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Subject:Revision Numbers From:Rebecca Phillips <Rebecca -at- QRONUS -dot- CO -dot- IL> Date:Thu, 23 Jan 1997 16:29:38 +0200
Techwhirlers:
A new manager has been implanted at our company (a welcome change). Her
experience has been in a highly-structured organization that dealt with
military computer systems, and they were hot on using a lot of strict
specifications. However, I am hesitant about two of the suggestions she
has made for the documentation, and I would like to bounce them off of
you guys (she thought that was a great idea, too.) I wrote two separate
mails since they are two separate questions.
Part 1.
When I integrate new version changes into the manual, she would like to
include change bars (revision marker in the margin) to show where the
change has taken place in the manual. Next to the change bar, the
software version number would appear, so that you would have an exact
record of when the change was implemented. I don't mean she wants these
changes for SME reviews. She wants the CUSTOMER to get the final draft
of the manual WITH CHANGE BARS so that the customer can see the new
features.
I am not concerned about technical issues of "how to" implement. I want
to get feedback on "whether to implement". I am concerned that this
change will interfere with the manuals' readability. She believes that
these changes are more conventional and that they will help us (one day)
get ISO9000 certification. She says that this is great for an existing
customer who doesn't want to read through the whole manual again (as if
he'd read it the first time) to find out what has changed.
Has anybody released books with change bars? How did customers react? Is
this, in fact, a requirement for ISO9000? Do you feel that same gut
feeling as I, that this isn't going to be useful in the long run?
Rebecca
Rebecca M. Phillips
Documentation Manager
Qronus Interactive Ltd.
Automated System Testing http://www.qronus-int.com
rebecca -at- qronus -dot- co -dot- il
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