Re: Queries on Single Sourcing

["Mark Baker" <listsub -at- analecta -dot- com>]

Lyndsey Amott wrote:

> The
> whole point of ss is surely to to reduce the time spent on doc by allowing
> the author to create multiple docs from a single source. As I see it, by
> definition, the content must be the same, and only the appearance
different.

Lyndsey, you do not single source documents, you single source information.

If a document is published in more than one media that is simply
multiple-media publishing. However, two quite different documents, aimed at
different audiences, or audiences in different situations and roles, or even
documents addressing different products, may nevertheless contain common
information.

The point of single sourcing is to isolate this common information and hold
it in a single container so that it is easier to create, verify, and
maintain. The information is then used in different documents (or help
systems) as needed. There are many different ways to accomplish the
collection and isolation of common information, and many different ways to
use that information in different documents. It need not even be the case
that the information is organized and presented in the same way in all the
documents in which it occurs. Significant processing of the information may
take place to prepare if for inclusion in a particular document to meet a
particular need.

When you think about single sourcing, therefore, think information, not
documents.

Mark Baker
Analecta Communications