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Subject:Re: Ig Nobel documentation From:Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com> To:Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> Date:Tue, 23 Oct 2018 11:54:25 -0400
People still index! At my current company, any document over about 20 pages
(not including covers, TOCs, generated lists and legal stuff) gets an
index. This is a first for me, and I've been enjoying learning how to
create a (hopefully) good index.
On a personal basis, if a PDF document has an index, that's the first place
I look if I'm trying to find information. TOC is second. Searching is
third.
On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 11:25 AM Gene Kim-Eng <techwr -at- genek -dot- com> wrote:
> If you're referring to printed matter intended to provide
> instructions for end users, has been for some time, superseded by
> printed matter intended to provide legal CYA for product liability.
> Consumer products that contain tech have largely moved to embedded
> help.
>
> Behind the scenes and "under the hood," tech writing is alive and
> well. My current computer came with a single glossy "Getting Started"
> card and a pile of safety notices, but when I went looking on the
> manufacturer's website I was able to download the 70+ page service
> manual, an old-fashioned "book" PDF complete with a cover and a TOC.
>
> I'm presently working on a Preventive Maintenance manual for a
> semiconductor fab tool. 600+ pages. The Operator Manual for the same
> tool is 280+ pages.
>
> One thing that does seem to be dead and buried everywhere I've been
> for years now is indexing. With most docs going to PDF or web only
> delivery, Acrobat search seems to have taken the place of an index for
> a lot of documentation. I wonder how long it will be before the
> bookmarks pane kills the TOC.
>
> Gene Kim-Eng
>
>
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 5:28 AM Peter Neilson <neilson -at- windstream -dot- net>
> wrote:
> >
> > Traditional tech writing is now fully obsolete
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Lin Sims
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