Customer Reviews

Writing Software Documentation: A Task-Oriented Approach (Part of the Allyn & Bacon Series in Technical Communication) (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is *the* book a new technical writer should read. Barker really knows his stuff--and he presents it in truly usable form. I especially liked his 3-category approach: writing to teach (for eager learners), to guide (for reluctant users of the product), or to provide a reference (for experts who need only occasional support).

I was required to read this book for a technical writing class. I was amazed that a book that boasts it can teach technical documentation could have so many glaring errors in grammar and spelling. (Maybe that's why so many people don't read manuals.)
While the book does well as a step-by-step approach, most of the information is in other books. I would not recommend this book.

I got this book through an online cetification class for writing user manuals and reference guides. I never would have found this book had it not been for that class. This book is great in that it takes you through the 7 steps of documentation. I'd recommend this book for those getting started in the technical writing field and those who are senior members. The author also chunks the information in a way that is easily understandable. Great book!

I had taken a course in Technical Communication for which this book was a recommended-read. After going through the chapters, I must say that this is an excellent guide for anyone who documents software.

The book takes a task-oriented approach and lists some great pointers. It gives you a step-by-step process for analyzing users, learning a software program, and writing the documentation; teaches you the basics of page and screen design, and even helps you understand the software users better.

This is the only *readable*(cover-to-cover) technical writing book that I have come across. Definitely a great buy!

Given the price I paid for the book, I expected something better than a Docutech print-out of hard copy. The least they could have done was run the electronic files through the Docutech (a high-end copier) so that the screen captures showed up a little better than fuzzy.

The other problem I had was the lack of anything approaching a professional touch in the layout and design of the book. The person or persons who laid out the book did a poor to mediocre job of it at best. Given the subject matter -- writing software documentation -- I would have expected the author and publisher to put even *some* effort into creating a useful visual language. As it is, there may well be useful, important information in the text, but the design of the book is so poor, I'll be damned if I can track it down.

This book is an excellent academic approach to software documentation. It is an excellent manual on writing documentation and includes all of the academic steps to reach that goal. However, it gets a slight bit heavy on details and strays from the actual performance. In other words, you may have to ignore or not use much of what is contained in the book because of individual practices and peculiarities in the various industries. I do recommend it as an overall view of the process and will be useful for beginners to the profession.

I have to use this book in a technical writing course and I find it difficult to use and read, especially if you are new to the field.

The formatting and layout of the book makes it easy to lose track of which section you are in (using a numbering system to identify sections would be helpful) and it needs more white space. The author tends to be verbose at times and this also helps to "lose" the reader.

A short answer or multiple choice question section would be useful to help in review of material covered in a chapter.

The index seems somewhat sparse and a "master" glossary at the end would be useful.

My employer has a partial reimbursement program for continuing education. One of their requirements is that we purchase used textbooks whenever possible. So I found a seller through amazon who appeared to have a good rating. I was sorely disappointed with the result.

The diffence in cost between the used and a brand new copy was less than $15. However, the condition of the used book is absolutely deplorable. I am actually embarassed to bring this book to class and can't help but wonder if the book wasn't beaten up by the seller more than the original owner because the stickers plastered on the back and binding are just as scuffed and marked up as the pages themselves.

Aside from the condition of the book I recieved, the content and quality of this title is first rate. The author takes a fresh approach using real-world anecdotes and a writing style that seems more casual, more personal, hence very easy to follow and understand.

Book gives a great step-by-step guide on how to prepare documentation for the computer industry.

I can't believe how cheap this book was!! I received it in less than a week and it is in great condition.