Re: Anyone take Information Mapping course recently? (last 5-7 years)

[Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com>]

I took it back in about 2000, 2001 (yes, outside of your date range but
apparently not theirs!). It was called "Mastering Policies, Procedures, and
Documentation" then, too.

Truthfully, I found that it wasn't teaching me much that I hadn't already
figured out on my own. My conclusion was that good writers eventually come
up with pretty similar methods, and that the course was either a nice tick
box for a good, experienced writer's resume or a good jump start for an
inexperienced writer as far as information organization and how to chunk
information.

If you're using Word, they have (or had) a well-developed add-on for
incorporating Information Mapping formatting such as procedure tables and
the like. I was using Frame at the time (and am again), so that wasn't
included for me.

They are BIG subscribers to the 7Â2 rule. [I find that, like with most
things in tech docs, that depends on your audience and what you're trying
to do. Sometimes it really DOES take 40 steps to do something, there really
IS no way to chunk it out, and trying to force it to 7Â2 can be actively
detrimental. Mileages vary.]

HTTH,

and now ... the WEEKEND

On Fri, Oct 24, 2014 at 3:52 PM, Janoff, Steven <Steven -dot- Janoff -at- hologic -dot- com>
wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I was wondering if anyone on the list had taken the formal Information
> Mapping course within the last 5 years or so, through the company out of
> Waltham, Mass.
>
> If so, I'd be very interested in hearing your thoughts about what it did
> or didn't do for you.
>
> Please feel free to post on-list if you are comfortable doing that, or
> offlist if not.
>
> The current relevant course, I believe, is "Mastering Policies,
> Procedures, and Documentation."
>
> Many years ago they taught a course specifically focusing on documentation
> (I believe Horn himself taught that one in the 80's), but they no longer
> offer this.
>
> I know "last 5-7 years" doesn't sound like recent.  However, the InfoMap
> folks tell me that the method hasn't changed in 40 years.  So a course from
> 5-7 years ago will still be relevant to whether the material is applicable
> today.
>
> Thanks very much for your time and consideration on this one.
>
> I look forward to hearing your thoughts and feelings.
>
> Steve
>
>
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-- 
Lin Sims

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