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As the software industry was developing, the question of how to best document software programs was undecided. This was a unique problem for software developers, since users often became frustrated with current help documents. Some considerations for writing a user guide that developed at this time
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to users (staff, students...), organized into steel binders, locked together in one monolithic steel reading rack, bolted to a table or counter, with pages organized for modular information updates, replacement, errata, and addenda.
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are book-like documents with contents similar to the above list. They may be distributed either in print or electronically. Some documents have a more fluid structure with many internal links. The
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applications, where groups of users have access to only a sub-set of the application's full functionality, a user guide may be prepared for each group. An example of this approach is the
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Most user guides contain both a written guide and associated images. In the case of computer applications, it is usual to include
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in the year 1900. On the cover of this device are passages of text which describe the features and operation of the mechanism.
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A Scope section is crucial as it also serves as a disclaimer, stating what is out-of-scope as well as what is covered
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An
Audience section to explicitly state who is the intended audience who is required to read, including optionals
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is often applied to a document that addresses a specific aspect of a software product. Some usages are
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A preface, containing details of related documents and information on how to navigate the user guide
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A Purpose section. This should be an overview rather than detail the objective of the document
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Proceedings of the 1st annual international conference on
Systems documentation - SIGDOC '82
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section detailing possible errors or problems that may occur, along with how to fix them
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of the human-machine interface(s), and hardware manuals often include clear, simplified
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McKee, John (August 1986). "Computer User
Manuals in Print: Do They Have a Future?".
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Chafin, Roy (January 1982). "User manuals: What does the user really need?".
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User guides have been found with ancient devices. One example is the
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The user guide engraved into a model of the
Antikythera Mechanism.
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User manuals and user guides for most non-trivial PC and browser
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A guide on how to use at least the main function of the system
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For a full guide to an item owned by its operator, see
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ACM SIGDOC Asterisk
Journal of Computer Documentation
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the role of printed user guides for digital programs
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225:guides. An example is the
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446:"Google Earth User Guide"
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59:audience
55:diagrams
34:keyboard
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179:Before
130:History
61:, with
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261:Guides
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228:Picasa
223:How to
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268:Guide
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124:index
498:2009
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380:ISBN
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259:User
246:Help
185:GCOS
181:Unix
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