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: Full text searches From:Tony Ioven/Voice Processing Corp <Tony_Ioven/Voice_Processing_Corp -at- VPRO -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 21 Mar 1996 07:37:50 -0600
Tim Altom writes...
>>When we empower the user, we also burden the user.
>>It's a Hobbs choice. I prefer to err on the side of anticipating
>>the client's needs and trying to take most of the burden on
>>myself.
Why does it have to be EITHER a keyword search or full-text search? Why not
follow Microsoft's lead and offer both? I don't think we're imposing a burden
on users by offering them a choice.
Also, are you giving enough credit to your "lowest-denominator" audience? I
don't think a user needs to be a terribly sophisticated to define a focused
search. I guess I don't see it as the burden you describe.
I think full-text searches are a great feature -- so good, in fact, that it may
well replace keyword searches as a general search tool, leaving keyword
searches to specialized uses such as ALink macro searches for Related Topics.
