Comments on: When just-in-time electronic documentation is a really good idea http://www.texttechnologies.com/2008/06/08/when-just-in-time-electronic-documentation-is-a-really-good-idea/ Understanding technology ... in both senses of the phrase Sun, 12 Feb 2012 01:32:23 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.3 By: Curt Monash http://www.texttechnologies.com/2008/06/08/when-just-in-time-electronic-documentation-is-a-really-good-idea/#comment-42221 Curt Monash Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:53:57 +0000 http://www.texttechnologies.com/?p=231#comment-42221 Daniel, I really don't think Marklogic prints out many volumes of documentation on paper, or otherwise makes it hard to get at. The core technology IS a kind of search engine, after all. I'll confess to not having asked the exact product design. Perhaps somebody from Mark Logic can add some detail here. Best, CAM Daniel,

I really don’t think Marklogic prints out many volumes of documentation on paper, or otherwise makes it hard to get at. The core technology IS a kind of search engine, after all.

I’ll confess to not having asked the exact product design. Perhaps somebody from Mark Logic can add some detail here.

Best,

CAM

]]> By: Daniel Tunkelang http://www.texttechnologies.com/2008/06/08/when-just-in-time-electronic-documentation-is-a-really-good-idea/#comment-42195 Daniel Tunkelang Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:40:51 +0000 http://www.texttechnologies.com/?p=231#comment-42195 Just-in-time electronic documentation is a really good idea--anyone who has worked in software development or consulting can tell you that! But having the information isn't enough; the question is whether you can find the specific information you need. Printing out the documents deemed most likely to be relevant to a particular context is one way to address the findability issue, and has the virtue of being low-tech, but it seems to unnecessarily mimic the physical limitations of the flight bag. The scarcest resource for information seekers is not storage, it's human attention. I've never worked on a flight crew, but I know that I'd rather have an interactive system that helps me hone in on my actual problem than be searching through a manual, however custom, that tried to anticipate all of the problems I might have. Not trying to ding Mark Logic here--just pointing out that custom publishing is hardly a panacea for information seekers. Just-in-time electronic documentation is a really good idea–anyone who has worked in software development or consulting can tell you that! But having the information isn’t enough; the question is whether you can find the specific information you need.

Printing out the documents deemed most likely to be relevant to a particular context is one way to address the findability issue, and has the virtue of being low-tech, but it seems to unnecessarily mimic the physical limitations of the flight bag.

The scarcest resource for information seekers is not storage, it’s human attention. I’ve never worked on a flight crew, but I know that I’d rather have an interactive system that helps me hone in on my actual problem than be searching through a manual, however custom, that tried to anticipate all of the problems I might have.

Not trying to ding Mark Logic here–just pointing out that custom publishing is hardly a panacea for information seekers.

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