Abstract
In much of database publishing today self-training documentation is almost as important as the information itself. Documentation increases revenues, and decreases the costs of customer service and training. The leverage in favor of self-training documentation increases as customer bases increase.
This will not always be the case. In five years or so online helps and search procedures should be simplified enough that documentation plays a minor role.
Producing effective documentation requires careful examination of options and use of a process in which drafts are written, tested on potential users, revised and tested again until the process yields insignificant improvements. The elements of superior documentation are: few words, ample use of illustrations, and sections covering (1) getting started, (2) tutorials with examples, (3) reference, (4) advanced features, (5) a reference card, (6) an index, and (7) a table of contents.