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by Kristy Nolan, Member
LSC's own Doug Dow presented an informative look at the transition to single-sourcing. Single-sourcing, or the ability to write once and use the material multiple times and in multiple formats, is currently a popular topic in many technical communications departments. Making the transition to single-sourcing is a daunting task when tackled by a whole department, let alone a single writer. The demand, however, to "work smarter" is driving the adoption of single-sourcing, especially if documents/material contain duplicate pieces of information.
Single-sourcing involves the creation of reusable elements that are stored in a database. These include topics (tasks, concepts, and references) and objects (links, cross-references, and tables of contents). Having all of these elements stored in one location eliminates duplicate material and decreases the effort required to keep a particular element current.
Doug walked us through his process for the move. His steps included:
Before the conversion, Doug was using FrameMaker. Doug's research led him to AuthorIT, software by a company in New Zealand. AuthorIT uses a drag-and-drop method of organizing objects, and provides multiple forms of output. Doug was able to start using it relatively easily through the templates provided. Doug also recommended taking the time to manually evaluate all of the legacy documents being brought over to eliminate unneeded structures and determine the granularity needed for the material. It also enabled him to clean up his FrameMaker documents as much as possible before attempting to move the information to AuthorIT.
While AuthorIT incorporates a content management system, its output centers around Word, PDF, and HTML. An alternative tool is XMetaL, which stores information as XML files, enabling the user to produce multiple outputs and use the DITA standard. Doug also referenced Ann Rockley (one of his heroes), Kurt Ament, and JoAnn Hackos as valuable resources. All three have produced books at various levels about single-sourcing and content management, and are a great place to start researching your move to single sourcing.
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