S E M I N A R

Building Modular Documentation

Speaker: Kurt Ament, infotektur

This seminar describes how single sourcing affects technical writers, editors, and indexers in the real world. It explains in detail and by example how to build modular documentation you can re-use in different formats for different audiences and purposes. Based on real projects at real companies, the seminar includes a conceptual overview of the single sourcing method, a 10-step process for transforming linear documents into re-usable content, and detailed modular writing guidelines. Each guideline is illustrated with negative and positive examples. The seminar also explains how to build a business case, grow in-house expertise, build cross-functional teams, navigate political and technical minefields, and standardize success.

What you learn

In this seminar, you learn how to:

• Build a business case for single sourcing.
• Uncover, nurture, and sustain in-house expertise.
• Set up cross-functional teams to encourage synergy.
• Build a prototype to test and demonstrate your strategy.
• Develop cyclical processes that succeed early and often.
• Transform existing linear documents into re-usable content.
• Assemble modular content into different documents and formats.
• Convert success stories into consensual writing guidelines.
• Empower editors to increase usability and re-usability.
• Enable indexers to develop re-usable index entries.
• Unleash writers to do what they do best.

When and where

This seminar was presented at the following STC chapter.