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Subject:Re: Reuse of text/modular information From:Tim Merrick <TimM -at- ILE -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 18 Jul 1997 12:35:21 -0600
Geoff Hart writes:
"Reusing text ("modular information") is a great
> productivity booster for creating the _first draft_ of a
> manual or online help system, but that's all it ever is.
> First, context always changes somewhat, and you have to
> analyze the final text for each delivery medium to
> determine how well it's really going to work. Second, it's
> ridiculously easy to screw up something created using
> modular information through basic human carelessness. One
> great example: The manual for a GM station wagon I once
> owned frequently referred to an entirely different class of
> car... an obvious case of using database publishing and
> forgetting to proofread the final manual."
>
Leveraging text from one documentation project to another is crucial to
controlling development costs. If you add in the cost of localization,
then leveraging as much as possible becomes an absolute necessity.
The example of the GM manual is an example of sloppy workmanship. It
does not invalidate the concept of leveraged information.
Tim Merrick
Senior Technical Writer
ILE Communications Group
timm -at- ile -dot- com
>
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