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so that support staff can be involved in updates. These costs will be recovered in the decreased cost <br />of generating both hard copy and on-line documentation from the same source. <br /> <br />? <br />In order to promote an orderly update of software products and documenation, it is recommended <br />that new and updated software products be released on a milestone basis rather than at the demands <br />of other tasks. This process will require precise scheduling of deliverables and less critical-path <br />dependencies between tasks. For example, if a software product is to be updated in the future, the <br />functionality of the release should be well-defined and the software release should be scheduled with <br />a corresponding documentation release. This scheduling will allow the software and documentation <br />to be reviewed in a more timely manner. <br /> <br />? <br />Because distributing a large number of hard copy versions is an increased expense, it is <br />recommended that as few copies as possible of the hard copy documentation be maintained and <br />distributed. The on-line documentation now matches the hard copy documentation for most sections, <br />so users can obtain the most recent versions of documentation from the on-line copy. In addition, it <br />is difficult to update the manuals (especially if further copies are made and distributed), and it is <br />therefore likely that the hard copy manuals will be obsolete shortly after release. <br /> <br />? <br />Once the State actively begins to maintain the CRDSS products themselves, they should understand <br />documentation procedures and standards, otherwise the usefulness and validity of the on-line and <br />hard copy documentation will be compromised. <br /> <br />? <br />The on-line feedback mechanism should be clarified and expanded. For example, currently, the <br />webmaster@cando.dwr.co.gov address printed in the footers of documentation is an email alias that <br />points to Steve Malers at RTi. This address needs to point to the person or persons who will be <br />performing the long-term maintenance of the CRDSS. Additionally, the address should be changed <br />to be independent of the machine. For example: webmaster@crdss.dwr.co.gov or <br />webmaster@crdss.co.gov. The address of the web server should also be changed to something like <br />www.crdss.co.gov to make it easier to swap machines out in the future. <br /> <br />? <br />The State needs to explore incorporating the CRDSS home page into other State on-line <br />documentation and needs to determine firm positions on the issues of charging for information, <br />placing model input and output on-line, and providing secure data distribution sites for sensitive <br />data. <br /> <br />? <br />The Year 2 on-line documenation supports the current supported Mosaic web browser (version 2.6 <br />on the workstation). This browser does not support some of the newer features of HTML. Some <br />HTML that works with Mosaic 2.6 may not work with other browsers. However, future efforts <br />should also be tested with different web browsers and some on-line documents may need to be <br />updated to conform to future HTML standards. This should be budgeted as a maintenance item. <br />5 <br />a320/taskmems/ 2-12-01.doc 01/03/97 <br />