review processes for an outsourced project

[Allison Marshall <marshall -at- OMTOOL -dot- COM>]

Hello,

I have searched the archives but did not find anything that fits my
situation.  Recently I became the Lone Tech Writer for my company after
they decided to outsource the documentation and down-size the doc
department.  They asked me to stay with the company and coordinate the
project with the outsourcing company and to handle all of the smaller,
in-house documentation.

Now, I have only been a tech writer for a little over a year, and I
don't have any experience actually managing projects like this.  My main
resposibility in coordinating the project right now is to set up
(in-house) editing/review sessions for the drafts that the outsourcing
company produces.  What is the best way to handle the process of editing
and reviewing _large_ documentation projects? I feel that we should go
over every inch of the new documents since the goal of outsourcing them
is to make them more readable and accurate than the previous in-house
doc department was able to manage. However, I don't think I will be able
to command enough time from the necessary people to have them review
several hundred pages of documentation.

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.  Also - please email me
directly because I am on the digest and I want to make sure I get all
the responses.

Thank you!
Allison Marshall