Trends in documentation delivery?

[David Gibbs <david.gibbs@xxxxxxx>]

Folks:

A techwriter in my office just asked me a question about trends in
documentation delivery...

We understand that a lot of documentation is being deliveried as
softcopy (HTML, PDF, Bookmanager, etc)... but we're interested in
standards for HARDCOPY documentation (huh?  What's that?)

Does anyone know what style guidelines IBM follows for hardcopy
documentation?  For example, fonts for keys a user types, information a
user types (on a command line or parameter line) and so on.  What is the
style usage for bolding, italicizing, quotation marks?  What style is
used when referencing a field name or menu option in text?

Also, it's been so long since I've actually installed a new machine,
what documentation does IBM actually deliver with a new system?  What's
the current format of the softcopy documentation delivered?  Bookmanager
still?

Thanks very much!

david (with Kathy looking over his shoulder)

--

David Gibbs
Sr. Software Engineer
Mortice Kern Systems US, Inc.
900 Oakmont Lane, Suite 400
Westmont, IL  60559
DID: (630) 734-5451
http://www.mks.com
work mailto:david.gibbs@xxxxxxxx
home mailto:david@xxxxxxxx.xxx

Opinions expressed are strictly my own and do
not necessarily reflect those of my employer

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  - Socrates