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.
>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?
One question at a time....
>Has anybody released books with change bars? How did customers react?
I have, but I guess it's unfair of me to say so as they were in fact
military manuals. How did the customers react? If we didn't put them in,
the customer had a fit. And I'm not talking about bureaucratic-type
program managers. The people out on the flight lines wanted to see the
change bars as well.
>Is this, in fact, a requirement for ISO9000?
It is not.
>Do you feel that same gut
>feeling as I, that this isn't going to be useful in the long run?
Actually, I tend to side with the manager. It -is- a good way to track
the data. If your customers are using your manuals, eventually they are
going to become familiar enough with the procedures that they'll -stop-
reading the manual. As a result, when you send a revision, it's
necessary to give the user some type of indication that there's a change
in the procedure. Highlights like change bars can go a long way in that
respect.
In terms of the ISO 9000 matter. Although it's not a requirement, it
-does- help if you can look back at your manual later, and quickly
determine -when- a change was made. As it stands, if there's a question
concerning part of the documentation, you might search all day trying to
figure out why a particular paragraph reads as it does, or when it was
changed. With dated revision bars, you at least have a heads-up as to
the time that the change may have taken place.
Rick Lippincott
Boston Technology
Andover, MA
rjl -at- bostech -dot- com
TECHWR-L (Technical Communication) List Information: To send a message
to 2500+ readers, e-mail to TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU -dot- Send commands
to LISTSERV -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU (e.g. HELP or SIGNOFF TECHWR-L).
Search the archives at http://www.documentation.com/ or search and
browse the archives at http://listserv.okstate.edu/archives/techwr-l.html
