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

Graphic Designer Needs a Web CMS

While you can create very powerful content management solutions with most open-source packages -- they have a much steeper learning curve than you experienced with HTML or Flash.

Byrne, Tony. CMSworks (2004). Articles>Content Management>Graphic Design

Greymatter, RSS, and Syndication

Greymatter is an excellent web content management system. After you install it, you can begin to syndicate your content using XML. This article gives you an explicit step-by-step overview of how I created RSS 1.0 and RSS 0.92 files using Greymatter. It is assumed that you have some knowledge of HTML and XML, and that you have already installed Greymatter. Many examples and references are provided to help you along the way.

Rhodes, John S. WebWord (2001). Design>Content Management>XML>RSS

“Hand It To Them On A Silver Platter: Meeting Researchers Needs In The Electronic Age”  

This paper describes the Electronic Resource Library (ERL) at http://plutonium-erl.actx.edu. This is a web-based, subject-oriented digital library on the topic of plutonium and its ancillary disciplines. Previous research analyzing differences in the information-seeking behavior of scientists and engineers is reviewed and lessons learned applied to this digital library model. Special consideration has been given to recommendations in the SATCOM report from the National Academy of Sciences/National Academy of Engineering Committee on Scientific and Technical Communication. This report strongly advocated the development of “specialized need-groupservices” to support the work of the engineer and practitioner.

Ruddy, Karen. OSTI (1999). Articles>Content Management>Web Design

Hands-on XML and Round Trip HTML for Technical Communicators  

XML can simplify production of documents for print, help and web delivery. It can make document components reusable, portable between platforms and easier to maintain. XML also has a dark side. Parts of the standard are turbulent, vendors are rushing XML products to market that are not fully standard-compliant, implementation requires careful planning, and porting of legacy documents to XML is not trivial. Technical communicators can prosper by identifying the parts of XML that can be implemented immediately, by preparing documents to exploit support for XML available in new versions of Microsoft Word and Adobe FrameMaker, and by using hybrid HTML/XML for document delivery.

Reichman, Katriel. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>XML

Happy Birthday Communiqué

Provides a recap of how the online, wiki-based Carolina Communique evolved and won an Award of Excellence in the Newsletters: Web & Online category of the 2008 APEX Awards for Publication Excellence

Sapir, Rick. Carolina Communique (2008). Articles>Content Management>Newsletters>Wikis

History of the Vision

The goal of having a comprehensive collection of science information easily available to researchers and students has been expressed repeatedly for decades. These reports reiterate that our concept of a comprehensive collection of information has been attractive to the physical science community for decades.

OSTI (1999). Articles>Content Management>Scientific Communication

How I Survived XML Single Sourcing  

In Ontario Systems’ applications, customers can install various components and can change the user interface and data storage. Further, they can modify the system’s automated work flow and add custom features. To remain accurate, Ontario Systems’ documentation must dynamically change to reflect the changing application configuration. This session discusses how Ontario Systems implemented an XML-based single source system to create dynamic documentation and provides guidelines on this process.

Cantrell, Charles and Ann Rockley. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

How To Evaluate a Content Management System

Selecting and implementing a content management system (CMS) will be one of the largest IT projects tackled by many organisations. With costs running into the millions of dollars, it is vital that the right CMS package be selected. This article outlines some of the lessons that we have learnt when assisting clients to chose a CMS. It offers ideas and tips, and provides an approach for identifying your business' actual requirements for a CMS.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2002). Articles>Content Management>TC

How to Keep the Content Coming: Five Tips

Maintaining a steady flow of high-quality content can be a major challenge for any online venue. Shifting priorities, unexpected crises, ebbing resources, and just plain burnout can (and probably will) take its toll on your content plans. These tips can help you prevent or compensate for problems with your supply of fresh online content.

Gahran, Amy. Contentious (2002). Articles>Content Management>Writing

How to Revive a Zombie Content Management System

Without care and attention, a CMS can slide into a state of living death. Such systems can be revived by implementing a number of practical (and non-technical) activities.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2002). Articles>Content Management>Collaboration

How to Write Information So You Can Use It Again

You have written a user’s manual for Microsoft Word for Windows. Now you have been asked to write a user’s manual for Microsoft Word for the Macintosh. The two word processors are essentially the same; the primary differences emerge from the differences between Windows and Macintosh systems. You feel that you should be able to prepare the second manual in next to no time, because you can essentially use the information you wrote for the Word for Windows manual again, with some technical changes. This is an example of re-using information and it is a common task among technical communicators. As the demand for information grows faster than the availability of people to develop that information, technical communicators are showing increasing interest in reusing information.

Carliner, Saul. Saul Carliner Studio (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing

How XML Enables Information Sharing and Reuse — Interview with Joe Gollner

XML, a way of tagging and structuring your content, can help solve a number of problems, including storing, mining, reusing, and sharing content. XML helps enable the interoperability of information between systems, allowing you to export and import your content from one application to another. XML is behind much of the collaboration and information sharing Web 2.0 technologies, such as RSS (really simple syndication) and blogs. By storing content in XML, technical writers can ensure greater flexibility among technologies for authoring and publishing their content.

Gollner, Joe and Tom H. Johnson. Tech Writer Voices (2008). Articles>Interviews>Content Management>XML

Hurdles to Single-Sourcing

LaTeX and DocBook (and for that matter any manner of XML editors), which could be considered excellent single-sourcing tools, are almost never discussed.

Meyerding, Henry. KeyContent.org (2004). Articles>Content Management>LaTeX>DocBook

Hyperlinking Documents in PageMaker

These four supertips deal with adding links to your Adobe® PageMaker® 7.0 online documents: * Learn how to create anchors and simple page-to-page links. * Explore linking to external URLs using the Hyperlinks palette. * Drag links from Netscape Navigator directly onto elements on PageMaker document pages. * Create automatic tables of contents and index links for PageMaker documents that are exported to Adobe Acrobat® PDF files.

Adobe (2003). Design>Content Management>Document Design>Adobe PageMaker

Identifying the Components of Your ROI

Identifying Return on Investment (ROI) for your content management business case begins with a thorough analysis. This article reviews the information you need to gather to identify ROI for an effective business case for content management.

Rockley, Ann. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Content Management>Assessment>Business Case

Implementing a CMS: A Game-Changing Corporate Initiative  

The success of a CM project depends not just on process management, but on change management as well. Discover the ways that an organization can help its staff overcome initial resistance to change.

Hamer, Emma C. Intercom (2007). Articles>Content Management>Project Management

Implementing a Content Management System  

Before you begin a pilot project using a CMS, you must understand how it will work. Read on to learn how to define your information model, set up your folder structure, create a metadata scheme, assign roles and responsibilities, define your workflow, and measure results.

Hackos, JoAnn T. Intercom (2007). Articles>Content Management>Project Management

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

Implementing Single Sourcing in Your Organization  

Single sourcing is more complex than buying a new software application. To ensure a successful migration, you must carefully understand the documentation development processes in your organization, what single sourcing is, and what software is available to facilitate it. Because you must change the way your organization creates and maintains documentation, you must sell your organization on the changes and their cost. Finally, you must develop training to help transition writers to your single sourcing methodology.

Sukach, Rebecca, Robert Kennedy and Marie Devine. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Content Management>Single Sourcing

The Implications of Single Sourcing for Technical Communicators    

Surveys four books that examine methods of single sourcing, including publishing tools, XML, and content management systems. Reviews articles describing the roles of writers and editors, the tool set and its implementation, and ways to make dynamic content more effective

Williams, Joe D. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>XML

The Implications of Single Sourcing for Writers and Writing    

Argues that single sourcing puts pressures on the workforce and the very conception of 'writer' and 'document. Examines literature on change management for clues into managing the impacts of single sourcing on writers.

Carter, Locke. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Rhetoric

The Importance of Content Management System Usability

The rollout of a content management system (CMS) has the potential to impact on more users than any other system since e-mail. More crucially, the success of a CMS depends entirely on how much it is used, whether it is authors creating content, or users accessing the published site. It is these two challenges that place usability as a central issue to be raised and addressed.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2003). Design>Content Management>Usability