Information Mappping

[Jim Taylor <j -dot- taylor5 -at- GENIE -dot- GEIS -dot- COM>]

On 30 Aug, Michael Hacker asked:
 >> Does anyone have experience with the Information Mapping
 >> Method? I'm looking for objective opinions on this method
 >> for developing structured user documentation.

I'm a bit late with this response -- time flies.

Information Mapping has been widely used for the past several
 years in the company I work for. It was discovered by a
 technical writer at an STC conference. After attending a four-
 day seminar on mapping, she saw it as something the company
 needed and begin to push for setting up a seminar -- in spite
 of a boss who was against it. After the seminar she set up, all
 the students (including me) started helping her push it as a
 standard.

We now have three certified Information Mapping teachers in
 the company and one contract employee certified.  The seminar
 has been taught at company sites all over the world (which
 makes me wish I had pushed my supervisor a little harder to be
 certified as a teacher). We developed a "how to do it" book on
 writing and distributing internal technical documentation that
 recommends the Information Mapping method.

I stumbled into technical writing and teaching after several
 years of progrramming. I had been looking for help in
 improving my ability to design documentation, and Information
 Mapping was just what the doctor ordered.

Creating the standard mapping page layout is a bit tough in
 most text editors and word processors. I developed a set of
 macros and styles for DECwrite (from Digital Equipment
 Corporation) and for TPU (a text editor also from Digital).
 Others in the company developed macros for Word for Windows.
 Information Mapping, Inc. sells styles for some word
 processors, but they wanted too much per copy when I last
 checked.

Regards,
 Jim Taylor
 j -dot- taylor5 -at- genie -dot- geis -dot- com