RFC 585 (rfc585) - Page 2 of 9

ARPANET users interest working group meeting

RFC 585               USING Working Group Meeting          November 1973


      Lee Richardson, USC-ISI
      Ron Stoughton, UCSB
      Jim White, NIC
      Steve Wolf, UCLA-CCN
      Joe Wyatt, Harvard

CATEGORIES OF CONCERN

   The meeting began by attempting to create a relatively complete list
   of topics directly relevant to users.  The intention was to then
   discuss some of these categories in detail.  The categories of
   concern to users are listed here along with a brief outline of the
   discussion and recommendations associated with each category.  Not
   all topics were discussed fully due to time limitations.  It was
   acknowledged that some of the recommendations were quite extensive,
   but that they should be mentioned even though their implementation
   would be far off.

   1. Online and Offline Documentation, Information Sharing, and
      Consulting

      a. There is a general need to upgrade the quality, technical
         accuracy, timeliness, dissemination, and format of both online
         and offline documentation.

      b. Documentation should avoid "buzz" words (jargon), and should
         follow easily understood syntax conventions, abbreviation
         standards, reference citation rules, etc.  However, there
         probably cannot be a standard format for writing documentation.

      c. Offline documentation should be well indexed, should contain a
         good table-of-contents, and should be written in an easily
         browsable format.  Online documentation should be presented in
         a browse mode with well-labeled categories of information as
         well as a keyword search capability.

      d. Documentation should be identified with date/author/version
         information, particularly in large online documents, so that it
         is easier to keep the most current version of a document and to
         query the author, in the event of problems with the
         documentation.

      e. Network news needs to be gathered and intelligently distributed
         to users (Network PR).

      f. Users need several levels and styles of access to
         documentation, whether online or offline, based upon their
         experience, interests, and preferences.



Crocker, et al.                  Users