The selection and use of procedural and declarative information in software manuals

Some research results suggest that declarative information in a software manual is of little value to a user. However, most research methods are aimed at measuring specific information effects. They hardly ever yield data about what users select and use if they have a choice. Also, the concepts of procedural and declarative have not been operationalized consistently. Finally, one type of user has been the main focus of investigation so far: the tutorial user. In an attempt to specifically investigate the selection and use of procedural and declarative information, a new approach is described. In an experiment based on this new approach, special attention was paid to the operationalization of the information types and three different user types were included. The results show that users use more declarative information than is often assumed.