Certainly I don't advocate the use of MIL specs for preparing commercial manuals. I do know, however, that most tech writers who produce manuals for commercial products remain blissfully unaware of the problems caused by their outputs.
Unlike typical users of commercial products, most users of MIL=SPEC manuals have received thorough training on the systems they will maintain/operate, including classroom exposure to the manuals they will use after they graduate. Nevertheless, they frequently foul up, and sometimes it's because the manual is poorly written or deficient in other ways. Unlike the commercial world, the military reacts by investigating manual-caused snafus, and taking corrective action, which may include modification of both the training and the manuals. All I was trying to say is that tech writers in the non-military world should take advantage of remedial measures taken by the military to minimize foul-ups. One such remedial measure was to require blank pages to have the infamous "THIS PAGE LEFT INTENTIONALLY BLANK" appear in the middle of each empty page. The absence of this statement on a blank page assures that the reader knows something is missing. The military learned the necessity of this measure the hard way, yet the general ridicule this subject receives each time it arises is equivalent to ridiculint the fact that car manufacturers discovered it was wise to prevent idiots from starting their automobile while the shift lever is set to reverse. --- "Combs, Richard" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Daniel Emory wrote: > > > The fact is that the US military is the only true > laboratory > > where technical documentation is subjected to > extensive > > post-publication review to determine its > effectiveness in the > > real world. Findings resulting from analyses of > actual > > foul-ups lead to continuing improvements in tech > manual > > instructions. Those who write manuals for > non-military > > applications ought to also take advantage of that > laboratory. > > First there was "only one way." Now there's the > "only true laboratory." > I'm seeing a pattern here... > > Ever hear the (chiefly British) expression "horses > for courses"? :-) > > Don't get me wrong -- I'm a huge fan of the US > military (especially when > they're killing Islamofascists). I donate to > Soldier's Angels, the USO, > VFW, PVA, ... > > But if some edict were to declare that henceforth > all technical > documentation everywhere must be done to MIL specs, > I suspect I'd change > professions or retire. At the least, I'd have to go > on anti-depressants. Dan Emory & Associates FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to Framers as [EMAIL PROTECTED] Send list messages to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.