TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Matthew wrote:
> I guess I don't see the complications. Have someone in IT set up a server for you. Install the server version of your CM tool. Store all the files in the CM tool's watched directories. Then send an email out to everyone saying "If you want to get to the Pelican Brief, then you have to access it via the CM tool.
>
> Really not a big deal, I think. Maybe 2 days worth of work.
Have you ever tried to get a group of people to start using a system like
this? To simply believe that if you put all the docs in this system so
that they HAVE to use it to access them is, from my experience, naive.
Ain't gonna happen.
People want to find the info. But they don't want to learn a new way to
find it. And to have some intern tell them they HAVE to will create
resistance. Serious resistance. Again, just talking from my experience,
but I've been present in a company where almost this exact scenario took
place. Result? The company owned some very expensive DMS licenses, one
employee was hated by many, and nothing got done. Everybody just roots
around for files like they always did.
In addition to the unwanted ramp-up time of learning how to use these
systems, some of them create a major performace hit on the machines that
have the system installed on them.
I like the bare-bones approach the initial poster is taking so far. A DMS
can do much more, it's true. And maybe if you started a company from
scratch using one, it would work a lot more smoothly. But I am highly
skeptical that you can just go in and tell people "we've installed this
new system, and if you ever want to see your docs again, you'll use it,
and you'll LIKE it." Last time I saw that ploy, it backfired in a BIG way.
YMMV.
Incidentally, the marketing team at my current company created an Excel
file much like the one described in the initial post, and I use it all the
time - I love it. They converted it to a Web page, with links for all the
docs. Plain, simple, and effective.
-Keith Cronin
________________________
It's great to have a Liberal Arts degree, so you can ask, "Wantest thou
fries with yonder milkshake?" with the proper inflection.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
Save $600: Create great-looking Help files and software demos with
RoboHelp Deluxe. Get RoboHelp and RoboDemo - our new demo software - for one
low price. OR Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in June with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
