Re: Concurrent writing & editing

[Reuven Frank <reuven -at- E-AND-C -dot- COM>]

Dear Nancy and Group

I have the exact same problem because I am editing a document for a system that is in development.
Every time the Systems Rules change (a daily occurrence), the document has to be updated.

We tried (although, ultimately, unsuccessfully), to control the problem using (at various times), some or all of the following methods.

-All the Authors had to work with Revisions on, and I updated and Accepted Revisions periodically.

-We worked in "rounds." They wrote a document. I edited it.  They continued to write in a document saved with a different name. (We called these "drafts.") I edited again...
        This, of course had the problem of never being able to catch up.  But, as the document grew; so did the turn-around time.

-We split the document into small files and took turns writing/editing as above. (This more-or-less worked.)

HTH
Reuven Frank
reuven -at- e-and-c -dot- com

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From:   Nancy Hitchcox
Sent:   Tue, 28 Jul.98 18:28 PM
To:     TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject:        Concurrent writing & editing

I would like to hear from editors who allow authors to work in a document
throughout the publication process. I edit proposals and am finding that,
more and more, subject matter experts (the authors) want to continue
working in the document (on a shared file server) until just before it goes
to Repro.  I feel we have to find a way to accommodate their needs and
still maintain control over the document. We are using MS Word Office 98
and have considered having them work with revisions turned on, but haven't
worked out the logistics. Any ideas out there?

Nancy Hitchcox
General Atomics
nancy -dot- hitchcox -at- ga -dot- com
San Diego, CA 92186-5608