Numbering Systems for Technical Service Manuals

[Daniel Emory]

--- "Linda G. Gallagher" <lindag at techcomplus.com>
wrote:
> I only use that type of numbering when a client
> insists on it. Typically,
> those clients are engineers with content targeting
> other engineers.
==================================
The complaint that prompted Ms. Gallagher's response
was that multi-level numbering schemes "looked
clunky," the implication being that such numbering
offended the writer's esthetic sensibilities. Ms.
Gallagher's response is a laughable explanation for
when (or why) multi-level numbering of topics (as well
as tables and graphics) might be necessary. 

No doubt most engineers use such numbering schemes
because it is the only assured way to avoid ambiguity
when you reference something. The legal profession
uses such numbering schemes for the same reason. Then
there are the military and the Air Trasport
Association (ATA) (among many others) which also
require such numbering schemes because a number
provides a way to double-check that that the user is
following the correct procedure.

Someone else pointed out (correctly) that the concept
of a content management system (CMS) also imposes a
requirement for such numbering schemes in order to
facilitate the retrieval from a CMS of the particular
information needed by a user. To implement this, the
value of each level of a multi-level number appears in
a separate attribute (ala ATA DTDs, where the
attributes are named Chapter, Section, Subject, Page
Block, Task, and Subtask). Inspection Work Cards in
the ATA system identify the applicable number(s)
associated with each task or subtask identified on an
individual work card. If the inspection results in the
need for some corrective action, the multi-level task
number specified on the work card is used to retrieve
that task from the CMS. The user can then verify that
the number on the delivered content matches the number
specified on the work card for that task. This process
of number re-verification is an essential ingredient
of a zero-tolerance maintenance environment.

Producing technical manuals of any substantial size
and scope demands an appropriate multi-level numbering
scheme, not just for titled text, but also for titled
tables and graphics.

Even relatively simple on-line help docs should have
some sort of numbering scheme. Typically, users who
can't figure out something from the on-line help will
resort to a customer help line or in-house expert. If
the user can give the help specialist the number of
the particular on-line help content where the user is
stuck, ambiguity is eliminated, a successful
resolution of the problem is more likely, and the time
to arrive at the correct solution is likely to be
minimized.


 

Dan Emory & Associates
FrameMaker/FrameMaker+SGML Document Design & Database Publishing
<danemory7224 at sbcglobal.net>