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Subject:Re: Using Notes in User Manuals From:RoseCrowe <ncrowe -at- PRIMENET -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 30 Jan 1995 21:09:39 -0700
On Fri, 27 Jan 1995, Lianne Card/HQ/3Com wrote:
> My department is currently reevaluating how we use notes in our manuals.
> Cautions and warnings seem to have clear guidelines, because of their legal
> ramifications and evolution out of the Mil Spec and standards worlds. Using
> notes seems to be less well-defined for style and usage. How do you use
notes?
> What are their purpose? How many are too many?
In general, if you find yourself writing a note with more than one subject,
and you have to decide whether to have numbered notes or allow one note to
cover two subjects, you are probably documenting stuff that should be
documented in the text in a note. One of the problems may be "burying"
things inside of procedural steps that need to be an introduction.
Without knowing your subject, audience, and types of documentation,
I cannot really say, but if you have a lot of notes, you may have
an organization problem in your document.
Rosie (NorthCrowe)
ncrowe -at- primenet -dot- com
rwilc -at- fast -dot- dot -dot- state -dot- az -dot- us
*******
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