Re: Release Notes

Subject: Re: Release Notes
From: Steven Brown <stevenabrown -at- yahoo -dot- com>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 24 Sep 2001 06:52:00 -0700 (PDT)

Gav,

I don't think there's an "offical" definition of
release notes, just as there's no official definition
of administration manual, API guide, or quick
reference guide. Like all of the publication titles
that we and our co-workers toss around, "release
notes" means something different to different groups.

In my experience with release notes, you have the
release notes that developers/programmers write
(usually very badly) to document new functionality or
bug fixes. And then you have the release notes that we
tech writers prepare to inform users of new
functionality and bug fixes.

Are release notes a marketing document? No, I don't
think so. But the question raises the issue of what
distinguishes marketing collateral from technical
documentation. In my opinion, the distinction lies in
purpose and audience: marketing collateral is intended
to sell a product/service to customers; technical
documentation is intended to inform existing users how
to use a product/service. In the real world, making
that distinction isn't always easy, but it's a
starting point.

Steven Brown
Senior Technical Writer


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email alerts & NEW webcam video instant messaging with Yahoo! Messenger. http://im.yahoo.com

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

A landmark hotel, one of America's most beautiful cities, and
three and a half days of immersion in the state of the art:
IPCC 01, Oct. 24-27 in Santa Fe. http://ieeepcs.org/2001/

+++ Miramo -- Database/XML publishing automation. See us at +++
+++ Seybold SFO, Sept. 25-27, in the Adobe Partners Pavilion +++
+++ More info: http://www.axialinfo.com http://www.miramo.com +++

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.


References:
Release Notes: From: Gavin Ireland

Previous by Author: Re: Hardest part of getting started?
Next by Author: Re: Developing Charter for Documentation Dept.
Previous by Thread: Re: Release Notes
Next by Thread: Re: Release Notes


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads