0 Content Management and the Need for Change in Technical Communication Written by: Scott P. Abel 20 June 2007 Nick Savillo ENG 393

1 Overview  Problems with Failure of Content Management  Writing in the Silo  Multichannel Delivery  Single Sourcing  Content Management  Why people are not doing this already  Success with content management  The future

2 Problems  Too much digital content  Recreating content because it cannot be located  Side effect of doing business in digital age  Failing to manage content as a business asset:  Difficulty accessing and reusing content  Unable to locate and control content  Wasting resources to:  Create multiple formats, languages, etc.  Do something that can be automated  Inability to prevent wrong content from being released

3 Writing in the Silo  Shortcuts, skipping steps, bending and breaking rules to get a job done on time  Taking liberties with naming conventions, the order in which content is organized, where it is reused, where it is stored, and how it is written and formatted  Does not promote collaboration  Creates inconsistency, inaccuracy, and the unnecessary expense of recreating content “Authors – often working in isolation from one another – are forced to recreate the same types of content over and over again for different purposes”

4 Multichannel Delivery: A Common First Approach  Typical multichannel delivery outputs:  Print version of user guide  PDF version of user guide  Online help system  Aimed at saving time, allowing you to create the multiple outputs demanded of you from a single source of content faster and with fewer manual production tasks.  Fails to provide much value to content consumers, and it does little or nothing to address issues of control.

5 Single Sourcing: The Next Step  Typical Outputs:  Print-friendly PDF version of user guide  Online optimized PDF version of user guide  Online help system (HTML)  Allows you to create and deliver more targeted content  Fails to deliver the key component of content management—control Single sourcing – a methodology that enables you to selectively reuse pieces of information, assemble them into different formats, and automatically deliver them via various channels to various audiences.

6 Content Management  “A paradigm shift—a new and improved way of strategizing and organizing information to drastically reduce time to market.”  “A set of software tools; organizational and work- flow processes; and internal policies, procedures, and training that—when coupled with targeted organizational changes, proper research, and planning —can deliver excellent return on investment.”

7 Why aren’t we doing this already?  Excuses:  “We’ve never done it that way here.”  “We’ve always done it this way here.”  The way we were taught to think about content and computer tools we use to create it  “My Documents”

8 The Future  Smart risk  Open formats:  Extensible markup language (XML)  sharing of information among disparate computing systems, platforms, and web browsers without the need for developing costly interface layers between systems.

9 Conclusion  Take greater advantage of breakthroughs in information and computing technologies designed to improve productivity, boost quality, and reduce time to market.  Reach—even exceed—our goals.

10 Questions?

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