Editing to improve online information

  • Authors:
  • Dennis Bockus

  • Affiliations:
  • IBM Toronto Software Solutions Laboratory, 4T/847/1150/TOR, Toronto, ON

  • Venue:
  • IPCC/SIGDOC '00 Proceedings of IEEE professional communication society international professional communication conference and Proceedings of the 18th annual ACM international conference on Computer documentation: technology & teamwork
  • Year:
  • 2000

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Abstract

Online documentation has provided new challenges for information developers. At the IBM Toronto lab, those challenges have led us editors to alter the work we do. We have found that the nonlinear nature of HTML information webs makes quality control more crucial and difficult than it was when our information appeared in books. Editors provide both guidelines and quality assurance to try to maintain consistency. We have also redefined our role to include a number of information architecture activities in an effort to help writers create an information structure that makes sense to users. In the Toronto lab, editors are an essential part of the information development process.