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Subject:Not reading manuals like a novel From:Arthur Comings <atc -at- CORTE-MADERA -dot- GEOQUEST -dot- SLB -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 13 Mar 1995 16:48:02 PST
As Bev Parks mentioned in a note to me:
>I guess it depends on just how you expect your readers
> to use your book/manual/guide. If they are going to read it from
> cover-to-cover or look for items/chapters using page numbers,
> then it really doesn't matter that all chapters begin on the
> right. If they are going to fan through it to find stuff, then
> chapter starts on the right would be the way to go.
One of the basic tenets of tech writing, of course, is that people
don't read from page 1 to the end, like they do with a novel. As I'm
sure you know, this has lots of ramifications for the way we present
and explain stuff; you mentioned one good one.
