Project Documentation

End-user project documents are often overlooked and this could contribute to the eventual downfall of the project. A good handbook that makes end-users feel part of things can become the prominent part of a project for them.   

Stephanie’s key advices in creating an end-user project handbook are:

• Focus on practical side by understanding how the project will fit into end-users’ workflow
• Create a all-in-one reference book and “how-to” guide
• Cover everything relevant to their tasks but exclude anything completely irrelevant

There are three parts to her guide for project handbook creation:

Part 1 – Research and scoping

1)     Identify end-user group and communicate to them about their entire workflow currently in reference to the project
Questions to answer:
-          Is the project completely new to end-user?
-          Will their existing way of carrying out a task change?
-          Does the project represent new technology or service or both?
-          Will other technologies be involved?
-          Will other operation procedures be involved?
2)     Compare the current tasks along with future tasks required under the influence of the project to explain in detail what is coming and what the end-users need to do 

Part 2 – Creating the handbook

1)     Project overview
-          Keep it short and refer readers to relevant documents detailing plans and ambitions of the project
2)     Scope
-          Short explanation of the current phase of the project, its purpose (why) and specific required tasks (e.g. testing, checking through for acceptance, etc.)
-          Include start and finish dates if applicable
-          Significant if only partial version of project was released
3)     Step-by-step guide
-          Largest section of the handbook detailing minute technical and operational procedures without any grey area
-          Divide it into manageable and logical sub-sections for ease of update
-          Useful tool to build confidence in change for end-user (and eventually the success of the project) by details that reassure them the handbook will guide them through every stage
4)     Checklist of requirements
-          List of everything basic and project-specific required, e.g. equipment, logins, internet access and permission, software version, technical specifications, agreements with third parties and pre-start testing
5)     Contact details
-          Provide help point for anything the handbook cannot answer
6)     Feedback
-          Enable end-user to send comments and impressions of the project, in printed form, email or online form formats.
-          State clearly that all positive good and bad comments are welcome
7)     Next steps
-          Inform the end-user on the next steps or phase and the schedule
-          Publish the time when updates are expected to engage their interest and sense of purpose 

Part 3 – Maintaining momentum

• Update the step-by-step guide regularly with improvements, decisions and practical changes and send out replacement pages or subsections for the handbook
• Create another version of the handbook if further project stages are involved to keep everything current (by including updates, revisions, amendments and appendices on the old version)

TAYLOR, S., 2006. The Project Handbook: How to Write Clear and Cogent End-User Documentation. Freepint 214 [online]. Available at: <URL:http://www.freepint.com/issues/210906.htm> [accessed 7 October 2006].

the Art of Negotiating

JOHNSON, C., 2006. Risky Business? Demonstrating the business case for your information service: A review. Impact, 9(3), 43-44. 

Gillian Leslie (Head of Knowledge Management, Biggart Baillie Solicitors) delivered a session on how to persuade key decision makers at the national conference of the CILIP Career Development Group in June 2006. She pinpointed positiveness, friendliness, and progressiveness as the key to successful negotiation. The author of the above article summarised it as below:

1.      Establish the goals and objectives of the negotiation

2.      Identify and contact key people with power; good to start from their assistants to gain respect and trust

3.      Introduce yourself by promoting your achievements, e.g. how you save money

4.      Establish the negotiation range i.e. what will you accept and reject

5.      Match the motivation and fear of the individual with your goals and objectives

6.      Prepare for objections by giving solid evidence, raise the issues yourself even

7.      If the answer is No, continue building the relationship and providing evidence through reports, etc. If Yes, provide feedback on the improvement

Ephemera

In my quest to ascertain the need for an ephemera collection, the following notes on the Library of Congress ephemera policy was produced:

Ephemera

•  non-commercial, non-book publications
•  reflect contemporary socio-political movements and developments in a given area
•  quality of physical appearance or content is frequently insubstantial
•  should be only selectively retained for the permanent collection
•  LOC shall inform other libraries of its ephemera collecting activities and inquire into similar programmes that they may be conducting to co-ordinate and maximise its efforts in this field, avoid duplication, and encourage possible cooperative projects 

Selection principles

• collecting of ephemera is organised by target areas of special local circumstances, e.g. rapid political and social change, or ideological trends reflecting economic, environmental or societal pressures
• ephemera collecting should be prioritised i.e. answer need by significant clientele of the library
• ephemera collecting should continue only so long as developments in the are remain of critical interest; therefore there must be periodic review of projects (annually)
• ephemera collections should supplement and enhance existing strong collections of the library; co-operative arrangements are favoured over duplication when another institution holds a strong collection
• limit the collections to representative sampling of available source materials to cater for the repetitive nature of ephemeral content 

Representative groups

• special interest groups of varying legal status in their national setting produce ephemeral materials, e.g. homosexual groups

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 2000. Collections Policy Statements: Ephemera.
Washington: Library of Congress [online]. Available at <URL:http://www.loc.gov/acq/devpol/ephemera.html> [Accessed 21 August 2006].

Web Usability Book List

NIELSEN, DR. JAKOB, 2006. Books About Usability. FreePint Newsletter, 211.Books are useful for learning about usability, because it is:

• Related to humans thus changes slowly
• Only possible to reveal deeper insights through in-depth text

Recommended books:

1. “Designing the User Interface: Strategies for Effective Human-Computer Interaction” by Ben Shneiderman and Catherine Plaisant (Addison Wesley, 2004) ~ 672 pages text book that summarises knowledge on how people use computers ~
2. “Letting Go of the Words: Writing Web Content that Works” by Janice Redish (Morgan Kaufmann, 2006)
3. “Designing Visual Interfaces: Communication Oriented Techniques” by Kevin Mullet and Darrell Sano (Prentice Hall, 1994) ~ explains the principles required to understand visual design within an interactive context ~
4. “Maximum Accessibility: Making Your Web Site More Usable for Everyone” by John m. Slatin and Sharron Rush (Addison-Wesley, 2002) ~ written from the angle of customers who actually have disabilities, with real browsing-using-screen-reader case studies ~

The original newsletter can be accessed online.

Developing a website

Like any good project, start with the objectives for having a website. Tangible goals are ideal, e.g. to reduce 20% of telephone enquiries.
Before embarking on the physical act of developing a website, find out who your target audiences are.
I share some guidelines for preparing easy-to-use web content (based on the Usability.gov site by the Web Communications Division in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs):

1. Select only what the audiences need
2. Organise the content logically for the audiences
   - Break the text into manageable pieces / chunking using short paragraphs, lists, tables, pictures, examples
   - Use many headings to aid skimming and scanning
   - Write useful headings e.g. questions, sentences, phrases, action phrases, imperatives
   - Use the headings as introductory hyperlinks and a group of headings into an introductory list of hyperlinks
   - Write content visually
3. For website with users who read on the Web and print to read
   - Layer the information i.e. summarise the information in an easily-accessible Web form and put link to the printable versionOffer a separate printable document i.e. offer a document in HTML and PDF formats

Further notes on Writing Content Visually:

- Use blank space well e.g. fragments, lists, tables, and examples to strike the balance
- Cut out words
- Keep paragraphs and sentences short
- Use fragments e.g. don’t repeat words from the FAQ question in the answer
- Use the users’ words and avoid jargon
- Use bulleted lists
- Use numbered lists for steps in a procedure
- Use tables
- Give examples
- Meet users’ expectations for the way information is displayed e.g. write address on separate lines like an address
- Use icons or small pictures to enhance the wordsInclude pictures and other graphics when appropriate

A Very Short Course in Time Management for Librarians ~ Judith A. Siess

An expert in solo librarianship and interpersonal networking, Judith Siess, wrote this thought stimulating article for IMPACT! Fall 2005 (the quarterly publication of the Special Libraries Association Leadership & Management Division). She is the President of the One Person Library or OPL (Information Bridges International, Inc.) in the United States. I share my notes below:

• How do a solo librarian “do it all”?
  - Develop strategic plan
  - Prioritise the tasks
  - Work on managing time
• Let Go – Don’t be a perfectionist!
• 1) Learn to say no
  - Offer alternative
  - Don’t weaken no with apology
• 2) Question things
  - What have I got to lose?
• Pareto principle – 80% of work comes from 20% of tasks
• Efficient & Effective – doing the right things right
• Take control of interruptions
  - Signs answer “where is?” questions
  - Handouts answer “how do I?” questions
  - Say “I will be with you in a minute as soon as I finish this task” & make appointment to continue conversation if it takes longer than a minute
• Knowing when to work
  - 1st two hours of the day is when one is most productive so use them effectively e.g. clear thinking & do not check emails, avoid meetings
• Save time before money
  - Outsource what you can, especially those things you don’t do well
• Logic-based disposal helps filing
  - Ask: 1) Does it require action on my part? Yes, action it
  2) Does it exist elsewhere? Yes, discard it
  3) Is it outdated? Yes, discard it
  4) Will I really use it again? Yes, file it
  5) Are there tax/legal implications? Yes, file it
  6) Can I live with the worst thing that could happen if I don’t have this info? Yes, discard it
  7) Does anyone else need this info? Yes, forward it to them
  - Never file envelopes unless postmark is significant
  - Write a keyword on item/where to file it when you read it
  - File items according to How you’ll use it Not where they come from; Judy’s first law of filing: file it back in the 1st place you looked when you spent a lot of time locating it & put pointer to item if for some reason you can’t file it there

Abstracting skill

For an example of my abstracting work, have a look at the article from the link below and read my abstract that follows:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nuclear/article/0,,1812795,00.html

Abstract:

According to safety assessments by the Nuclear Safety Directorate (NSD) in June 2005, major cracks have been known at four Britain nuclear sites, Hinkley Point B in Somerset, Hartlepool in Cleveland, Hunterston B in Ayrshire, and Heysham 1 in Lancashire. The documents hinted core damage at the Dungeness in Kent and Torness in East Lothian sites. NSD criticises British Energy, the operator for 13 advanced gas-cooled nuclear reactors (AGR), for not knowing the extent of damage, unable to monitor the deterioration or understand entirely the reason for the cracks.
The remedy favoured by the NSD is more probing inspections of the AGR plants’ reactor cores more often, which requires the reactors to be shut down for weeks and would cause chaos to Britain’s electricity supplies. Furthermore, the closure of Hinkley Point would mean at least three other similar age stations would have to be closed due to the cracks. Back in 2004, British Energy already warned that the normal 30-year life span of AGR plants might be reduced by the cracks in the graphite brick cores.
In particular, NSD’s inspection of Hinkley in April 2006 revealed rising accident risk from its continued operation and possible serious faults leading to long term or permanent closure, though ruling out immediate radiation danger to the public. But independent nuclear engineer John Large advised the government to shut down the reactors immediately until they are cleared of any safety uncertainties. His argument was backed by the conclusion of an inspector in June 2005 that the worst case scenario would have to be assumed unless British Energy makes progress in addressing the cracks. Mr. Large has reviewed the papers obtained through the Freedom of Information legislation by a local nuclear watchdog group of Greenpeace, Stop Hinkley, which has revealed more details than publicly known before.
British Energy answered the reports with claims that they have provided new evidence to the NSD and they have been working on monitoring the cores without plant closure. Furthermore, the assessments are part of the on-going regulatory process and NSD works closely with British Energy on the issue.
The surface of the documents coincides with the call for a new generation of nuclear power by the Prime Minister and Chancellor just two weeks before the government’s energy review. Greenpeace executive director Stephen Tindale accused the government and British Energy of incompetent and John Large is cynical about the NSD’s reluctance to call for closure of Hinkley Point at this politically critical time.