2019 journal article
Open-Source Software in the Sciences: The Challenge of User Support
JOURNAL OF BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL COMMUNICATION, 33(1), 60–90.
author keywords: science writing; manual writing/instructions; open source; empirical qualitative research; user support
TL;DR:
Looking at questions asked in user communities for chemistry software projects, the author found that for software supported by feature-based documentation, problems of transparency and learnability are prominent, leading users to have difficulty reconciling disciplinary practices and values with software operations.
(via Semantic Scholar)
UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
4. Quality Education
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: December 31, 2018
This study examines user support issues concerning open-source software in computational sciences. The literature suggests that there are three main problem areas: transparency, learnability, and usability. Looking at questions asked in user communities for chemistry software projects, the author found that for software supported by feature-based documentation, problems of transparency and learnability are prominent, leading users to have difficulty reconciling disciplinary practices and values with software operations. For software supported by task-based documentation, usability problems were more prominent. The author considers the implications of this study for user support and the role that technical communication could play in developing and supporting open-source projects.