Re: Handling revisions

[Geoff Davis <davisg -at- SMTPGW -dot- LIEBERT -dot- COM>]

Liz,

Our company recently decided to revise each manual quarterly from the date it
was released. We reasoned that this was adequate for both old and new products.
For old products with few or no revisions, we will assess the quantity and
importance of the information and decide whether or we should update the manual.
For newer products, revisions are frequent. Again, three months is probably a
reasonable interval considering the amount of time it takes to process the
information.

Three ring binders? Absolutely. If you only revise a few pages, you are throwing
an enormous amount of money away printing the entire book after each update. Our
manuals are divided into sections, so if page one is our revised page, and we
have *added* text, the worst we will have to do is send out the entire section
beginning with page one, not the entire manual.

I'm looking for advice on the best way to handle documentation revisions.  I'm
 working on a software development project.  We currently release updates every
 month or so.  Originally I suggested that we prepare our manuals in 3-ring
 binders so that revisions could be handled relatively easily.  That suggestion
 was vetoed because of the initial cost of the binders.  (I don't know why but
 the cost of REPRINTING an entire manual didn't seem to be an issue.)  Anyway,
 now we're forced to prepare "loose change pages" that cannot be secured into
 the original spiral-bound manuals.  I find this method to be completely
 inappropriate, but I don't know how to change the situation.

I'm interested in hearing about how other people handle their updates and what
 suggestions you might have for my situation.

Thanks.

Liz K.