[OPEN-ILS-DOCUMENTATION] Including technical information in end-user docs

[Kathy Lussier]

Hi all,

This question came up during some recent discussions I had with Equinox 
regarding some documentation they were doing for one of our development 
projects, and it seemed like a topic that DIG might want to discuss. It 
relates to how much technical documentation should be included in the 
end-user docs that are created for a feature in Evergreen. In this case, 
it is a new feature, but I suppose the question relates to any 
functionality we want to document for Evergreen.

We've seen documentation come in various forms when a new feature is 
introduced:

* The release notes include a description of the new feature and, 
ideally, also include any new settings or permissions associated with 
the feature.
* The docs include information for end users to use the new feature. It 
also sometimes contains information on settings and permissions.
* There is also a TechRef directory that is available with the code that 
contains more technical information on some features.

The question is how much technical information should be included in 
those end-user docs?

My personal opinion is that any information in the Release Notes should 
also be included in the docs because there are many people who probably 
never look at the release notes. However, should end-user docs include 
information on library settings and permissions that are usually 
configured by the admin, not the end-user? Should a separate technical 
details section be included in the end-user docs?

What structure do you think would work best for the community?

Kathy

-- 
Kathy Lussier
Project Coordinator
Massachusetts Library Network Cooperative
(508) 343-0128
klussier at masslnc.org
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kmlussier