We Ma LEY | Copyrighted Fanably, PRACTICAL. RELIABLE. Content Management for Dynamic Web Delivery JoAnn T. HackosCopyrighted Material ‘Publisher: Robect Ipien Bdlitor: Theresa Huon Managing Editor: Angeta Smath ‘Text Design & Composition: RID: Consaltants, Inc. [Designations wad by companies te distigguish thet prextucts are often claimest as ‘trademarks. [nal instances where Join Widey & Sons, Inc. is aware ofa lai, te pproshact nasnes appear i initial capital or all capital eters, Readers, however, should contact the appropriate companies for more complete information cxgaring taskemaks and erpisteation. ‘02001 SAP AG. iafare the trademarks or registered trademarks of SAPAktionpesclsdiat, Syrtems, Applications and Prockacts in Data Processing, Newrortstrase 16,4919) Walldoef in Germany and in several other ‘countries. The grblisher gratefully closonledges SAP" Kid permission to use its ‘trademark in this publication. 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ISBN 0-471-08586-3 (cloth : alk pager) Princed in the United States of America west es aaa Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Contents Copyrighted MaterialME Content Management for Dynamic aOSUMTG! Material Preface.......0.5 sect Where does content management fit in? ‘Who should read this book’ How is the book organized? Acknowledgments ....... ‘Chapter 1. Is Content Management in Your Puture? The promise of content management. .. Scenario 1—Wanting to buy, but no place to go Scenario 2—Where, oh where did the customer Scenario 3—Customer service gone awry ... Scenario 4—No instructions are better than the wrong ones . . uM Scenario S—If it happened last year, it doesn't do me sonch god 4 Essential content management. 15 The content-management challenge for the enterprise . 7 ‘Turning comtent into knowledge . ae VW Placing contem atthe core of the information value propos 18 Content management in the supply chain. 0 Content management in the support chain or Responding to the news and entertainment content-management challenge ...... 30 Developing continuous publishing as the key to frequent use. 32 Removing the Web production barrier ...... 33 Dynamic content challenges traditional ‘Web management penal.» uM 4 Maintaining a continuous information stream. Developing your content-management solution: phased apres. : on = Phase 1: Assesing your needs and developing «plan... quirements : Phase 3: Creating your content assembly and delivery plans... .0.......0..0. 48 Phase 4: Conducting and evaluating a pilot project at see Phase 5 Rolling out to the larger enterprise .. si ‘Chapter 2. Implementing a Content- Management Solution . ‘The content-management solution . Build your vision of the future user experience . ‘Beware of beginning with only what you already have . ‘The content-management components .. Authoring and acquiring content , . ‘Unstructured authoring ...... Forms-based authoring, Format-based authoring. Structured authoring. ... BRRRRRREES Copyrighted MaterialDiep hiking he Lek tert Reman. Copyrighted Material a ace Summary of coetem acquisition and auboeing - Defining a content-management repository. Document management or component Management Multiple-language support . Techni roqusement for repository. Style conversion... ‘Adding format styles, ‘Writing the requirements for your content-maragement solution . ‘Toarchive or not woarchive . Adding existing print information through imaging . Labeling existing electronic infarmation for storage and retrieval ‘Using automatic content classifiers... ‘Using people skills to label infarnsation ‘Transforming existing content. Leaving your legacy information “as Restructuring existing information . 108 ‘Normalizing existing content ctelequsngtieesaveaere 109 Using convertion tous to eee structre ered pb aeaaoaees eee 12 14 Format tags...... eis doManuekS uehaee Semantic or meaningful tags. oan Sams seweresainnesy Adding format upon output . Insisting on meaningful taps. Using standard metadata from external information resources ‘Developing your own standards far third-party suppliers . Standardizing the use of metadata and tags within your organization Recognizing that determining metadata is an ongoing process .. Copyrighted Materialsli Ml Coens Management fie Dynambc OM Material Investigating your users, your business, and your authoring environment... 121 Chapter 4. Creating an Information Model . ‘What is an Information Model ‘ ‘The three-tiered structure of an Information Model... Starting with a personal view of an Information Model An organizational Information Model Applace for everything ......+ Even familiar models are challenging for newcomers Information Models based on static categories can be difficult to learn « ‘Why do you need an Information Model? Static Information Models . Dynamic Information Models Defining the components of the Information Model? Analyzing user requirements... . Assessing authoring requirements Version and selease control requirements Building an Information Model .. Deciding an the scope of your "dentin the dimensions of your Information 4 Model Analyzing a customer user community. Analyzing an employee user community . Analyeing users’ goals and tasks ‘Analyzing the authoring community. Inventorying existing information Identifying existing Information Models . .. eritcke 3 Evaluating new information relationships . rintipeeusueavanececn ISS Chapter 5. Developing Information Types and Content Units = 160 What are information types. .. 163 ‘Why do you need information typest. Inconsistencies invite confusion. Supporting the Information Model 165 What are content tmite? vee ese + 168 Supporting reuse......4-. ae VAT Assisting authors. . ir Deciding not to-use information types 179 Deciding when to use information types 179 Information types in the birding guide 180, Information types in the cookbook. ses 180 Developing technical information types .. 181 ‘Atypleal sec of information types for echnical information « 184 Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Coments mail Developing your information types. Information type definitions. “Avoiding the proliferation of information types... Considering industry standards for information types. ‘Common XML standards enhance cross-company collaboration. Chapter 6. Using Content Units to Structure Information Types ‘Relating information types to content units........+-+- Defining the content units for each information type. rene ‘Content units should identify meaning not format a ‘Avoid automated tagging engines that deliver only stylistic tags vier Standard content units support consistency and usability . <---HO Standard content units support reuse... .. i scgee col Standard content units speed development titted Ges cat sdien val’ Chapter 7. Developing Content Plans for Static Web Sites Why is contest planning important?.............. Building a context for your information . ‘What is a content plan? Content plans for eailtons of information topics... ‘Creating a set of recipes... ‘Content plans for Web sites Planning static content for the Web: Presenting information in contest ...... Using the Information Model as an organizing principle Developing a content plan fur static contemt ..... Moving from static we dynamic delivery... Chapter 8, Developing Content Plans for Dynamic Web Sites. Planning dynamic content for the Web.....-....+ ‘Building a user community through dynamic delivery . . Developing dynamic content within a static architecture . ‘Updating data based on user queries Developing customized content ‘i Product models. Reaping search statistics... 00.0... cso. Assembling content dynamically .......... Copyrighted Materialiv Ml Coatent Management for Dynariitwas Lalita Material Scenario 1: Planning a dinner party. ... Seenario 2: Delivering command reference information... Scenario 3: Extracting information for technicians .......,. Secnato a Creating cstomer uss ids. seescasceccesecaseecceees DAB a7 ‘Adding use:-generated information . Creating a content plan for dynamic content . Chapter 9. Developing a Single-Source Strategy. Planning a single-source strategy ..... Multiple versions of the sume product .. Multiple methods of delivery... Deciding on the appropriate level of granular Book-level granularity. Module-level granularity (Content-unit-level granularity... Word-level granularity .......-. ‘Ensuring that your metadata supports your single porate oh ey Building compound documents out of reusable content units... ., Building customized documents out of reusable content units... Building dacuments from the top down using existing compound structures . Chapter 10, Authoring for Reuse . ‘Starting with a content plan . re) 316 Focusing on the topic at hand... 3a Following a predetermined structure 320 Making writing assignments. . +32 ‘Assigning metadata 23 (Creating links... = 325 Adding index terms........... eae centects OSM Developing style guidelines... .. -3? Editing to the guidelines... 37 Normaliting tent s.eccssceseeenesesvas .us Ebling a review aed approval proce... Ha Planning for translation......... aitee.. SM Using translation memory tools... 20.0060... eiebiiecita cots (2 S5E Including translation and localization in the project..............060..... 332 Pursuing minimalist strategies - os -333 Less is often more .. . Fostering a reuse strategy. toe BS Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted Material Contents moe ‘Chapter 11. Staffing for Content Management ........-. ‘Content-managememt development process. . Develop an Information Model... Develop a presentation desiga......... Implement the content-management system. Deliver information to users . Staffing your content eevee eae Information architect... 22.02.06 Information desigmer 2.2.0.0... Interface designer. . ‘i wets _ ‘Authors and iran dei Updating job skills foe content amiga ‘Training... see Conferences and exhibits... =. User groups... ‘Chapter 12. Making « Business Case for Content Management. Analyzing the current state. Estimating checklist . . Tdentifying benefits foc cuntoueck, partners, and ‘aff. Creating customer value propositions . .. ‘Quantifying the customer benefits ...... Identifying cost reductions opportunitie: Benchmarking against best practices Promoting internal efficiencies... Investigating cost reduction opportunities .... Calculating potential cost savings..........0.... Leveraging infrastructure ensts... e Calculating your Return on Investinent (Ro! ‘Selling content-management to your colleagues Involving colleagues in the design of your solution Selecting an initial project . Involving the staff. . Take a learning and growth perspective .- Critical success FANS vee steers ener en es . Copyrighted Material1 Coment Management or Byram WESHEY! Material Appendix A: Content Management Requirements Checklist - ‘Qutput requirements (assembly, linking, publishing) ‘Web Delivery Authoring and acquisition requirement Information Model requirements . . ‘Content management requirements .. Appendix B: Vendors. . ‘Authoring ... Copyrighted MaterialCopyrighted faterial Is Content Management in Your Future?Copyrighted Material ‘Ss content management in your future? If you think it isn't, think again, Organieations are fooded with content, but that content doesn't become information and information doesn't turn into knowiedge unless someone knows it's there, «an get to it with minimal pain, and can repurpose it by creating new information from existing content. Content that is inaccessible is not yet a corporate asset. Content that is hidden away in long documents and impenetrable manuals lacks the flexibility we need to act upon it as @ corporate asset, Joe 8. is drawning in content from his suppliers —catalogs, white papers, product literature, technical manuals, bullletins—all of them delivered either in paper form or over the Intemet. He would be much happier if his suppliers managed the con- tent more effectively for him and if his suppliers made more of an effort to under- stand his needs. He ravely gets updated information when he needs it, Most of the information is duplicated or is almost the same in five or six different sources. When he reports errors in the information, they are never corrected. Even in new ‘versions of technical manuals the same errors are repeated year after year, Isabel H. is an account enanager in a service company. She feels overwhelmed with information coming from her colleagues and from outside her organieation. She gets volumes af official and unofficial documents and memos sent thraugh ‘email. When she loaks far information she needs, she finds it ix stored on multiple servers, some of which she doesn't have access to, She has access to am intranet, an -extranet, and the Internet, but none of them seems to make the resources she needs Copyrighted Material :4% Contert Managemen for Dynamic Cmppeilaled Material any easier to find, Add to the electronic media all the content she has stored in paper form. It's pretty obvious fe [sibel that she needs a way ta manage content She just wishes it were ax obvious ts her technology professionals and management ‘Content management is an enormous challenge for crery organization that offers information te customers, cmployees, vendors, and partners. To be useful, and to meet the expectations of a bost of different users, content must be © casy to find © accurate, up-to-date, and continuously refreshed f= complete enough for users’ needs f= Well organized for quick search and retrieval i readable in the right languages © linked to other relevant content im targeted to.each person's needs and levels of experience and knowledge In most organizations, information resources are hidden away an personal hard drives, in accessible servers controlled by other departments, in office file cabinets in several offices or even on several continent, in persomal file drawers, in piles of paper on somebody's desk, or stuck in the company library. Looking far a needle in the proverbial haystack is alot easier than finding the right piece of information for the task at hand, ‘To make content most accessible, organizations are beginning to recognize that they have to move their most current, up-to-date information to a Web site. They need to make information resources accessible through corporate intranets and -extrancts or even through the Internet. Ti be usable, information resources mast be accessible electronically. Although many users af information tell us they peefer to read from paper rather than from a screen, they also reoagnize that paper is likely to be easily misplaced and soon out-of-date. As information architects, we know that paper is not easily repurposed to meet previously snrecognized needs. Dynamic, ever-changing publication of information resources at all levels by uusing internal and external electronically supported systems is 0 solution that any organizations ate vigorously and actively planning, developing, and imple- menting today. If they ate not, they will soon find that they must or be mired in information wasteland. ‘To be manageable and effective, retrievable and useful, all this publishing and disseminating of information must be structured within the framework of a -comprehensive Information Madel and under the control of a content- management system, Nonetheless—be warned! Content management is not about tools ar technol- ‘ogy although both play an important role, Contens management is not exclusively about SGML, XML, databases, or Web publishing, Copy inhted MaterialCopyrighted ni Coots Management in Your ture? m9 ‘Organizations frequently make the mistake of assuming that technology will inagically solve the content-management problems they face. A calleague ance asked me in frustration if it weren't possible just to buy a tool and do what it said, Uaughed and said, "No, unfortunately, the ols don’s say anything.” As Twill emphasize ane seiterate throughout this book, content management bi Bot just about toolsand technology. Coment management is about organizing, categorizing, and structuring infor= ‘mation resources so that they can be stored, retrieved, published, and reused in snultiple ways. Asan information architect, information developer, quality matt- ager, communication specialist, or Web administratar, content management has as its foundation your thereugh understanding of the goals andl nceds ef maeiple ‘user cotnimunnities when they want to find and retrieve information, Successful content management is founded on your ability to create and implement a sound vision of your user needs. Content management necessarily starts with an Information Model The Infor mation Model is the framework for organizing content In response to users’ needs and establishing the structure in which the content is stored.” Building upon your Information Model, you provide methods for efficiently authoring, categorizing, storing, retrieving, and using content. If you build a sound Information Model and manage it with the appropriate cantent-management technology in a well- structured repository, you will be able to deliver information to pour users in a multitude of innovative and dynamic ways, In Figure 1-1, mote that the foundation of your Information Model and your content-managemcnt solution is pour user community, The better you smnder- stand their needs, the stronger your Information Model will be, From your Lafor- mation Model, you will develop processes to author and categorize content, house itin a repository, repurpose it, and deliver it effectively in multiple media, using personalization and customization techniques The promise of content management ‘Comtent-managerent solutions held an attractive pramise—that all relevant con- ‘tent can be quickty and easily available to those who need it to do their jobs, make decisions, acquire new knowledge, and satisfy their curiosity, Achieving that promise takes the hard work of developing a comprehensive Information Model. ‘Only by creating the appropriate content ta deliver to users, storing it far active retrieval by people or by technolagy, can we keep the promise. By creating content that is available for reuse (written once, used everywhere), we can build custom- Tie beanie Mak ms das oper ed bev cep ane ee Copyrighted Material16 @ Content Management for Dynanid MBSulayge Material Figure 1-1 This conceptual model of a content-management salution shows that the foundation of the model is the user community oF multiple user communities. uit upon the user community is the Information Madel(s}, wich suppavt the develapment of processes and technology for authonng, categorizing, staring, assembling, delivering, and using information. zed (Git for special customer needs) and even personalized (fit for special individ- ual needs) deliverables that are always up-to-date and correct, and deliver a consistent, well-branded message. Opportunities to deliver targeted content anywhere atany time are supparted by technology solutions taday and will he better supported as wchnalogists better understand our needs, But technology only assists in fulfilling the promise of bet- ter information everywhese. At the core of the content-management promise is sound and careful planning based on a vision of the user's experience. That vision is supported by flexible, standards-based tools that allow for an evalution of pro- cesses without requiring massive recoding of the organization’s information anvets, ‘In this chapter, L explain the opportunities and challenges of a content-man- agement strategy for three primary activities of the enterprise: content to serve the needs of the supply chain. content to serve the needs of the support chain content to serve entertainment and new content delivery Copyrighted MaterialCopyrightectiaterint contest Management in Your Pature? {1 Before we talk about the solutions, it may be useful te examine some af the cur- rent problems in more depth. Let's look at typical scenarios that show the impact vof the absence of a well-structured content-management solution, Scenario 1—Wanting to buy, but no place to go As head planning engineer at the southwest area phone company, Ed wanted to ‘evaluate the latest optical fiber systems so he could advise his management about ‘the need to improve performance and speed. He'd been talking with the area sales representatives from two of the top companies. They'd dropped off technical ‘white popers and sersthim the URLs for their corporate technical Web sites. Using the product catalogs, Ed reviewed a lot of the information, Now he needed more detailed specifications about several of the devices. Ex, the planning engines, is increasingly Frustrated at being unable to fir the right information. Hee tried searching the sites for device specifications and came up with too many hits, Nevertheless, he dove into the first several that seemed promising and came up with not one but three sets of specifications for one of the devices he was interested in. Problem was—the specifications were all slightly different. Which one was correct? Crmnainhiedt MaterialCopyrighted thaterial Appendix A: Content Management Requirements Checklist ‘n Chapter 2, Implementing a Content-Managerent Solu I discussed many different ways of thinking about and planning fora content-management solution. Lcannat emphasire enomgh the importance wf creating a detailed requirements document before you approach vendors to learn about their prociucts’ capabilities. I you begin to Iook at products without an explicit definition of your needs, you are Lkely to become confused about the similarities and differences, strengths and weaknesses, of all the product combinations you will see, With requirements in hand, you proviele vendors with a well-defined way to respond te you, They are able to tell you which of pour requirements are easily Copyrighted Material _36 Content Management or Dynamic oi BAe Material met with standard functionality, which snust be customized, and which are not ‘easily implemented with their solutions, You can use your requirements asa checklist, particularly if you have prioritized them (critical, necessary, aive to havel. Define your requirements accarding te the four components of content-man- ‘agement solution outlined in this chapter: output requirements, storage and retrieval requirements (repository), assembly and linking requirements, and authoring requirements. Remember that authoring, storing, assembling. linking. and retrieving are all specific in light of your vision of the user experience in find= ing and using information resources, ‘The checklist below offers some but certainly not all of the questions you should address and answer as you define pour requirements, Expand or contract the list as necessary: The questions are designed to help your planning process, Some will not apply to your organization. Others might not reflect current prac- tices but might suggest ideas for how you want to deliver information im the future. The chapters in the book expand upon these questions and suggest ways in ‘which you might want to organize your information, ‘Gutput requirements (assembly, linking, publishing) Describe how you want your information to be available to your users. State your ‘vision of the user experience and specify haw the information needs to be avail- able in different forms. © Do you want to target differem versions of yous information te different internal business and user groups, customer groups, or inelividal users (external: buyers, installers, planners, system administrators, end users, and so-om; internal: business departments, employer services, ‘engineering, product development, marketing, sales, and sa on)? w Do you want to prepare different information according te market segments? For example, you might create different examples and case studies in information targeted for manufacturing companies versus service organizations, © Do you want to differentiate information based on product type ar model? For example, you might have information that is specific to subsets of a product, Do you have versions of your products that deliver some percentage of identical of similar functionality? What is the percentage al shared functionality? Do you now deliver or do you intend to deliver information in multiple languages, localized to the particular needs of a regional or local user community? Comyighted Material348 Content Management for Dynamic we MARTH Material Static delivery © Do you currently deliver only static content to your Web sites (Internet, intranet, ar extranet}? Static content is designed and developed by authors or Web designers and remains the same on the Web site untill updated. How often do you update static content? Are you concerned with the amount of time now required to update static content? ls updating delayed because of manual processes? Do you have static content an your Web sites that is now out-of-date? What plans now exist for updating static information in a more timely Does your static information include resources that are syndicated from other organizationst Does your static information primarily consist of entire large documents available in PDE? fm Do-users typically dawnload and print information from your Web sites? ‘Seurch mechanisms What search mechanisms do you have in place to access static information? wm Ave you using full-text search exclusively? Have you tested your full-text search system to determine if it returns information accurately? Does your search system include Boolean search mechanisms? Are you confident that your users know how to use Boolean relationships adequately to-refine their searches! Do your users typically avoid advanced Boolean search tools.as confusing and unsuccessful? w Have you studied the success of your search mechanisms with your users? Ave they satisted that they can easily find the information they need? ‘Navigation ‘© Are you satisfied with the navigation throughout your Web sitest Do yoru ‘know that users can find information through navigation? Have you learned that users avoid navigating in favor of search because they are ‘confused by the mavigation or belseve that it takes them too long to find relevant information? © How many levels (clicks) must users typically navigate before finding relevant information! Copyrighted MaterialCONMIAINE ALG Adanageaent Requirements Checklist M389 Are users easily able to make choices froma the home page and at every level of your Web sites? Dio they believe they are getting chaser to-or farther away from the information they need? © If you have an Information Model in place, do your Web sites reflect the Information Model? Is the navigation governed by the Information Moxiel Is this Information Model affecting Web navigation organized in terms of users or in terms of the internal structures of your organization? Dynamic delivery 1m Are you aware of Web sites that offer dynamic delivery of information ta tasers based on user profiles or ather considerations? 1 Do your Web sites ninw offer dynamic delivery of information? © Are users uble to reach information quickly that pertains to theis product configuration, jab sesponsibilities, level of experience, ar others? © Do-you customize your information, delivering unique home pages and other content dependent on users” previgus actions an your Web sites? = Do-you customize information based on user profiles stored within your & Do-you enable users to reconfigure information based on their own needs? = Can users develop thei own "books" consisting of the modules they want tousel mf you are not delivering dynamic inforemation at this time, do you hope to deliver dynamically in the future? If so, what is your vision of the future user experience with your information? Authoring and acquisition requirements. Describe how your authors will need to work with your content-management sys- tem, Describe the technologies and processes that you want to ase in the new environment. Explain what types of information you create and whether you want to handle information that you acquire from outside your organization. Technology 1 What development platiorms are now used in your arganization (LINIX, mainframe, Windows PC, Macintosh, etc)? © What authoring tools are used (FrameMaker, Word, PowerPoint, Mhustrator, etc. }2 im What files types are created and stored (doe. eps, bmp, ipege wav etc)? Commighted Material$90 Comes Managemen far Dynasic WT ATEN Material Which departments, groups, or users will input information to the repository? Which departments, groups, or users will reuse information fram the: repository to develop their own outputs? Is there any information that must be secured from people besides the authors.or information owners? How often are documents revised? Quarterly? Monthly? Yearly? At any time? How often should dacuments be revised? If information were updated daily, would support costs be significantly reduced? What other costs might be affected? How mych dees information change during the information- development life cycle? Are features and functions added at the last minute? Removed at the bast minute? Do several information developers ever work on updating the same modules at the same time? Do information developers reference graphics stored separately or do they ordinarily embed graphics in the text filest ‘Who creates the graphics? How are they stored? How are they updated? Do you have a standard scheme for naming files of text? CH graphics? ‘Does each department or information-development organization have itsown naming conventions? Are documents uniquely named or éo their names depend upon their position in a folderifile hierarchy? ‘How are documents reviewed (technical review, editorial, peer review, ‘hanagement sign-off, ete,)f Is there a regular review process in place? ‘Where are files stared? How ate they backed upt ‘What is the size of the current information repository? In your department? [n other departments? How many people have to access the information to create and revise it? How many of these people work on the same information sources? How are documents archived? Do authors ever work on the same files during a single development process Do you currently have any method of searching your document files for specific pieces of information? Copyrighted Material Page 390CopyRiAUled! MAIR lanagmmene Rogues Cheklt m3 Does any reuse of information occur teday between information developers within the same organization or in different organizations? Does any reuse of information occur today between instructional designers or trainers and information developers? Does any reuse of Information occur between product developers, testers, customer service, and any other information developers in your organization? Information acquisition 1 For what sources will you acquire information? Do you use third-party providers for information? How will you receive this information? © Do you have information coming fram inside and owtside your ‘organization that isunstructured? Structured? 8 How do-you want ta include both structured and unstructured information in the repository? 1 Do you syndicate information from outside sources? How is that information generated and fed to your organization? Do you want tobe able to restructure the information before you publish if? m= Do you use information that is stored in other databases? How is the information structured? How will it be combined wath other content? How will it be displayed and accessed? Information Model requirements Describe the requirements of pour Information Model. Refer to Chapters 4 through 6 on creating the tluee-tiered structure af your Information Model. High-level model @ How is your entire library of information organized today? Primarily by department? By product line? By development organization? m Dots each sub-library adhere to the same information titles (procedures manual, policies guide, installation guide, system administrator guide, reference manual, or others)? Areal of the infirmation titles directed toward specific user groups or are user groups mixed in the documents? Is each document that contains a particular type of information ‘organized in the same way (all installation guides, all system administrator guides, etc)? Comrighted Material392M Content Managensent for Dyzanaic VEPRAANeRY et! Material mt Doyou use the same titles for subsections of inlarmation in a particular type of document? ‘Have you determined which subsections are intended foe which user groups? Isthere any information that is reused throughout the library today (copyright notices, warnings, ete.) wm Are you in the process of reorganizing any of the information libraries that you maw produce! Detailed model = How many information types are used in your information libraries? ‘Typical information types are conceptual overviews, summaries, policy statements, procedures, reference modules, training modules, examples, and so on. ‘Are the information types organized consistently across your libraries of information? Do you write in a modular way already? = Do you have conceptual as well as style templates for your information types? Style templates describe the content in terms af its appearance, Le. paragraphs, numbered liste, bulleted lists, headings. Conceptual, templates describe the content in terme of its meaning for the users, the information reviewed to ensure consistency of content and presentation? How reliable is the review process in identifying inconsistencies and correcting them? 1 Do-you use a stroctured writing style to produce consistent content units within your information types? For example, are all procedure titles written in the same grammatical style with the same content? Do your procedures begin with purpose statements when necessary? Do the Purpose statements contain the same level of explanation and detail? Do you use individual coment units of information in more than one place through cutting and pasting? © Do: you have individual content units of information that were once identical but have changed aver time? Should they be identical agsin? De you have a style guide that is consistently used and enforced throughout your organization? © Does your style guide include content as well as format and process guidelines anc! rules? Copyrighted Materialsae Managrenent for Dynanic We BOIRYtEM Material ‘Content management requirements. Describe the requirements your solution needs to support in the design of the repository. Reuse (see Chapter 10, Authoring for Rewse, for more on reuse strategics) Do authors need to know when a module they have written is being reused in multiple contexts by other authors? Should this information be available in the authors’ editing environment or from # source that must bbe separately accessed through the content-management system? m Should authors be able to review visually the celationships (links and seuse) among modules? m Should authors be able to create children (requiring a small change in ‘content) from a parent object and maintain «link between parent anc children to handle future changes? m Do you require reporting om all instances of reuse across modules and content plans? Version control @ Do-your authors need to access earlier versions of their modules? How quick and easy should access bet = Do-your authors require the ability to promote older versions af a module to the status of current version? 1m Doyou want your authors toannatate the reasons for changes when they check ina new version af the module to the repository? Do you want to require a notation? © Do you want to link the notations to engineering change orders or other change tracking methods? m Do you want the system to save the entire content far each version of a module? Or, do you want the system to store only the differences between the current version and previous versions? & Doyou require a process to archive working versions when you are ready to mave a module to final release? fm Must authors be able to access earlier versions of modules from inside their editing environment without having to run a teport ar access the repositories in other ways? Localization and translation © Do yeu need to maintain parallel translated versions of your modules in the content-management system? Comrighted MaterialCORMPLUBIEN AREY Tlanapeenene Regeitements Checklist m@ 395 @ Do you need to maintain related translated versions with differently localized information? m Doyou want tobe ablle to apply teanslation memories from within the ‘content-management system to newly written or revised information modules in the source language before submitting the modules to the translators? Do you want the content-nanagement system to track all changes in the source modules in the translated versions of the modules? © Do you need to be able to generate precise word counts af new wards to the translated when modules are changed in the source language? Search and retrieval What search and retrieval resources are required by your authors and ~others working in the content-management system? 1 Do authors need to be able te search multiple databases to find information resources? @ Should the search and retrieval process work from inside the author's editing environment? Or, should the authors have to move to the repository in order to search and retrieve? Is full-text search required? Is Boolean search required? 2 Must authors be able wo search on metadata valuest 7 ‘Must authors be able to search using a combination of strategies, liscluding full-text and metadata? © Must authors be able to limit the extent of a search of any type to.a particular database, folder, area, file name, or other file attributes? Security i What levels of security are required in your organization? mt Does the security system need to be administered by your information technologists or from within your department- or division-level ‘organization? m Do you need to limit the visibility of certain parts of the database from authors so that they cannot see that certain objects exist? Must authors be able to log on to the content-manayement system and all repositories frum a single point of acceast Copyrighted Material896m Content Management for Dynamic Wel? BERIWY &! Material (Check iniecheck out @ Should authors be able to check out and check in modules from inside their editing errvironment? @ Do you need to limit access to check out modules for Read Only? @ At what level of granularity do authors peed to be able to check owt modules or content units within modules? © Do several authors need to work on the same module concurrently? If so, how should edits be reconciled? = Are annotations wo be sequiced every time a module is checked int Must authors be able to save their work without checking modules back into the content- management systeant 1& Should there be any ways far authors to access modules without going ‘through the content management systerst © Should there be an cary way of allowing suthors to see that a module is checked out and who has checked it out? ‘Workllow 1m Do you need a workllow system that allows you te automatically route modules from person to person to sonth editing, reviewing, ‘translating, and approving processes? m Do you need to add scripted actions or programmable actions to aspects cof the workilow? At what level should individuals or departments be able to cteate and modify the workilow system? Database structure For many of these issues, you will need to consult with your information technologists 1m What file types must the content-management system support? wm What storage capacity da you require for your information databases? sm What performance levels are required (24 x 7, for example), and how many concurrent authors must be supported? wm De you need the ability to replicate databases at different locations? ws What type of archiving capabilities do you need? De you need to archive ‘entire back versions of your Web sitet & What about backup capabilities? 1 What about other aspects af database administration? Copyrighted Material