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Subject:Re: Question about web-based search options? From:Steven Brown <stevenabrown -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 1 Dec 2004 08:27:40 -0800 (PST)
I'm very interested in how search techologies will
affect the way we organize and publish online help.
Personally, I think the popularity and pervasiveness
of the Yahoos and Googles of the world will almost
require technical writers to rely more on search
engines and less on a traditional, book-like structure
and index.
It's easy for us to rely on a TOC and index, because
that is what we know and probably prefer to use
ourselves. Like many of you, I enjoy the process of
drilling down through a series of chapters, sections,
and subsections to find the information I need, but my
success depends on how well the writer and editor
organized the information, particularly information
that spans many subject areas. And yes, an index is
great, but we all know how much time and money is
alloted to creating a really good one!
At the end of the day, I think most users will tend to
use a search engine to find information before they'll
refer to a TOC or use an index. The good news for us
TWs is that we're typically managing a finite universe
of information (rather than the entire World Wide
Web), so fine-tuning our content, metadata, and search
query handling should be relatively easy.
I think we'd all be wise to spend some time learning
and studying how our users prefer to find information.
The last time I sat through usability sessions, most
of our users couldn't even find the online help much
less navigate the TOC or index. It was downright
painful to watch!
Steven Brown
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