Issues of Content and Presentation in Document Design

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on the issues of content and presentation in document design. Computer documentation includes many different categories of information, ranging from specific details of how to link up the hardware to general advice on how to get the best out of a sophisticated software application. Both kinds of information can be considered as advice to the user, but advice can inform, explain, or recommend. This range of functions varies from introductory tutorials for newcomers to the quick reference guides for those who know their way around the system and only need brief reminders of appropriate procedures or commands. Between these two extremes come other kinds of explanatory notes and reference manuals, sometimes intended for specialist users such as programmers and maintenance engineers. Within this variation in the function of documentation, there is also considerable variation in the medium of communication.

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