Editing to improve online information

Online documentation has provided new challenges for information developers. At the IBM Toronto lab, those challenges have led editors to alter the work they do. They have found that the nonlinear nature of HTML information webs makes quality control more crucial and difficult than it was when information appeared in books. Editors provide both guidelines and quality assurance to try to maintain consistency. They have also redefined their role to include a number of information architecture activities in an effort to help writers create an information structure that makes sense to users. In the Toronto lab, editors are an essential part of the information development process.