I fear you may be right.

There is some research going on at the Rensellaer Polytechnic Institute in the USA, sponsored by STC, about the way people look for product information. the research is ongoing, but early results indicate that searching the web for information is often seen as “more reliable” than searching the vendor’s web site or the help files supplied with the product.

If this is true then we - the tech writers employed by the vendors - need to find ways to change that view.

David

The opening sentence was deliberately provocative. I am just challenging people to consider their audience in more detail than accepting the status quo.

“No-one reads the documentation anyway”. Is that really so? Many people do read and value documentation. See, for example, ‘Users’ documentation preferences’ on http://www.techscribe.co.uk/techw/documentation-preferences.htm.

Regards,

Mike