What is a good document?

(Image source: http://www.sxc.hu, uploaded by spekulator.)

To begin with, what is a document?

The International Institute for Intellectual Cooperation in collaboration with Union Français des Organismes de Documentation agreed that a document would mean:

"Any source of information, in material form, capable of being used for reference or study or as an authority. Examples : manuscripts, printed matter, illustrations, diagrams, museum specimens, etc.." (Anon. 1937).

Suzanne Briet (1951) also published her view on documents as "A document is evidence in support of a fact."

In terms relating to publication and design, a document can mean any piece of physical or electronical body of information that has the capacity to communicate and relate to its readers. But what determines a good document?

According to Reep (2006), readers do not only read printed words on a page; they also "read" the visual presentation of the text. Similarly, MacKenzie (1994) emphasises the need to coherently and appropriately integrate words and their graphic form to ensure its information is accessible and usable for the readers. Hence, in a good and effective document, the words and visuals must support each other. How the words and visuals are arranged can be referred to as the document's design. Almost all good documents have good design. Design features help guide readers through the text, increase reader interest and provides the document its "image."

Let us look at an example:

(Image source: Kress & Van Leeuwen "Meaning of composition" presentation slides by Group 3, UniSA CMM February 2009 intake.)

Anderson (1987) says that a document design would:

• Help readers read efficiently.
• Emphasises the most important content.
• Encourage readers to feel good about a communication.

In the example above, it fits in neither of Anderson's criterias. First of all, the document is too congested with words and readers will have to spend time going through it. Secondly, although it is already written in bullet points it still does not illustrate its main points effectively and lastly, there is little encouragement for the readers because there is just too much text.

However, there are several positive points that can be brought up. For instance, the headings and points are arranged in an orderly fashion (Putnis & Petelin, 1996) and the colors used are easy on the eyes.

To sum it up, a document is largely used to communicate a message to readers and in order for it to be a good document not only should the content be taken into consideration but also the design of the document.

References:

Anderson, P 1987, Technical writing: A reader-centered approach, 2nd edn, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Orlando, FL.

Briet, S 1951, Qu'est-ce que la documentation. Paris: EDIT.

'La terminologie de la documentation' 1937, Coopération Intellectuelle, vol. 77, pp. 228-240.

MacKenzie, M 1994, Beyond plain English, Communication Research Institute of Australia, Canberra.

Putnis, P & Petelin, R 1996, Professional communication: principles and applications, Prentice Hall, Sydney.

Reep, DC 2006, Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson/Longman, New York.