An Overview of Single Sourcing with an XML Content Management System

Creating an XML-based Content Management System to single-source technical publications is as simple as 1 - 2 - 3. OK, maybe it isn't quite that easy, but this article discusses how it can be done.

Sapir, Rick. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>XML

A Case Study in Developing Dynamic Content at Ontario Systems

Charles Cantrell, an Information Engineer, describes Ontario Systems' process for delivering dynamically assembled and populated documentation for Artiva, its 'highly customizable' accounts receivable management application.

Cantrell, Charles. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Documentation>Content Management

Customizing the Appearance of Your Manual, Help System, and HTML Help System  

Doc-To-Help gives Help authors complete control over the look, feel, and content of a project's printed manual, Windows Help system, HTML files, and HTML Help system. Maintaining different content is controlled using Doc-To-Help's conditional text feature, which allows authors to mark content for print-only, online-only, WinHelp-only, and so on. In this article we discuss how you control the appearance of the printed manuals and Help using Word templates, and HTML output using cascading style.

ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Documentation

Egoless Writing: Improving Quality by Replacing Artistic Impulse With Engineering Discipline    

When technical communicators have a strong personal attachment to the publication they are preparing, this attachment may interfere with the design and testing of the publication itself. Documents developed by solo authors tend to be late, buggy, and exceedingly difficult for others to maintain. 'Ego-less' methods---collaborative and structured---break the proprietary connection between the writer and the book; in so doing they permit the most powerful tools of engineering and testing to be used. But they also reduce the satisfactions of the communicator's job.

Weiss, Edmond H. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Content Management>Documentation

Going Online: A Case Study in the Development and Implementation of Netscape NetHelp  

Computerized Medical Systems, Inc. (CMS) - the worldâ*™s leading radiation therapy planning (RTP) company with over 1000 installed RTP systems and over 400 installed dosimetry systems - decided in late 1996 to move existing FOCUS documentation online. Reasons for this included: the existing documentation set perceived as too difficult to use; increasing printing cost; and customer feedback. Using Netscape NetHelp as a basis, the CMS documentation staff reduced printed documentation size by two-thirds while making the information more accessible. Reactions to FOCUSHelp have been highly favorable. Future plans include migrating to the NetHelp2 framework and reducing topic lengths.

Rupel, Roberta A., Ellard Douglas, Bill Bledsoe and Frank Watson. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Help

Implementing a Document Control System  

Document control is a major component of any quality system. To implement a document control system, first establish Policies/procedures for generating, approving, issuing, and revising documents. The next step is to design and implement forms and a filing system/data base for managing quality documents. Teamwork and established guidelines can help ease the complexities of implementing a document control system.

Matthews, Diane L. STC Proceedings (1994). Articles>Documentation>Content Management

Is a Documentation Wiki in your Future?

If we can solicit user participation in a Web 2.0 knowledge community (a volunter wiki documentation, for example), we might have a powerful means for creating high quality content. But how should this process work?

Hackos, JoAnn T. Center for Information-Development Management (2007). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Wikis

Meaningful Microcontent

Microcontent refers to small, granular, and possibly representative (that can provide a summary of or a navigation to a larger set of information) bits of information, typically available on the Web. An example in the domain of journalism might be headlines and news summaries, small bits of content that can be used on a front page of the news with links to more in-depth articles. The definition has grown in scope as much as in its application.

Albing, Bill. KeyContent.org (2006). Articles>Documentation>Content Management>Technical Writing

Moving Legacy Documentation into DITA: An Interview

JoAnn Hackos, content management and information design expert, gives her best advice on what organizations need to know about moving legacy documentation to DITA.

Hackos, JoAnn T. Data Conversion Laboratory (2007). Articles>Documentation>Content Management

The New World of Product Labeling: Alternative Architectures and Approaches  

A discussion of the shift to structured content in pharmaceutical product labeling, which builds upon SPL and PIM regulations and the fundamental concepts of enterprise content management.

Glemser Technologies (2005). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Biomedical

Restructuring Your User Information  

Details a process for improving the usability, consistency, and organization of user information within businesses that maintain medium to large documentation libraries.

Richards, Charles. Intercom (2003). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Usability

Structured Document Processors: Customizing Software to Control Document Development Processes  

Structured document processors (SDPS) enable companies to make document production more efficient and accurate, while improving reliability of documents that must be updated frequently or written to very strict format standards. Achieving these goals requires elaborate and highly technical customization of the SDP. This paper emphasizes the importance of collaboration in customizing SDPS to particular document development processes. Three case histories illustrate the spectrum of ways industry is using SDPS for writing, showing three different approaches to customizing SDPS.

Norman, Rose L. and Daryl A. Grider. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Content Management>Documentation

We Neurotic Amateurs: A Commentary on Edmond H. Weiss's "Egoless Writing: Improving Quality by Replacing Artistic Impulse with Engineering Discipline"    

The assertion that technical communicators tend to be 'amateurs'--that is, lovers of our own work--is a claim with little foundation. Arguments toward regimentation and systematization of documentation writing are not calls to professionalize a currently-immature field, but rather attempts to emulate the hierarchy we have seen implemented in microprocessor engineering in the 1970s, software development in the 1980s, and content management in the 1990s. Such 'egoless' methods may offer advantages to employers, but should not necessarily be considered 'progress.'

Sauer, Geoffrey. Journal of Computer Documentation (2002). Articles>Content Management>Documentation

The Why and How of Content Convergence and Integration

Content producers are about to live through interesting times, to adapt the popular saying, with the dawning of The Age of Content. Industry is discovering content as a commodity; the rules are changing, and fast. What have traditionally been seen as the lowliest form of commercial content within an enterprise, technical manuals, are starting to take their place alongside the other valued corporate assets.

Bailie, Rahel Anne. Writing Assistance (2007). Articles>Content Management>Documentation>Technical Writing