The best of 2015
Let’s wrap up 2015 with a look back at popular posts from the year.
Scriptorium wishes you the best for 2016!
The Force Awakens: Content strategy and project hype
With the most anticipated film of the year—Star Wars: The Force Awakens—coming out this week, I couldn’t help but think about movie hype and how sometimes it leads to disappointment.
The same thing can happen when hype builds around content strategy. Excitement about implementing a new strategy can be good for an organization, especially when the alternative is hostility or resistance to change. But too much enthusiasm can have unintended consequences and result in failure. Here are some of the pitfalls of project hype and how you can avoid them.
The rise of part-time contributors
Content creation should no longer be the exclusive domain of full-time writers. Employees in other departments can offer valuable information that your company’s content should capture. Where can you find these part-time contributors?
The advent of intelligent content
You can justify intelligent content with efficiency–more reuse, cheaper translation, better content management. The true value of intelligent content, however, is unlocked when you connect content across the organization.
Tips for developing a taxonomy in DITA
When you’re coming up with a metadata strategy for your content, you should start by developing a taxonomy, or a hierarchy used to organize metadata. A taxonomy will help shape your metadata strategy and make implementation of that strategy possible. In this follow-up post to Making metadata in DITA work for you, you’ll learn some tips for creating a taxonomy that will succeed in helping your audience—both internal and external—find what they need.
Sturm und DITA-Drang at tekom
This year’s tekom/tcworld conference reinforced the ongoing doctrinal chasm between North American technical communication and German technical communication.
I am speaking, of course, of the proper role of DITA in technical communication. If any.
Content strategy versus scope creep
Content strategy implementations require substantial planning, coordination, and hard work. The effort involved in keeping planned work moving along can be difficult. Scope creep–discovering new requirements along the way–can potentially derail your entire effort if you’re not careful.
New LearningDITA course: reference and glossaries
March 2025 update: Read this article to learn about what’s new with LearningDITA. The Introduction to DITA course is still free, and you can sign up for courses at store.scriptorium.com.
Thank you all for your great response to our DITA courses at LearningDITA.com (over 500 registrants and counting)! Now that you’ve got your feet wet with the Introduction, concept topic type, and task topic type courses, are you ready for the next challenge?
Dave Young – originally posted to Flickr as surfer chicks
Content should not be an obvious tourist
When you travel, do people ask you for directions and address you as if you live in the area? I’ve had that happen a few times, and friends and colleagues have shared similar experiences.
You may not stand out as an obvious tourist on your travels. But does the content you distribute fit in as well across different environs?
