Thursday, September 18, 2008

Tools for Improving Online Information

Over at O'Reilly, Andy Oram has an interesting article on improving online documentation, moving it beyond a mere digital rendition of the traditional print media.

He suggests two tools which will, he thinks, improve the way documentation is done in an online world. Ready for them?
  • Quizzes: Objectively measure the effectiveness of the documentation by gaining useful feedback.
  • Bibliographies: Provide cross-referencing tools that can help build "paths" through available documentation. And make it easier for readers to contribute to building such paths.
Of course, it is no surprise that I think the second one is invaluable. I've been known to dabble in that area in the past.

I also just recently became maintainer of the venerable the Quiz module on Drupal.org.