For some of my "books" I had little coloured tabs/labels on pages... I knew the red one half way down was the ... command. The red one at the top was for ... The book opened at the frequently used pages. I use a highlighter on important phrases.
A month after I joined IBM, I took the CMS command reference home and read it cover to cover. I didn't understand much of it, but I knew it existed and surprised some old hands by saying "isnt there an option for that..." Colin On Fri, 17 Jan 2025 at 17:25, billogden <[email protected]> wrote: > >The key is for those who RTFM - which sadly is rarely the case. > > > >> I last read the pubs many years ago when it was hardcopy - with > >> softcopy I typically read sections instead of cover to cover - another > >> failing of online pubs. > > Having been involved with many publications over the years and being > somewhat interested in "how useful was it" discussions, I must agree with > those who think "real printed" publications are often more useful. > > 1. You do not need to sit in front of a screen to read them. > 2. You can easily (with paper clips, fingers, etc) refer back and forth > between useful sections. > 3. You can usually put your hands on the printed pub, whereas with all > the exotic network names, addresses, URLs, aliases, logons, passwords, and > so forth I have often been unable to find the same online material I was > trying to read last week. > 4. While it is difficult to prove this, I have found that many people > tend to remember better those tidbits they read on "real" paper. > 5. I sometimes make little notes on a paper page. > 6. Like others who have made comments, I almost NEVER read a full pub > online. I might not fully read a printed pub, but I often scan ("flip > through") the whole thing -- just to find material that "catches my eye." > 7. Many manuals (mostly z/OS related materials) have grown MUCH larger > (or they might start out this way!) There are some odd economic and > management aspects to this. Real printed material cost $$$ to produce and > distribute and there can be some effort made to better control the amount > of > text (i.e, the number of pages) involved. Online material costs almost > nothing to distribute and, believe it or not, more text can mean less > editing/management involved. In many cases, the number of pages produced > might be indirectly reflected in salaries and promotions. > 8. The growing sizes often makes it difficult ($$) to actually print a > PDF. > 9. Feedback from users can be more effective for "real" printed manuals, > especially when the authors' names are included. > > My $0.02, if it is worth that much! > > Bill Ogden > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, > send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: INFO IBM-MAIN
