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Re: Living documents?

Subject: Re: Living documents?
From: Peter Neilson <neilson -at- alltel -dot- net>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 15 May 2006 22:48:01 -0400

"Living document" is a term for casting aspersions on
the existing documentation without actually calling it
dead. "We need to make this a living document," can be
read as saying anything from, "I don't care for these
docs," to, "I want myself (or my flunky) to have a
permanent job revising this sucker."

Actually, any document for an ongoing product that gets
changed on a somewhat regular schedule actually should
be updated frequently. At least a portion of a full-time
tech writer should be dedicated to the project.

John Posada wrote:

Bingo -- thanks for proving my point. To be a "living document," must it constantly change, or does it merely need to get used a lot? Not every company would agree on this.


I think to define a document as "living", it must satisfy three
criteria:

- It is changed regularly. A document that changes once in a
long-while, like every couple of years, doesn't meet the criteria.
- It has to be accessed regulrly and because of this access, it is
changed regularly.
- It has to be on a subject that evolves. like an active product.
Because of this product's evolution, the document is accessed
regularly, and because of this regular access, the document changes
regularly.
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References:
RE: Living documents?: From: John Posada

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