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Subject:Re: sanity check and intangibles From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- EXPERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 28 Aug 1996 11:33:25 -0700
>>Do you know what a
>>veliger is? I didn't, and wanted to change it to a better-understood term
>>(a larval mollusk; now you know!!). Then I found out my audience knew
>>veligers from mollusks like I know my phone number. What I would've
>>thought was helpful would've been perceived as patronizing.
>Thus, by not defining the word, you limit the
>future use of the document or the potential distribution of the document to
>populations familiar with "veliger" -- in this case, concentrated primarily
>in the great lakes region. So, where do we draw the line?
Providing a glossary solves the problem nicely without offending
the knowledgeable reader or slighting the novice. We've got lots
of devices in our collective bags-o-tricks -- like glossaries,
callouts, margin notes. Use them when you need to satisfy more
than just one audience. They work.
Sue Gallagher
sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com
-- The _Guide_ is definitive.
Reality is frequently inaccurate.
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