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Re: "the following" or nothing -- what is IM's preference? (was:"Next" or "the following"... )

Subject: Re: "the following" or nothing -- what is IM's preference? (was:"Next" or "the following"... )
From: Jane Credland <circe -at- lmi -dot- net>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2006 14:10:22 -0800

Quoting Al Geist <al -dot- geist -at- geistassociates -dot- com>:

That may be true, but I agree with "following" versus below or next,
and if the cross-referenced material does not follow, then it should be
cross-referenced to a bookmark, figure, or section heading for clarity.
If nothing else, it saves the user/reader/viewer from rummaging around
the document to find out how much earlier or later the material being
referenced can be found.

I agree with Al.

Another potential issue with using above/below/next comes when the documentation is translated. We translate into 11 languages currently, and that really impacts our word choice. Above/below/next may be accepted non-spatial use in English, but that's not necessarily the case in other cultures or languages.

We avoid "following" wherever possible. If the procedures directly follow a title, then we don't have a stem sentence. I saw an example of that in an earlier post.

And if the "following" or "below" item occurs in another section, then we use a cross-reference instead of expecting the reader/user/viewer to go chasing through the subsequent text/topics to find the appropriate item.

Jane



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References:
RE: "the following" or nothing -- what is IM's preference? (was:"Next" or "the following"... ): From: Chinell, David F \(GE Indust, Security\)
Re: "the following" or nothing -- what is IM's preference? (was:"Next" or "the following"... ): From: Al Geist

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