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.
Erika Yanovich is <<... looking for a good resource (article, website, etc.)
about e-publishing, which discusses the different available options, such as
PDF, HTML, dynamic HTML (data based), CD-ROMs vs. Web, search functionality
- advantages and disadvantages of all methods, tools and knowledge you need
for implementation.>>
You've found it: head over to www.raycomm.com, the host of techwr-l, and
search through the archives for each term plus various variants of "online
publishing/information/help". We've discussed this in enough depth over the
past few years, from both theoretical and practical perspectives, to let
someone write a book with the results. (Wish I had the time!)
<<The output I'm looking for is the ability to decide which method is the
most appropriate for a new type of document (lots of reference material with
lots of hyperlinks).>>
There is never any one "best" method; all the current technologies have
advantages and disadvantages, and these change depending on the audience and
the situation. Instead of looking for a simple solution that fits all
situations, I'd recommend that you start with a careful assessment of the
specific needs of your audience (e.g., use outdoors vs. in a factory vs. in
an office, fast access via an index vs. linear browsing). List these needs
as the criteria (rows) in a table, with each of the technologies you
mentioned forming the column headings. Then rank each technology (pick any
scale that works for you: numeric vs. "good/okay/bad", for instance) and
figure out which one best meets the needs of your audience. Where you
identify deficiencies in an otherwise good technology, spend a few moments
thinking how you could resolve those problems; sometimes the solution is to
combine technologies (e.g., WinHelp to permit context-sensitivity plus PDF
to permit formatted printouts).
--Geoff Hart, FERIC, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
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