Re: the coming thing . . . thoughts?

["Trudy Evans" <tevans -at- actrix -dot- gen -dot- nz>]

Sean,

I think documentation, like software development did, will move to object
oriented design and development.  There is only one tool that I know that
already uses this paradigm.  It is called AuthorIT. We use to produce all
our on-line and printed docs from a single source.  Since we started using I
would say that we more than halved the time we were spending on
documentation. Don't worry, it was the boing repeditive half that we don't
want to do any way.  If you want more info on AuthorIT visit their website
and download a free trail, I don't think it expires.  The URL is
http://www.author-it.com.

Regards
Trudy



-----Original Message-----
From: Brierley, Sean <Sean -at- Quodata -dot- Com>
To: TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>
Date: Saturday, 13 November 1999 13:35
Subject: the coming thing . . . thoughts?


>Hallo:
>
>Please bear with me. I'm in a rut.
>
>I have my documents planned through Winter 2000, including the transition
>this year to include online help and next year to context sensitivity. Part
>of this effort, which will also be ongoing, is moving to PDF online books
>for the reason that they are easier to ship and much easier to update than
>paper-based docs. Don't get me wrong, my plan includes shipping printed
>books with initial orders and, for the short term, updates to printed docs
>as they become available. In addition, tools planned into 2001 . . ..
>
>So, what's the coming thing and where do I go to learn about it?
>
>Please excuse me, I've been at this job for one year and my head has been
>firmly stuck, and will remain so for the short term, in getting work done,
>books out, help online, and so forth. However, I need to investigate coming
>trends in help, specifically for the software industry, and trends not only
>in online documentation but find out how to improve and provide online
>tutorials . . .. I need to gather information and start planning three or
so
>years out, minimum, rather than the fire fighting I've been doing so far
and
>that will continue through April 2000. In addition to new directions for
the
>industry, I need to start thinking about any associated tools, skills, and
>predicting personnel needs . . ..
>
>So, as technical writers, where is the industry headed? What new
>technologies are we chasing? Where can I go to find out?
>
>I checked into the STC site, but the annual conference in May 2000 is still
>not posted. That's a tad disappointing, since I need to plan for that
*now*,
>if I want to attend . . .. What resources do y'all suggest I look into?
>
>Thanks. I apologize if this seems a tad disjointed . . . I have had a
>particularly trying week . . .<g>.
>
>Sean
>sean -at- quodata -dot- com
>
>
>
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