Smart documentation revisited
At the STC Summit 2013 in Atlanta, I demonstrated how we can create smart documentation by using semantic technology. The session was well visited and there were a lot of good questions. During the session I modeled live - together with the audience - on a smart maintenance manual for oil tanks. To me - being from a country where we don't know or use these kind of tanks next to our houses - this felt like the ultimate example, completely relying on the expertise of my audience. The demo The starting point was a very basic procedure, consisting of four main activities: In the first step we determine the situation. We start with a short situation description and then - instead of describing what possible situations there are and linking to the pages - we ask our users about their situation. As it is not relevant for people that don't own an oil tank yet to read the maintenance instructions, the first question we ask is whether or not the reader actually owns an oil tan