TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: Mosaic as an online documentation viewing engine?
Subject:Re: Mosaic as an online documentation viewing engine? From:"harold (h.o.n.) floysvik" <hal -at- BNR -dot- CA> Date:Tue, 20 Dec 1994 11:23:00 -0500
In message "Mosaic as an online documentation viewing engine?",
patricko -at- EICON -dot- com writes:
> ... SNIP .................
> Re:
> Re:Never mind the FIRST hurdle: getting people weaned from paper-based, bound
> Re:docs. Hell, *I* still prefer the heft and presence of bound manuals; how am
> Re:I supposed to convince *users* that online docs are better?
> Re:
FWIW... I like using online help *when* they are useful, relevant, and
sufficient. For example, back in the mainframe days I gladly weaned
myself of the printed REXX and XEDIT manuals because I found the help
system sufficient. Besides, with the exception of only a very few
convoluted, feature ridden commands, the book and the screen were
usually identical.
I also find MS Help to be useful too; I only wish the damn thing would
return me to the find menu (or whatever it is called) at the point
i *left* it. I hate like hell to re-enter my search arguements just to
check out other sub-items.
On the other hand, I have never found online help systems to be a good way
to learn something from scratch. For reference purposes, OK, but for a long
dissertation I much prefer hardcopy (the book, not the TV show).
