Summary: Documentation on CD-ROM

[Reinhard Jaehnig <jaehnig_reinhard_rej-d -at- BETASYSTEMS -dot- COM>]

     A good week ago I asked several questions relating to publishing
     hardcopy and softcopy documentation. I received four replies --
     Many thanks to all who replied.

     The gist of it is:

     -   In one instance, a PDF-based CD-ROM has replaced paper
         documentation. The others provide hardcopy and softcopy
         documentation concurrently.

     -   The several formats get out of sync because updated
         paper documentation is provided less frequently than
         updated CD-ROMs. Completely up-to-date documentation
         is made available via the web.

     Following are extracts from the messages I received in reply
     to my post.

     Reinhard

     ******************************

     Q    How many publishing methods do you use concurrently, for example,
          paper, CD-ROM, internet. Do you try to keep them in sync ?

     A    Paper, CD-ROM (Acrobat), WinHelp, and HTML

     Q    How often do you provide updates for the CD-ROM ?

     A    Monthly

     Q    How often do you provide updates for the paper manuals ?

     A    One manual set for every 'integer' release (1.0, 2.0, 3.0,
          etc...). 'dot' releases (4.1, 4.2, etc...) are done via PDF
          on CD.

     Q    If your CD-ROM contains manuals for different products, does
          each customer have access to all documents or only to the
          documents for his product ?

     A    Our 'product' is a suite, of which all components may or may
          not be used. But we supply all documentation on all CDs. Reason?
          Think of it as a 'sneak prevue' for parts of the application the
          clients are not currently using but might be interested in.

     ******************************

     We recently began publishing our product documentation on CD-ROM.
     Previously we sent out hard copies; this was time-consuming, wasteful,
     and expensive! Now whenever we send out product to a customer or an
     upgrade to an existing customer, we include a CD with all the product
     documentation. The customer selects which documentation they would
     like to install, depending on which products they have purchased;
     all the documentation is available on the CD however. The CDs are
     updated with each version, approximately 3 times a year.

     The files are in PDF format. Users can install the PDF files on their
     hard drive or network, or print a copy if they prefer. We hope to
     include a Fast Fixes, FAQ, etc. page on our website, but it's still in
     development. I doubt that we will ever include all our documentation
     on the web.

     ******************************

     We simultaneously publish to hard copy, online help, Internet, and
     CD-ROM.

     We author in Framemaker and use a variety of tools to publish to the
     different sources (WebWorks/WebHelp creates HTML-based online help;
     Documentum publishes to Internet and CD-ROM.)

     The CD-ROM is updated monthly with any changes that writers have
     published. The manuals are updated only with major product releases.
     Internet can be updated daily if desired; it's all automated.

     ...

     We're a huge company with lots of people and money invested in all
     these pieces. It's not an inexpensive solution.


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