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Subject:Re: Building a documentation knowledgebase From:k k <turnleftatnowhere -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Mon, 16 Feb 2004 09:00:10 -0800 (PST)
>
> Everyone wants a change in the documentation area -
> however - i think
> starting with a template that serves all - is not
> exactly the first step.
>
My opinions:
The fact that the documentation has become so badly
fragmented is a management problem. You don't solve a
management problem by building a form - you do it by
changing the way things are managed. A template is
only a process tool, and for it be meaningful there
must be meaningful rules for handling the things made
from that template. If there are still no sensible
controls over how information is used, the content
problems will persist.
I think the real first step in the solution is to
define exactly what is to be accomplished by
consolidating information - to declare a sensible
goal. Next is to decide who's in charge of this
effort, and the third step is to survey the current
documentation situation and identify where and how it
differs from the goal. That identification will do a
lot to indicate what actions must actually be taken to
reach the goal.
If you and your colleagues can't be in charge of this,
then you need to at least convince the people who are
in charge to provide a comprehensible goal. A goal and
direction must be set before anyone starts driving, or
you're just burning gas to get nowhere.
To use an analogy from software development, it sounds
at this point as if the management has decided to jump
straight into building the product before they've even
identified the requirements.
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