<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Janet Swisher</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Open Source User Assistance: Ensuring That Everybody Wins</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Open Source Business Resource</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2010</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">01/2010</style></date></pub-dates></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://timreview.ca/article/316</style></url></web-urls></urls><publisher><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Talent First Network</style></publisher><pub-location><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Ottawa</style></pub-location><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">This article describes the importance of user assistance to the success of open source projects and offers some suggestions on fostering community contributions to open source user assistance. The term &quot;user assistance&quot; encompasses all the ways that users get help in figuring out how to use a product, spanning the traditional categories of both documentation and support. User assistance provides opportunities for participation by community members who are not software developers. This in turn relieves the burden on developers for filling these roles while broadening the community. Projects should support the differing motivations of members in these roles while providing leadership and direction, removing barriers to contribution, and engaging in concerted efforts. Licensing for open source documentation should likewise be open, to support user freedom and foster community collaboration. Leaders in open source user assistance need to share ideas across projects in order to improve their offerings.</style></abstract><issue><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">January 2010</style></issue><work-type><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Articles</style></work-type><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">FLOSS Manuals
Janet Swisher's first experience with online collaborative writing was compiling the Twin Peaks FAQ for the Usenet group alt.tv.twin-peaks in 1991. She has been a professional technical writer for over ten years, at various technology companies in Austin, Texas. She has contributed to open source documentation for OpenOffice.org and the Python-based Enthought Tool Suite, and for a number of open source projects through FLOSS Manuals. She blogs about topics related to technical communication and open source software on her &quot;Techie Tech Writer&quot; &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.janetswisher.com/&quot;&gt; blog&lt;/a&gt;.</style></custom1></record></records></xml>