JAAOS - Help File for JAAOS on CD-ROM [Seneca Design portfolio]

JAAOS on CD-ROM: Help File
[jump to writing sample]

When the managing editor of the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatric Surgeons requested that Seneca create a searchable archive of past Journal issues on CD-ROM (see the JAAOS design project details), he also requested that we write a detailed Help section to include on the CD.

The users of the CD would be physicians, who while obviously intelligent, would be dealing with this product for the first time and may be unfamiliar with navigating through PDF documents in general.

Anne-Marie wrote a 12-screen Help section (how to navigate the CD contents, how to use Reader) as well a 4-screen "Search Tips" section for the project. It was linked to from the project's Home Page, its Table of Contents document, and from each of the 100+ individual Journal articles via Reader bookmarks.

Copious screen shots with succint captions and callouts were provided to support the text, as well as strategically serving as a "Quick Start" help file for busy doctors who might not take the time to read the copy.

These three screen shots show the first three pages of the Help section. You don't have to squint, the actual copy from these screen shots appears below.

[top]

Writing sample from the JAAOS on CD-ROM "Help" section:

The Home Page and its Buttons

The JAAOS on CD-ROM’s “Home Page” document contains three main buttons: Table of Contents, Search, and Help.

Table of Contents button: If you want to browse through the contents of this CD, click the Table of Contents button. The Table of Contents is a document that lists all the titles of the JAAOS articles on this CD (1993 to 1999) within the left-most Bookmarks portion of the document’s window. Articles are listed chronologically by Volume (year) and Number (issue within the year). Clicking on the title of an article opens that article in the main Acrobat Reader window.

Search button: If you want to locate a particular article (or group of articles) based on its contents, click on the Search button. Clicking the Search button opens up the Search Query dialog box. You can type in keywords or phrases in the Search Query window to locate just those articles containing your keywords or phrases. Click an article’s name in the Search Results dialog box to open that article in the window. More detailed information on the Search command is presented further on in this document. Click the “Search Tips” link at the top of this page to go directly there.

Help button: If you need help using JAAOS on CD-ROM, click the Help button. That brings you to the section that you are reading now. The Help pages contain information on navigating JAAOS on CD-ROM, using Acrobat Reader, running Searches, and Search Troubleshooting.

Using the JAAOS Navigation Bookmarks

Regardless of which JAAOS article you’re reading, you can easily return to the Home Page (the one that contains the large buttons for Table of Contents, Search, and Help). At the bottom of each article’s list of article Bookmarks is a special Bookmark folder named “JAAOS Home Page.” Click on that Bookmark folder name to open the Home Page.

[screen shot 1 caption: In any article, click on the “JAAOS Home Page” bookmark to open the Home Page.]

[screen shot 2 caption: Or, click on the triangle to the left of the “JAAOS Home Page” bookmark to view other navigation bookmarks.]

If you prefer, you can bypass the Home Page and go directly to the Table of Contents, Search window, or Help section directly from any article. To do this, click on the triangle to the left of the “JAAOS Home Page” bookmark so that it points downward (if it isn’t already). Bookmarks for each of the Home Page’s buttons appear immediately below. Clicking on any of these navigation bookmarks opens the appropriate file or dialog box.

[screen shot 3 caption: At the bottom of each article’s list of bookmarks you’ll find special navigation bookmarks].

Viewing and Moving through the Articles

Since the JAAOS article pages are approximately letter-size—the same size as in the print version of the journal—you probably won’t be able to fit a full article page at the default 100% scale within your Acrobat Reader window (unless you have a fairly large monitor).

Using the Hand Tool (just press and drag on the page), you can quickly “slide” the page around the screen to bring off-screen text into view. Since you can drag in any direction, the Hand Tool makes it easy to continue reading from the bottom of one column to the top of the next. It’s particularly useful for reading text that’s been magnified. (Note that dragging with the Hand Tool won’t produce any effect if the entire page is already visible within the window.)

To change the magnification, click on the page with the Zoom Tool, use the View menu, or click on one of the Page View pre-sets in the Toolbar.

Moving within and between articles: Use the scroll bars or click the Previous/Next Page Toolbar icons to “page” through a single article. Click on article bookmarks to quickly jump to a particular section (e.g., Methodology).

When you’re done reading an article, you can continue browsing or searching for more by clicking one of the navigation bookmarks (Home Page, Table of Contents, etc.) at the bottom of every article’s list of bookmarks. If you’ve closed all open articles, use the Previous/Next View icons to retrace your “view path” through the CD within and across individual articles. Or, click on the “Open CD-ROM Home Page” button on the Welcome page, which remains open in the background until you click its Exit button.

[continues…]

close window