>At 13:25 03/06/2001, you wrote:
>>There are two major forms of documentation, online help text and printed
>>manuals. There are strong proponents of both. However if you look at the
>>questions asked on this list it is completely obvious that almost no one
>>reads the printed manuals.
>
>There is an expression in the IT industry, "RTFM". One
>interpretation of this is: Read that fine Manual. Other variations
>exist, depending on the level of annoyance of the person being asked
>for help about a basic issue.
>
>It *is* a fine manual, folks. Do read it.
>
There are no doubt some folks whose first reaction on hitting a
problem is to shout, "Somebody tell me what to do!" There are also,
however, a whole lot of folks who "don't do manuals." Either that's
not how their mind works, or they aren't yet familiar enough with the
system to ask the questions that the manual answers. My first
reaction when someone asks a basic question is RTFM, but if I manage
to suppress that for 30 milliseconds or so, it changes to sympathy
for a new user trying to find a way through the jungle, and the
thought, "What can we do to the manual to make it reach this person?"
Online documentation is one good effort. It's becoming more common so
more people will be familiar with using it, and it's searchable so
you can ask odd questions and get a reasonable answer.
--
Dave Shaw Northwest Classics, Inc
tel: 206-954-7526 fax: 206-625-1338
------------------
Reminder to each recipient: To change your list account preferences, go to
http://email.sparklist.com/scripts/lyris.pl?enter=support and enter the email address
you used to subscribe to the ebase support list:: [email protected]
To unsubscribe send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
---------------------------------------------------------------------
ebase - Relationship Management for Nonprofits, http://www.ebase.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
