Re: Building a documentation knowledgebase

[chevotilburg -at- postmaster -dot- co -dot- uk]

<<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

You're right about it being a management problem. There is a current
database that services the development/support depts but it had turned
more and more convoluted through the years with endless discussions per
'bug report/customer issues' and it was up to the writers to isolate fact
and re-confirm what the feature was supposed to do before documenting it.
There were some suggestions from the writers on how to make the database
work for us writers too - but that fell through the cracks e.g. lack of
resources etc.

The requirements is all very high level- "put all the information into one
area - but it has to be suitable for all depts to access" .The first thing
they want to try is a general template. I am worried that this is going to
be the next run-around the writers have been given in past years.

We have only one trainer and she, like me, have seen the training and
writing dept shrink over the years. While we both are not that optimistic
-(she has seniority -and has reminded management that building a knowledge
base is not that simple); we both know it's important to steer this
'project'in the right direction before too much time is wasted.