Three books that attempt to define online documentation are studied and the important theoretical and practical issues that are being raised by this communication medium are discussed (E. Barratt, 1988; S. Doheney-Farina, 1988; W.K. Horton, 1990). The focus is on how the intersection of research and practice is helping to construct this new definition, and the works are analyzed critically through the lens of active writing practices. A caution is raised regarding future research that could tend to be unreflective in nature.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>