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Subject:Re: Policies and procedures docs?? From:Mike Ingram <MIngram -at- SCIENTECH -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 5 Feb 1999 08:33:57 -0700
At 08:41 AM 2/5/99 -0600, Jane Bergen wrote:
>Does anyone on the list have experience with projects that involve
>documenting policies and procedures? I've got plenty of experience with user
>guides, reference guides, and courseware, as well as informally documenting
>internal "policies-and-procedures" --- just nothing formal. Now I have a
>need....and fast!
>
>Can anyone point me to some URLs, books, or anything (especially that might
>have samples), or offer some pearls of wisdom from personal experiences?
>Thanks in advance.....
>
>
>janeber -at- CYBERRAMP -dot- NET
Hi Jane,
I've done a lot of this sort of thing, mostly for the Department of Energy,
Department of Defense and large companies, e.g., government contractors,
power plants and utilities.
If your work is for any of these or some similar organziation, you will
most likely be required to follow a policy and/or procedure guideline
document. I've seen these guidelines vary from a general organization
template to almost a fill-in-the-blank, you-must-do-it-like-this form.
Having been burned before, I strongly recommend you are sure you have any
such thing in your hands (it's no fun getting 2/3 done and having someone
say "Oh, have you seen this?")
If your work is not for an organization that has (or follows) existing
standards, the items below may help:
Writer's Guide for Technical Procedures - DOE Standard 1029-92
IEEE Standards Collection - Software Engineering, 1994
Science and Technical Writing - Philip Rubens, ed.
Fundamentals of Procedure Writing, Carol Zimmerman and John Campbell
A Style Guide for the Computer Industry, Sun Technical Publications
Technical Writing - Frances Emerson
Writing and Analyzing Effective Computer System Documentation - Ann Stuart
