>Our computer center has a help desk (physical room or by telephone or >email) and LOTS of free handouts. So howcome an enterprising student has >been doing a booming business in the library's 24 hour room selling a "How >to use the Internet at UConn" document at $5 a pop? I suspect that, as with many such handouts, the ones at UConn are rehashes of README files or extremely minimal instructions. If the kid in the library has put together a plain English here-how-to-go- about-it handout, I don't doubt that he's doing well. I've found that the best way to write handouts is this: - First draft - Circulate among coworkers - tweak - Walk into hall, grab 5 random students - "How does this read? Did you understand it?" - Disappear back into office among flood of confused looks - Second draft - repeat process It usually takes at least 3 iterations before I have something that the 'typical' user will both read and enjoy. (My handouts tend to be rather conversational, as opposed to the 'textbook' style.) --Wes