RE: "New Media"

[eric -dot- dunn -at- ca -dot- transport -dot- bombardier -dot- com]

Greg Holmes wrote on 10/16/2005 06:31:37 AM:
> They wouldn't get in the habit of going to
> look,

And I've found that's the major hurdle to surmount.

Any information dissemination or comment gathering in needs active 
distribution and prompting. Just because information is there and updated 
regularly doesn't mean that those that require the information will 
receive it in a timely manner. Relying on the users and respondents taking 
time out from their regular work to check for updates can be unreasonable 
even for small amounts of information.

Just think about it, i sit really effective for your time as a techwriter 
to have to rely on asking an SME each and every day for updates? How long 
until you're fed up with asking and getting "Nothing new" as an answer and 
then stop asking only to miss an important update?

Similarly, how often are SMEs or others likely to visit blogs, wikis, 
webpages, or other electronic information sharing and gathering systems if 
they aren't pointed directly to new content or their responsibilities 
aren't actively shown to them as required?

Unless there is a specific and active job function interaction with the 
system, the system is a distraction and interferes with the current work 
at hand.

So, how can the system be active? E-mail notification, RSS, work flow 
control, perhaps something along the lines of read/unread indication in 
bulletin board applications.

But it's a fine line to walk. Too little notification and you'll lose the 
interest of the participants, too much and you'll annoy them.

Eric L. Dunn
Senior Technical Writer

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

This e-mail communication (and any attachment/s) may contain confidential 
or privileged information and is intended only for the individual(s) or 
entity named above and to others who have been specifically authorized to 
receive it. If you are not the intended recipient, please do not read, 
copy, use or disclose the contents of this communication to others. Please 
notify the sender that you have received this e-mail in error by reply 
e-mail, and delete the e-mail subsequently. 
Thank you. 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 


Ce message (ainsi que le(s) fichier/s), transmis par courriel, peut 
contenir des renseignements confidentiels ou protégés et est destiné à 
l?usage exclusif du destinataire ci-dessus. Toute autre personne est par 
les présentes avisée qu?il est strictement interdit de le diffuser, le 
distribuer ou le reproduire. Si vous l?avez reçu par inadvertance, 
veuillez nous en aviser et détruire ce message. 
Merci. 
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Try WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word today! Smooth migration of legacy
RoboHelp content into your new Help systems. EContent Magazine Decision-
maker review (October 2005) is here: http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 2005 converts RoboHelp files with one click. Author with Word or any HTML editor. Visit our site to see a conversion demo movie and learn more. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.