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Communication Options
You have many options, only some of which will be covered here.
For each medium, you must understand:
- capabilities and limitations,
- features and drawbacks, and
- special characteristics.
Do not assume that one choice suits all.
Do you want feedback?
- Verbal: easiest and most immediate feedback once you've gathered
an audience;
- Electronic: "in between";
- Print: least immediate, portable, varying ease.
Does presenting your results require extensive mathematical notation?
- Print: most accurate and durable;
- Verbal: requires time and tools for annotation;
- Electronic: many tools inadequate for accurate notation.
How much background is needed to understand your results?
- Electronic: hyperlinks for extensive unobtrusive background;
- Print: citations, footnotes, and appendices;
- Verbal: least appropriate for a truly mixed audience.
A further sampling of relevant issues:
- Fonts:
- Online: san-serif is most readable
- Print: serif is best
- Density:
- Print: smooth-flowing prose is best
- Online: short, terse lists are often appropriate
- Consider this simple sample
- White space
- Online: cheap
- Print: expensive
In general, what looks best in print appears weak online, and vice
versa, no matter what online tools are used. There are, furthermore,
some special concerns when designing
pages for hypertext.
- No matter how many "rules" you learn, there will be constant
trade-offs.
- Getting familiar with good and bad
examples
of pages at other sites is useful.
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Last modified: Sun Jun 2 18:41:10 1996