Re: Dos and don'ts for R & D

[Dick Gaskill <dickg -at- AG3D -dot- COM>]

Jane,
Well, I wasn't going to post this to the group (don't like to clutter up
lists), but since you asked, here's part of my doc review cover sheet
for a combination h/w & s/w manual.  It's in FM5.1, so I've just cut and
pasted some of the text.
HTH
-dg

Table 1.  Who Checks What
Tech Pubs -  Everything
QA - Installation, Configuration,  and Options. In addition, check all
hypertext links.
Marketing -  Overall look and feel, product description, and
applications info
Engineering - All technical specifications
Support -  Contact info, installation procedures, application info.

Table 2.  What to Check For:
Technical accuracy - Is the included information correct?  If not, note
the correct info on the page.
Omitted information - Is the included information complete?  If not, add
the needed info or reference to it on the page.
Easy access of information - Is the important information easy to find.
If not, make suggestions to fix.
Organization - In on-line documents, the material need not be in order
as users can click on the hypertext links to jump to any linked topic.
However, the material covering each topic should be in logical order and
easy to follow.  If not, explain.
Appropriate graphics - Are the illustrations helpful? Are they correct?
If not, explain.
Audience level - Is the material too technical, not technical enough, or
ok?)  If not, explain.
Formatting errors, typos, etc. - (Note that this is LAST)

> ----------
> From:         Bergen, Jane[SMTP:janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM]
> Reply To:     Bergen, Jane
> Sent:         Tuesday, February 24, 1998 6:55 AM
> To:   TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject:      Re: Dos and don'ts for R & D
>
> Well, if anyone DOES have a checklist like this, please post it to the
> GROUP (or copy me, too, please). My engineers and QA staff have asked
> for this kind of thing but I have simply not had the time (I'm the
> lone
> writer here).
>
> Thanks,
>
> Jane Bergen
>
> P.S. Steve Williams, check your email settings. I'm seeing a "=20=" at
> the end of each line. Thanks.
>
> Jane Bergen, Technical Writer,
> AnswerSoft, Inc.     Richardson, TX
> (972) 997-8355
> janeb -at- answersoft -dot- com
>
>
> On Tuesday, February 24, 1998 1:14 AM, Steve Williams
> [SMTP:steve -dot- williams -at- ASCOMTATECO -dot- SE] wrote:
> > I'd like to put together a list of "Dos and Don'ts" to be used by
> our
> R&D =20=
> > =20
> > people
> > when checking the factual content of technical documents. It seems
> that  =20
> > they all have different ideas on what has to be checked and how
> suggested =20=
> > =20
> > changes should be indicated in the document.
> >
> > Before embarking on such an enterprise I thought it best to check
> with
> =20
> > you people in case someone has some pointers. Perhaps someone has
> already =20=
> > =20
> > done something like this.
> >
> > TIA
> >
> > /Steve Williams =20
> >
> >
> >
> ~~
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> TECHWR-L)
> > Search archives at:
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>
>
> ~~
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