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Subject:Re: Manuals on CD-ROM From:Sally Yeo <sallyyeo -at- EXECPC -dot- COM> Date:Sat, 3 Feb 1996 18:08:23 -0800
Mercedes, you wrote about your vendor problems on a CD-project. What you
experienced is not uncommon.
We had a customer who wanted to put docs on CD-ROM. All they could focus
on was the CD-ROM technology. We talked with them, repeatedly, until they
understood that the real challange was providing information retrieval.
Ultimately we helped them convert massive numbers of pages into
FolioViews and then placing that online. The look of the pages was
different than paper, but the information retrieval was powerful. They
were very pleased and have gone on to convert more documents.
It is, however, much more complex than one might think going in. A
major problem in this job was that the source documents were not
formatted consistently, or with styles, so a lot of effort had to go into
clean up before the conversion.
We are now working with the same company on converting massive numbers of
pages (other documentation) into HTML pages for their intranet.
Also, you should insist that any contractors (other than commercial
printers) work with your tools on your platform! That is a contractor or
consultant's job, unless they can counsel you to move to another tool for
very practical reasons.
