A contrarian view of the future of publishing
Based on a quick Google search, things don’t look too hot for publishing:
The role of the gatekeeper is changing
Thanks to Peg Mulligan for hosting my guest post at her blog Content for a Convergent World. I wrote about the evolving role of the gatekeeper and the implications for technical communicators. Read the whole thing.
Tech Tips: Quick Word to DITA table conversion
The other day I had to convert a large table from Word to DITA. I started looking at Word XML output and thought about transforming it with XSL (which I have done in the past), but that seemed to be too much trouble for this document. Then I remembered a technique an old SQL coder showed me for loading large amounts of data into a SQL table. I realized this technique could be readily adapted to DITA.
Webcast: Knowledge integration: The future of technical communication
Scriptorium hosts Tristan Bishop of Symantec as he muses on technical communicators’ evolving roles.
Content strategy for foodies
Content is like food. At its best, it’s a carefully choreographed experience, like dining at a fine restaurant.
Webcast: DITA Specialization 101
Simon Bate of Scriptorium Publishing introduces specialization in the DITA open toolkit and walks viewers through the fundamentals.
The ePub has landed! The ePub has landed!
Our Technical Writing 101 book is now available in an ePub edition. You can purchase it from our online store or get it from Apple’s iBookstore.
Is tech comm management different in an XML environment?
I think so. Read the white paper and see if you agree.
Webcast: Managing technical communicators in an XML environment
In this 41-minute webcast, Sarah explores how XML affects the management of technical communication and proposes a new system for measuring documentation quality.
Managing technical communicators in an XML environment
To understand how XML changes technical communication, we need to step back and look at how the rise of information technology has changed the content development process. Through the 1970s, most technical communication work had separate writing, layout, and production phases. Authors wrote content, typically in longhand or on typewriters. Typesetters would then rekey the information to transfer it into the publishing system. The dedicated typesetting system would produce camera-ready copy, which was then mechanically reproduced on a printing press.
In a desktop publishing environment, authors could type information directly into a page layout program and set up the document design. This eliminated the inefficient process of re-entering information, and it often shifted the responsibility for document design to technical communicators.
