nonlinear online - bad

4.)  What is the solution to fragmentation and disorientation when
writing online documentation.

5.) What does it mean, exactly to create a single source (paper and
online)?

6.) Please describe some of the tools listed below.

7.) DO you view yourself as an information designer  -- making decisions
about how to structure materials so that multiple paths can be taken
through it?

8.) Please describe some of the following tools as best you can for
somebody unfamiliar with them.
DHTML
Acrobat
XML
Bookmanager
Jbuilder

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