style guide (for programmers) -- references q

Subject: style guide (for programmers) -- references q
From: Sharon Belville <belville -at- MIT -dot- EDU>
Date: Fri, 10 Jan 1997 13:35:13 EST

Hi folks,

I'm about to move from an academic environment (writing internal computer
docs for students) to being the sole writer in a software startup. One of
the developers asks this question:

> i'm working on this style guide, which is
> coming along very well, but being new to commercial documentation i'm not
> sure of the best way to cite my sources. in a research paper, i'd cite
> ideas individually with endnotes, but i don't know if that's really
> appropriate for commercial documentation. at the same time, i can't pass
> off all these insights as my own.

Another techie adds this comment:

> You've stumped the panel. I guess I've seen more footnotes than endnotes,
> but what I personally prefer when reading said doc is an annotated
> bibliography.

And now they're deferring to me. But I'm also a newbie at "commercial"
documentation, and can't find any examples or guidelines on my bookshelf.

Any thoughts? The style guide in question is for applications developers
-- our product being a software development toolkit.

Thanks much,

Sharon Belville
belville -at- altech -dot- com

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