Barker Chapter 12

Barker – Chapter 1; Getting the language right.
This chapter is mostly a series of tidbits advising you how to write certain topics.

1) Write about Actions rather than Functions.
Tell the reader what they can do with a tool, rather than describe the tool itself.
Bad:
Hyperlink: Inserts a hyperlink or edits the selected hyperlink.
Good:
Hyperlink: This button allows you to link selected text to other text or documents or edit the properties of selected hyperlinks.

2) Revise for the Active Voice
The active voice puts a subject at the beginning of each sentence, a verb in the middle, and a receiver of the action at the end.
Bad:
The file menu is used to…
Good:
You can use the file menu to…

3) Revise to keep Writing Simple
Break down complex sentences in order to enhance the reader’s ability to understand your meaning the first time they read it.

4) Revise to Build Parallel Structures
Try to be a little repetitive in your writing; it helps the readers mind organize steps, for instance, when they all begin with an action verb.

5) Add Operational Overviews
Use a paragraph to give a conceptual overview of the steps before listing the steps.

6) Make sure topic matches Heading
If your heading states something general, don’t get overly specific.

7) Don’t use too formal a tone
Often when writing, the writers tone takes on the feeling or a robot or telegraph. Try to sound slightly conversational, even in a business setting, to keep the user engaged.

8) Use Humor with Caution
There’s a lot of opportunity for humor to fall flat. Never use it in reference sections, seldom use it in procedures, occasionally in tutorials or background information.

Rockley Chapter 8 - Delinquent

I apologize for the late posting! Hope it hasn't caused too much inconvenience.

Chapter 8 - Information Modeling - Anne Peterson

In this chapter, modeling refers to formalizing a structure with writing and style guidelines, templates, and structured frameworks. Rockley says that it's critical to do a thorough analysis of information and its audience(s) when creating the model.

Rockley likens information architecture to the blueprints needed to build a house. It defines how content will be organized and structured for "information products" such as user guides, catalogs, documents, brochures, press releases, annual reports, intranets, Web sites, or technical specifications. Information architecture, done properly, requires a company to thoroughly examine all their content and catalog it.

Each of the information products listed above adheres to unique structural elements that identify them. It is important to understand the different types of structures. As content writing advances to Document Type Definition (DTD) it is even more important to understand structure and how it works.

The level of detail in a model depends on granularity, which determines the smallest possible piece of content that will be reused. There are different levels of granularity for authoring, resue, and delivery. Rockley says the greater the granual level, the greater the complexity of modeling, authoring, and managing the content.

After determining granularity, the model can start to be built. Some elements are mandatory and some are optional. There are information product models and individual element models.

Models can be made up of the following components:

• Semantic information - uses semantic tags to describe what goes into each element
• Base information - describes the common naming of each element using generic tags
• Metadata - provides data about data
• Architectural information - provides details on type of reuse

Rockley says that once the models are developed, they must be implemented throughout the organization so all authors and reviewers can use them as they create, edit, and review content.

Barker chapter 14: Designing Indexes

With in this chapter Barker explain the importance of the index and the reason for indexing.
The importance of the index lies with in whom the potential users of the index maybe. Figuring out what the user of the material in which the index is for is how the index will mainly be designed.
Barker has five guidelines for designing an index

Plan your indexing strategy
Decide what to index
Identify the level of detail
Decide on phrasing and formatting
Edit and proofread

Planning your index strategy involves which method of indexing you will be doing, either manual or electronic. The first step in designing and building an index which Barker mentions is to review the user analysis by refreshing your memory about what the user’s main activities and actions are with the software or manual. The next steps are different depending whether you are designing an electronic index or manual one. With indexing a manual you need to read or scan for terms or phrases of importance, record the locations of the terms or phrases, and alphabetize and edit the index. For electronic indexes the second step is to mark the index entries, building the index and editing the index. As you maybe able to tell indexing electronically is much fast. You can use electronic marking software to help in marking and building the index. The second step in designing is deciding what to index. Some of the elements Barker mentions for indexing are commands and functions, concepts, user terms and questions, glossary terms, proper names of products and companies, and tasks and procedures. The third guideline is identifying the level of detail. The levels of detail can be determined by the number of levels in the index or by the number of items that you index. The forth guideline is deciding on phrasing and formatting. Barker reminds us that deciding on phrasing and formatting does take some time so be prepared. Phrasing and formatting focuses on cuing of primary locator numbers, capitalizing terms consistently, making the entries sound like sentences, which will help in being more detailed of what the user maybe looking to do, and cuing special terms. The fifth guideline, editing and proofreading Barker again reminds us that this step will take up about 1/3 of the indexing project. Index editing includes checking the page references, and inconsistencies of referenced items.

Rockley ch 11

Disclaimer: Please do not take away from students who do not comment on this blog because it was supposed to be posted in early April.

Rockley Chapter 11: Designing Workflow.

Rockley describes what workflow charts are, what content they hold, and the pros for utilizing them in tandem with the unified content strategy.

A workflow chart is basically a flowchart with the various aspects (role, responsibility, and process) of a project planned out. Workflow charts can be flowcharts or swimlane charts. I find the swimlane chart the easiest to follow because it is like looking at a table, find your lane and follow it along to see what tasks are yours to complete.

Workflow charts work well into the unified content strategy because it is an easy way for every player to get on the same page with what tasks need to be done and in what order.

Chapter 21—Managing Change

Rockley discusses change in organizations in this chapter. In all organizations people resist change unless they believe there is a reason for the change.
Promoting Change
One key to making change happen is to listen to comments about the change from the people who the change will affect. Rockley lists some things she considers essential to change management including:
§ Communication—communicate the reasons for change.
o Explain why change needs to occur
o Explain your plan for the change
o Keep people informed as change occurs
o Communicate achieved successes
o Inform people of problems that may occur
§ Use “change agents” to help assimilate the change. Change agents should be people who will be a user of the new technology and who embraces the change that will occur.
§ Have a champion who is high enough in the organization to make the change happen regardless of the endorsement or opposition of company personnel.
Challenges
Challenges to the changes will occur regardless of where the changes originate. Some of the common challenges include:
§ These ideas are from a different company. Content can sometimes be reused if writers use care to format it correctly.
§ We don’t do it that way here. Find the commonalities between all segments of the company and implement them.
§ Creativity issues. With unified content, content must use formatted and structured templates. Creativity might be the domain of the authors of the templates, with some creativity reserved for departments who need to modify templates (such as marketing).
§ Workload issues. While there will be more work at the beginning of the cycle, workloads may decrease after the unified content strategy is implemented.
§ Job obsolescence. Jobs may be reorganized, not lost.

Many of the challenges already mentioned can cause the project to fail. Resistance to change and lack of communication are probably the most common, but many others can also cause failure. Other challenges include trying to do more than your organization is capable of doing, economic factors, lack of core competencies necessary to complete the tasks, and various types of project mismanagement.

Role Creation/Modification
Many roles within the organization are subject to change as a result of the implementation of content management strategy. According to Rockley, two new roles will need to be created—an enterprise content coordinator and an informational technologist. The enterprise content coordinator will communicate the benefits of content reuse and will coordinate all different project managers’ reuse projects. The information technologist will handle all the technology tools and will supervise the implementation of those tools. Other roles with modified responsibilities include the business owner or analyst, the information architect, the content owners, the authors, sand the editors.

Barker chapter 13: Using Graphics Effectively

In this chapter, Barker discusses how to use visual displays to the advantage of the end user. Barker promotes a liberal use of visual elements, so long as each visual is meaningful and useful to the user in some way. Therefore, Barker recommends using visual displays to accomplish the following rhetorical tasks:

• Showing how the program’s tools apply to the user’s job
• Showing the results of the program’s operations
• Presenting an overview of the program so the user can understand when and why to use the program
• Suggesting functions and uses of the program
• Making abstract concepts into concrete images through metaphors (which can be extended throughout a document)
  

Visuals could certainly be used in other situations as well, but only if the visual helps to accomplish a rhetorical task. Avoid using un-cropped screen captures or excessively complex pictures that would distract or confuse the reader. Instead, cut all information that is not necessary to the user understanding the visual and its place in the document.

Barker assumes that his readers will already know how to create visual displays, so instead of discussing the process of producing a visual, he outlines some general guidelines for using and placing visual displays within a document.

1. Identify needs for graphics by your users
Visuals can be used to answer some common user questions: Where is something? What is something, and how does it work? How do I do something? Where am I in the program/document? What is the big picture?

Barker defines two types of visual cues that can be useful in answering some of these questions: access indicators and progress indicators. Access indicators tell the user where certain things are located in a document or program, and progress indicators tell the user where they are in the document or program. These can tell the user where something is, where they are, or what the structure of the program is.

2. set graphics styles
Consistency is next to godliness in the editing world. Set your visual standards early on and stick to them throughout the document. Many documentation programs have object styles functions built in to help with this.

3. revise and edit
Work with graphics after the text has been written. Barker promotes a balance of text and visual, so that one doesn’t overpower the other. The visuals should play a supplemental role to the text, to help the user retain information more effectively. Don’t let a visual act as a substitute for naming something.

Barker also makes several other specific points about standardizing graphic elements:

• Not all images require titles, unless they are official visuals or copywritten
• Labels are not always necessary, unless you refer to several visuals in the same chapter or section
• Always place a visual as close as possible to the text that refers to it
• Keep rules straight and of uniform size
• Keep visuals within the margins, and crop out all unnecessary parts of them
• Only use reserved colors (red for danger, yellow for caution) for their intended purpose

4. revise for typography
Here, Barker refers to visual typography as the arrangement and construction of the images based on a logic. This refers to the individual elements that make up the visual, such as color, emphasis, alignment, cropping, etc. Barker advises us to use the following methods to enhance the clarity and emphasis of a visual:

• Make important things larger
• Make important things darker
• Make important things central
• Make important things sharper
• Align related things
• Put first things left, later things right

Rockley Chapter 16 Summary - Becky and Jaya

Chapter 16 – Content Management Systems
Rockley – Managing Enterprise Content
Jaya and Becky

Rockley discusses how content management is an integral component of a successful unified content strategy. To begin, Rockley discusses the basic functionality of the content management system (CMS). All content must be saved in order to be reused. The two parts to saving content are:
-Dividing the content into elements of appropriate sizes for the intended reuse
-Adding metadata to the elements to define them for effective reuse, retrieval and tracking.

The CMS also needs to be accessible for various projects and people and archives must be created to allow access to older versions and to track changes. There is also the issue of security such as controlling access to various authors and content users. Management functions such as access and version control are put in place.

The process of breaking content into element parts is called segmentation or bursting. The level of segmentation is defined in a segmentation or bursting map. Elements can be broken down to sentence level, but can also remain in larger section such as was given in the B-Brother product example on pg. 313.

The metadata can be applied to the content in the authoring tool or as the content is saved in the CMS. Rockley states that whenever possible it is good to have the metadata automatically applied to the elements of content. (Widget Y example on pg 315)

The next portion of the chapter discusses management controls such as: access control, check-in/check-out, and version control. Access control determines who can read, create, modify, and delete content. Check-in/Check-out is when authors who are working on content check it out and then check it back in when they are finished with it. This helps to ensure that only one person is working on it at a time. Version control means that every time content is checked in that another version is created and assigned a new version number. This ensures that every change is saved and can be tracked.

The three types of updates are:
Automatically update - automatically updates the reused element when the original element is changed.
Optionally update – The CMS notifies authors of the changes so they can decide whether they want to update the element or not.
No update – If the original component is updated, the reused element is not updated. Authors are not notified if the original element changes.

There are terms discussed such as:
Repository – heart of the content management system and manages the unified content.
Search and Retrieval – Important that this is dependable to assist authors in easily finding and retrieving content for reuse and delivery.
Archive – Content is archived based on set of rules that specify the period of time in which the content is considered valid or accurate.
Translation – There must be a relationship between the source language and the translated content in order to eliminate errors and save time.

The last part of the chapter goes over the various types of content management systems. Web content management is said to be the most familiar type.