August 10, 2009
Scriptorium Publishing offers inexpensive professional development for technical communicators

Research Triangle Park, NC―To support professional development for technical communicators, Scriptorium Publishing is offering low-cost webinars on DITA, DITA to PDF publishing, and XML.

“Conferences offer the ideal mix of face-to-face networking and concentrated professional development. But in this economy, it can be difficult to get approval for conference attendance,” said Sarah O’Keefe, President. “These hour-long webinars provide technical communicators with inexpensive access to critical industry information.”

Three new webinars, scheduled for August and September, are priced at $20 each.

DITA 101, August 18 at 11 a.m. Eastern time
Participants will learn about basic Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) concepts, the business case for implementing DITA, and some typical uses of DITA. This webinar is ideal for those who are considering a move to structured authoring based on the DITA standard.

Demystifying DITA to PDF Publishing, September 10 at 11 a.m. Eastern time
When a company implements a DITA-based workflow, the most difficult technical obstacle is often setting up a PDF/print publishing workflow. This session discusses the advantages and disadvantages of using the DITA Open Toolkit, FrameMaker, InDesign, and other options to create PDF output from DITA content. Basic familiarity with DITA, Extensible Markup Language (XML), and related technologies is helpful but not required.

What Do Movable Type and XML Have in Common?, September 22 at 11 a.m. Eastern time
The invention of movable type changed the economics of information by making the process of copying a book by hand obsolete. More than 500 years later, XML seems to be doing the same to desktop publishing. But where movable type changed the economics of a mechanical process—creating printed copies—XML changes the economics of content authoring, formatting, and customization. This webinar takes a look at how publishing technologies revolutionize the way people consume information and how those technologies affect authors.

During the sessions, participants can interact with the presenter and other students through the chat interface or the audio connection. There is a question-and-answer session at the end of each webinar. The Q&A is not included in session recordings, which are available for download later. Participants in the sessions receive a free recording.

To register for these webcasts, or to purchase recordings of past webinars, go to Scriptorium’s online store. Recorded sessions include Beyond Documentation, How to Build a Business Case, Hacking the DITA Open Toolkit, Documentation as Conversation, and The State of Structure in Technical Communication. All webinars and recordings are $20.

For more information: Scriptorium Publishing provides expert advice on how to develop, deploy, and manage content. Customers include federal and state government as well as companies in defense, consumer electronics, telecommunications, medical, pharmaceutical, and other industries. Scriptorium Publishing is a member of TechComm Alliance, an Adobe Authorized Training Center, a Certified Flare Instructor, and a JustSystems Services Partner. The company is based in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA. www.scriptorium.com.