RE: [dita-adoption-help] definition of Help

["Bruce Nevin (bnevin)" <bnevin@cisco.com>]

Just for clarification, why? Are we defining Help authoring?  

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ian balanza-davis [mailto:ibalanza_davis@yahoo.co.uk] 
> Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 2:58 PM
> To: Bruce Nevin (bnevin); cgoolsby@ptc.com; 
> dita-adoption-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> Subject: RE: [dita-adoption-help] definition of Help
> 
> I think in all these cases, we would be best sticking to 
> navigation elements authors have control over.  I am not sure 
> search falls into that -- at least not without becoming an index.
> 
> On Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:36 GMT Bruce Nevin (bnevin) wrote:
> 
> >Right! And also not unique to Help. 
> > 
> >More generally, these are all means for identifying THE 
> relevant bit of 
> >content and presenting it, and any other such means that can be 
> >imagined and implemented can be "optional characteristics" of Help. 
> >That rather vitiates the notion "optional characteristic". Google's 
> >search algorithms (and underlying them their intensive statistical 
> >analyses of huge bodies of content) would be very Helpful.
> > 
> >The ToC can in addition be a high-level overview of the 
> structure of a 
> >subject matter. Other presentations, such as a radial tree or a 
> >'mind-map' sort of graph can also serve this function.
> >
> >
> >________________________________
> >
> >	From: Goolsby, Chris [mailto:cgoolsby@ptc.com] 
> >	Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 2:12 PM
> >	To: Bruce Nevin (bnevin);
> >dita-adoption-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> >	Subject: RE: [dita-adoption-help] definition of Help
> >	
> >	
> >
> >	Do we want to address search at all? You talk about ToC 
> and Index. 
> >Maybe search is an optional characteristic?
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	Chris Goolsby
> >
> >	PTC-Arbortext
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	From: Bruce Nevin (bnevin) [mailto:bnevin@cisco.com] 
> >	Sent: Friday, January 21, 2011 12:47 PM
> >	To: dita-adoption-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> >	Subject: RE: [dita-adoption-help] definition of Help
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	Right, modular is an ambiguous term, and inspecific. 
> >
> >		>> May help with a user domain separate from 
> its software vehicle.<<
> >
> >		Do you mean that Online Help doesn't have to be 
> associated with a 
> >piece of software? Or do you mean that some content in a software's 
> >Help might describe indirectly-associated concepts, business 
> rules and 
> >the like?
> >
> >	I meant the latter, e.g. a museum exhibit. Guidance for 
> conflict of 
> >interest, insider trading, and the like might be examples of 
> business 
> >rules. I'm sure you had other examples in mind, what are they?
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	Here's another take which I think addresses your points.
> >
> >	_____________________________________________________________
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	What is Online Help?
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	Essential characteristics:
> >
> >	*	It is user-assistance documentation. 
> >	*	It is presented by a computer. 
> >	*	Each topic is presented separately. (Like a website.) 
> >	*	In-topic links support navigation to other topics. (Like
> >a website.) 
> >	*	A ToC, if provided, links to topics. (Unlike that in a
> >book.) 
> >	*	An Index, if provided, links to topics. (Unlike that in
> >a book.)
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	Optional characteristics:
> >
> >	*	It documents a software product. 
> >	*	It is integrated with the UI of that product. 
> >	*	Parts of the UI may be linked to topics written about
> >them. (Embedded help.) 
> >	*	Procedural steps may be linked to parts of the UI used
> >to execute them. (Online coach.)
> >
> >	 
> >
> >	Ancillary considerations:
> >
> >	*	The location of the content (e.g. local disk, website,
> >cloud) is immaterial. 
> >	*	The type of display (e.g. CLI, GUI, kiosk, audio, video,
> >mixed media) may constrain the content.
> >
> >		 
> >
> >________________________________
> >
> >		From: Tony Self [mailto:tself@hyperwrite.com] 
> >		Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 8:44 PM
> >		To: Bruce Nevin (bnevin);
> >dita-adoption-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> >		Subject: RE: [dita-adoption-help] definition of Help
> >
> >		Hi Bruce
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		Here are some thoughts.
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		>> Modular--relatively short topics<<
> >
> >		Modular might not be the right term to use, 
> because "modular Help" is 
> >used commonly to describe multiple Help systems that are merged at 
> >runtime to be delivered as a virtual single Help system.
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		>> May help with a user domain separate from 
> its software vehicle.<<
> >
> >		Do you mean that Online Help doesn't have to be 
> associated with a 
> >piece of software? Or do you mean that some content in a software's 
> >Help might describe indirectly-associated concepts, business 
> rules and 
> >the like?
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		I think we also need to define "online".
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		Regards
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		Tony Self
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		From: Bruce Nevin (bnevin) [mailto:bnevin@cisco.com] 
> >		Sent: Friday, 21 January 2011 8:43 AM
> >		To: dita-adoption-help@lists.oasis-open.org
> >		Subject: [dita-adoption-help] definition of Help
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		I see
> >http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita-adoption/DITA_Help_Technologi
> es_Guide_A
> >l
> >location
> ><http://wiki.oasis-open.org/dita-adoption/DITA_Help_Technolog
> ies_Guide_
> >A
> >llocation>  that I am on the hook for a definition of Help. Here's a
> >quick draft for comment.
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		What is Online Help?
> >
> >		*	User assistance documentation. 
> >		*	Modular--relatively short topics, in some forms
> >(e.g. rollover) smaller than a topic. 
> >		*	Delivered online by software, either locally or
> >on the web. 
> >		*	Usually integrated with the UI of the software
> >that it documents. 
> >
> >			*	May help with a user domain separate
> >from its software vehicle. 
> >			*	Is a kiosk or a guide to an exhibit
> >online Help?
> >
> >		*	May be context sensitive (linked to user action
> >or location or the state of the application).
> >
> >		These characteristics usually compel the Help 
> developer to address 
> >the problem of relevance that is central to all
> >documentation: access to the relevant topic from the context of need.
> >
> >		 
> >
> >		All user assistance documentation is part of 
> the user interface; a 
> >Help system only more obviously so.
> >
> >		    /B
> >
> 
> 
> 
>       
> 
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