Moving from Information Transfer to Knowledge Creation: A New Value Proposition for Technical Communicators    

'What do technical communicators do?' asks the ambitious question on the Society for Technical Communication's FAQ Web page (STC 2001). The answer lists typical job titles for technical communicators and then says, 'All these professionals take technical information and make it understandable to those that need it.' This description is consistent with the way that many technical communicators describe their role, that of transferring information from those who have it (subject matter experts or SMEs) to those who need it, and they define the value of the technical communicator as packaging that information to be more accessible and more readily understood by the user. This article first reviews the current literature that addresses the value of the technical communicator. Whereas those discussions focus on what is delivered to the user (reader), this article examines the value the technical communicator adds by creating organization (internal) knowledge. The article then examines the philosophical underpinnings that support any discussion of knowledge and defines the role of technical communicators as creators of knowledge. Finally, it offers an expanded value proposition for technical communicators and examines its practical implications.

Hughes, Michael A. Technical Communication Online (2002). Design>Information Design>Content Management>SMEs

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

Moving to an XML-Based Web Site

In early 2007, I started the task of reworking the ageing HyperWrite Web site. The site was originally created in 1995. It underwent a major rework (to a frames-based design) in 1997, and was reworked in 1999, 2000 and 2002. In the decade since the Web site was launched, not only has Web technology moved on, but HyperWrite's activities, focus and business direction are now quite different. Time and budget were set aside to renovate the site to better serve HyperWrite's business needs, and to serve as a practical example of the company's capabilities.

Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2007). Articles>Web Design>Content Management>Case Studies

Moving to Modular Documents  

Lam’s software-controlled robotic etchers demanded multi-disciplinary manuals that were time-consuming to write. Since both software and hardware changes required a six-month re-write, manuals lagged behind product. Dividing manuals structurally into modular books enabled separate updates, as most urgently required. Modular engineering approaches to ongoing etcher development later drove a different modular design; but the approach enabled quick documentation of rapidly changing product. Company growth and product proliferation now combine with computer technologies to drive development of increasingly smaller modules of information, leading to a database model for books that may someday match individual machines.

Snavely, Deborah. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Content Management>Writing

Moving to Single Sourcing: Managing the Effects of Organizational Changes    

Argues that the move to single sourcing often requires changes within teams as new skills are introduced and members' roles shift. Points out that while some changes may threaten the stability of the team, managers can anticipate and prevent problems.

Bottitta, Jeanette, Alexia Prendergast Idoura and Lisa Pappas. Technical Communication Online (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Collaboration

Moving to the Public: Weblogs in the Writing Classroom

Given that students have access to the Internet, weblogs can easily replace traditional classroom uses of the private print journal. While weblogs are normally public, free tools such as Blogger can be used for private, expressive writing.

Lowe, Charles and Terra Williams. Into the Blogosphere (2004). Articles>Education>Content Management>Blogging

Multilingual Publishing with a Content Management System  

Sheds light on the benefits of using a content management system (CMS) when publishing in multiple languages. Included are tips for shopping for a CMS, managing unique character sets, and managing the translation process.

Freeman, Bret. Intercom (2006). Articles>Content Management>Localization

Multilingual Websites with Open Source Content Management Systems  

Open source content management systems can be installed free of charge on an entity's servers or web hosting account, and provide a way for organizations to develop multilingual web sites. There are some challenges in finding a good open source content management system, but there are several that can fit a variety of needs. An example CMS is Plone, which has strong support for different languages, and which also integrates tools for managing the translation of content.

Kelsey, Todd. Association for Business Communication (2006). Articles>Content Management>Localization>Language

My CMS Ate My Search Engine Rankings

A dynamically-delivered site in and of itself need not denigrate your search engine rankings. Google and other spiders can follow dynamically-generated pages, up to a point. The key is to have links elsewhere on the site pointing specifically to those pages. If each page results from a purely dynamic query (e.g. using session variables), then you could be in trouble.

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

Needle in a Haystack

In most organizations, data is piling up by the minute: e-mails, names, addresses, transactions, you name it. As a result, finding what you need when you need it is becoming increasingly complicated, which is why more companies are deploying enterprise search tools. According to a recent report by Boston-based Yankee Group, 75 percent of businesses with more than 100 employees have some sort of enterprise search technology in place. The study also found that the bigger the organization, the more likely it is to invest in search technologies, as 91 percent of companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenue report having enterprise search capability. In 2001, a similar Yankee Group survey found that 63 percent of businesses employed search technology. In that year, enterprise search vendors generated $400 million in revenues.

Surmacz, Jon. CIO Magazine (2003). Design>Content Management>Usability

The New Breed of Version Control Systems

CVS, part of the glue that holds open source development together, is showing its age. Many competitors have emerged recently, fixing misfeatures and adding new ideas. Shlomi Fish explores several current open source version control systems that may be better than CVS for your needs.

Fish, Shlomi. O'Reilly and Associates (2004). Articles>Content Management>Programming>Databases

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

No Small Task: Migrating Content to a New CMS

Content migrations are often the dirty little secret that folks in the CMS world like to avoid. It’s hard, it’s messy and very few organizations do it well. Truth be told, the content migration can often be the hardest part of implementing a new CMS.

Short, Kyle. CMSwire (2008). Articles>Content Management>Software

Now That We've Written It, What Do We Do With It?  

Maintaining documents after they are published (making technical corrections and clarifications, adding mussing information) is a large and important task - a task that is often pushed aside or overlooked entirely by writing departments. Our writing department was frequently behind in this maintenance work and wanted 10 improve our maintenance service to our customers. We needed to find a new, efficient way to handle the work -- quite a challenge given a shrinking work force and growing workloads. This paper describes the solution we devised, its early successes and its obstacles.

Dettlaff, Judy L. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Content Management>Editing

The O'Reilly Radar Blog

The O'Reilly Radar blog will track what we're tracking, and turn the blips into conversations.

Dornfest, Rael. O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Content Management>User Centered Design>Blogging

Oblivious Organizations and Content Management: Not Yet Ready for Prime Time  

In brief, documents are created everywhere by everyone. They each develop the documents any way they like, with no common look and feel. Company officials have vehemently opposed hiring technical communicators for the R&D teams. They feel that the engineers know the products best and should be able to write about them. Marketing materials are created independently by many different marketing staff and even by executives who regularly post announcements to the company intranet and Internet sites.

Hackos, JoAnn T. ComTech Services (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Case Studies

The Ockham's Razor Principle of Content Management Systems

Unless we manage to make Drupal more accessible to new users and to get back to the basics, we'll find the ground shifting beneath our feet.

Buytaert, Dries. Poynter Online (2004). Articles>Content Management>Software>Drupal

Off the Paper and Onto the Web

In this tutorial, we’ll show you how we adapted content from a full-color, printed brochure to create a visually rich Web site for attendees at a fictional design conference. As you follow along, you’ll learn tips and tricks that can help you move content from InDesign to GoLive to get the results you want.

Adobe (2003). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Adobe InDesign

One Source, Five Deliverables: A Case Study of Return on Investment  

A case study of the implementation of a single-sourse content management system.

Martin, Ben. ComTech Services (2002). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Case Studies

Open Directory Project: Content Management

A directory of nearly a thousand online resources in content management.

DMoz. Resources>Content Management

Open-Source Content Management Systems

Open-source CMS has now matured to the point where it should be considered alongside commercial products, but is not without its weaknesses and issues.

Robertson, James. Step Two (2004). Articles>Content Management>Software>Open Source

Optimieren der Informationslogistik

Können schlecht erfasste betriebliche Informationen zum Unternehmenserfolg beitragen? Ja! Zurzeit reiften Standards und Software heran (XML, Content-Management-, bzw. Redaktionssysteme). Sie versprechen, das Informationspotenzial in Unternehmungen zu aktivieren. Information mausert sich in unserer schnelllebigen Welt immer mehr zum elementaren Produktionsfaktor. Die richtige Information zur richtigen Zeit in der richtigen Form am richtigen Ort trägt wesentlich zum Unternehmenserfolg einer Firma bei.

Pfister, Gaston. Artech Ltd. (2004). (German) Articles>Content Management

Packaging our CMS

We have considered the idea of packaging and selling our CMS to other development firms. Do you think there is room on the market for another CMS solution, and if so, what niche/market is not being served effectively?

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

A Peep into the Toolbox

What is the current scenario for applications and systems in the area of technical communication? Who is using which editor? And how many companies are using a Content-Management-System? To answer these and other questions, tekom conducted a survey from July to November 2006, which was conceived as an online questionnaire and made available via the tekom web site. 547 participants took part in the survey.

Straub, Daniela and Wolfgang Ziegler. tekom (2007). Articles>Content Management>TC>Surveys

Planning and Analysis Articles and Surveys

Provides you with several resources you may find valuable during the planning and analysis phases of implementing content management.

Abel, Scott. Rockley Bulletin (2004). Articles>Content Management>Planning