Re: Manuals on CD-ROM

[Cheryl Kidder <chekid -at- SYMIX -dot- COM>]

Kent:
The next version of our software will be shipped out entirely on CD-ROM and
the On-Line Help system will be on it as well.  The documentation dept's
responsibility was in coding the on-line system.  When that was done, the
code went to the production dept and they are handling all the duplication
and shipping.  My understanding is that by shipping your product out this
way you save money and minimize errors users run into when loading the
software.  The trick is to get all your users to invest in a CD-ROM.  I
imagine the savings alone would make it a useful change for your company.

Cheryl D. Kidder
Senior Tech Writer/Symix Inc.
Columbus, OH
chekid -at- symix -dot- com
 ----------
From: Kent Newton
To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
Subject: Manuals on CD-ROM
Date: Wednesday, January 24, 1996 11:07AM

Hello all,

Our company is investigating the possibility of distributing our manuals
on CD-ROM, possibly as an adjunct to paper distribution or possibly (to
my dismay) as a replacement for the paper distribution.

Anyway, I was wondering if anyone on the list has had experience with
this.  Is it practical?  What are the drawbacks?  What should we look for
in regards to technology?  Should we approach it like on-line help with
hyperlinks, or should we simply set it up like a manual and use a keyword
search engine?  And so on and so on and so on.  In other words, I know
nothing about it and could use all the collective advice and suggestions
you have.

I'd appreciate your help.

Kent Newton
Senior Technical Writer
Metrix, Inc.
kentn -at- metrix-inc -dot- com