Here's a snippet of research based information for you: in March 2003, 87% of 305 technical writers who responded to a survey I undertook as part of my MA dissertation research stated that their work included the creation of printed manuals.
See: http://www.farbey.co.uk/js_summary.htm
I would love to see more recent research to see if there's a trend.
Interesting statistic
Posted byMichele Marquesat
2007-09-04 07:24
Hello David,
I notice that you reported some decline in the creation of printed manuals from 1999 to 2003. As you mention, it would be interesting to note whether this statistic continues.
Do you know whether there are any statistics on the number of printed manuals being created? For example, a large majority might still be creating some printed manuals, but they might be spending less time on printed manuals and producing fewer printed manuals. This is also a tricky question, because when someone creates a PDF, they might consider it a printed manual because it can be printed - for example the PDF manual that I downloaded for my iPod is basically a printed manual that was made available online.
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See: http://www.farbey.co.uk/js_summary.htm
I would love to see more recent research to see if there's a trend.
I notice that you reported some decline in the creation of printed manuals from 1999 to 2003. As you mention, it would be interesting to note whether this statistic continues.
Do you know whether there are any statistics on the number of printed manuals being created? For example, a large majority might still be creating some printed manuals, but they might be spending less time on printed manuals and producing fewer printed manuals. This is also a tricky question, because when someone creates a PDF, they might consider it a printed manual because it can be printed - for example the PDF manual that I downloaded for my iPod is basically a printed manual that was made available online.