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.
Subject:Document Management Software From:John Bell <jbell -at- TELE-TV -dot- COM> Date:Mon, 18 Dec 1995 12:39:17 EST
I've landed a new job in a fast-paced, growing company. We currently have a
large quantity of documents in production and each document may be worked on
by multiple writers.
I need some software to help manage the documents while in development. By that
I mean something that will enable me to track who made what changes and when.
It must also display read-only versions to reviewers and attach their comments
to any designated spot in the document.
We are currently using MS Word on Macs and PCs. We are switching to Windows NT
to match our development environment. I have the authority to 1) stay with Macs,
and 2) to change our authoring software. I am currently leaning toward phasing
out the Macs (just so we won't be the one department that is different, and
thereby less likely to get proper support from our internal Computer Support
Department) and switching to FrameMaker.
I'd like the documentation management software to be able to run on Windows NT
and handle FrameMaker files, but I'm not tied to them. I'm looking for the
names/vendors of any suitable products. I'd be very happy to hear about anyone's
person experiences with any such product.
I am also looking at making our documents available electronically. I have
requested sales literature on Adobe Acrobat, and I have a very strong background
in developing online help using FrameMaker/FrameViewer. I need to deliver
"electronic documents" on Windows NT, Windows 95, and Macintosh platforms, and
I may also need to do it for Sun workstations running X/Windows and Motif.
By "electronic documents" I mean a document someone can download from our
internal network and view on their desktop and/or laptop. They should be able
to view and print, but NOT edit the documents. It would be nice if they could
have hypertext links, but that isn't necessary. A typical document is about
200 pages long, so I think HTML and web browsers are too clumsy for this
purpose.
Thanks for your help!
--- John Bell
Documentation Manager
TELE-TV
jbell -at- tele-tv -dot- com
