Chapter Heading Summary

["Daniel Hall" <misterhall -at- prodigy -dot- net>]

Greetings:

A week or two ago (so long already?), I posted a question about the title
for a section of a manual that contained troubleshooting information that
wasn't specific to any particular problem. This chapter covers such
information as which items should be checked first, how faults can be
isolated, etc. I also asked for ideas about its place in the overall flow of
the manual - did it belong in the front or back.

Thanks to everyone who responded. All the comments were much appreciated
{even the more pointed ones :) }, and several people offered excellent
suggestions.

For now (everything is temporary here) we have decided to call the section
_What to Do When All Else Fails_, and include it at the end of the manual,
with a reference to it at the end of each of the chapters along the lines of
" ... if this didn't help, see _What to Do When All Else Fails_ on page
xxx."

This has been a troublesome project. The idea - a manual to assist teachers
in resolving their own computer problems, before they call in expensive
outside help - is sound, but the execution is flawed for various reasons. It
is being driven by management, who insist that it cover too much. Apparently
the scope of the project is everything in the computer universe. It must
address "all possible" network problems, "most common" hardware problems,
Windows problems (there's a 50 vol. set of encyclopedias right there), etc.
Add to the scope the variety of hardware and software in use throughout the
district, and you begin see my problem. How do I get myself into these
things?

Again, thanks to all. Your assistance is greatly appreciated.


Dan Hall
danhall -at- consultant -dot- com