Research Reports
Report Details
Final Report Abstract
Manuals of instruction are important engineering tools because they provide the necessary information to perform important design procedures and calculations correctly and accurately. The objective of this project was to develop a computer-based manual of instruction by implementing tools and techniques normally used for the development of rule-based decision support systems. This report is divided into seven sections that explain the computer manual development process, including: 1) glossary of terms; 2) literature review of decision support systems; 3) features section that describes enhancements; 4) development tools section that describes the evaluation and selection of software for implementation of features; 5) authoring process section that describes manual organization and features integration using commercial authoring tools and rule-based decision support system technology; 6) evaluations section; and 7) conclusions section. Water resources/drainage was the subject of this development exercise in computer manual design.