Making Content Portable

transcript

Making Content Portable Across the Enterprise

Ann RockleyPresident, The Rockley Group Inc.

rockley@rockley.com

The Rockley Group Inc.

The Rockley Group sample clients

Agenda

Why share Challenges to sharing Organizational agreement Information Architecture Technology

Customer-centric content

Marketing Sales Documentation Training Customer support

Why share?

Increased consistency Reduced costs Focused branding Increased productivity Customer satisfaction

Challenges

Multiple information products

Brochures, product information sheets, proposals, press releases, speeches, presentations, annual reports

Employee training materials, policies and procedures

User guides, online help, reference documents, application guides

Product specifications, design documents, test plans

FAQs, customer support materials Classroom or web-based training

Content is siloed Content is created

and managed in multiple areas across the organization

Content is created, recreated, and recreated

Similar, yet different content is stored multiple times

Multiple versions of content

Different processes/no processes

Each department has its own processes Some departments have no processes

Standards

Some departments have standards for content (templates, visual guidelines, editorial guidelines)

Others have none

Taxonomy (tagging)

Content is stored in multiple ways Some departments have a specific

taxonomy Others have none It may not be enforced

Technology

Multiple tools exist across the organization Content management systems Authoring tools Databases Content formats

People

People are focused on their own deliverables Resistance to standardization

Our customers/product/service is different The media affects the message Outsourced

Haven’t the time to share

Information architecture

Taxonomy Content models

What is a taxonomy?

The word comes from the Greek τάξις, taxis, (order) + νόμος, nomos, (law/science)

The practice of classifying plants and animals and other organisms in an organized fashion

A method of organizing information A type of Controlled Vocabulary

All around us…

Why a unified taxonomy?

Content is stored in multiple areas throughout the organization

Can’t share if we can’t find it Can’t find it if we don’t know what it is called Can’t figure out what it is called if everyone

calls it something different Can’t automate the sharing of information if

we can’t find it …

Too many types of info, too many places!

What do we need to create a taxonomy?

We need: Metadata “data about data” to help us

organize the information. Controlled Vocabularies which help

complete the metadata information, and allow the user to find information when a search is performed.

To define the relationships between the content and between the content and the metadata.

What is metadata?

It is the encoded knowledge of your organization, described by David Marco as:

“… all physical data (contained in software and other media) and knowledge (contained in employees and various media) from inside and outside an organisation, including information about the physical data, technical and business processes, rules and constraints of the data, and structures of the data used by a corporation.”

Types of metadata? Categorization metadata

Categorization metadata is usually used by content users to retrieve content.

Element metadata Reuse

Metadata for reuse is used to identify the components of content that can be reused in multiple areas.

Retrieval Metadata for retrieval is used to retrieve

content. It may consist of metadata for reuse as well as additional retrieval metadata.

Tracking Metadata for tracking (status) is used to identify

the status of your content in a workflow system.

What is a Controlled Vocabulary?

A controlled vocabulary is a list of terms an author can pick from to categorize their content.

It is controlled because it does not allow them to enter their own terms.

Use a controlled vocabulary for your metadata to ensure that metadata is named and applied consistently.

Allows for consistent authoring and data search and retrieval.

Related to Authority and Synonym Lists, and to Thesauri

How do we start?

Gather people who will use the system. Include everyone, from authors to “users”. Remember to consider those who will

maintain (as opposed to create) the information, if those are different groups.

Remember that you must concentrate on the goal, not the system:

"To start out with the task rather than the end product may result, however, in beautiful engineering of work that should not be done at all."

Peter Drucker (Drucker, Peter F. (1993 (reprint)). Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices. HarperCollins. ISBN 0-88730-

615-2. )

What to look at

Examine existing glossaries, lists and similar background information.

Who created these documents? Why were there documents created? What was their purpose? Has that need changed or expanded since

they were created? Can they be used as a jumping off point,

or are they historical documents?

Cont. Look at existing search

What is its capability? Can searches be saved? Can they be edited and rerun? What is lacking? What could be improved?

Look at existing content creation What is its capability? Can data be shared? How? What is lacking? What could be improved?

Creating a Controlled Vocabulary Gathering Terms

A Term is best defined as the element that the user is looking for when they are searching for information.

Think of terms as elements used to describe categories and sub-categories.

How is information currently categorized: By Region By Platform By Product etc.

Content Models

Structure

If we are going to share components of content, not just documents we must ensure that content is structured consistently

Inconsistently structured content cannot be shared

Multiple structures DITA Templates No templates

Incompatible structures

Getting started

Gather common examples of content Identify best practices Analyze the content for similarities and

differences Identify reuse, granularity of reuse Determine if a common structure is

appropriate or if mapping is required

Modeling content

Model content Build sample content Review models and samples with

stakeholders Determine how to support content

Mapping

Technology

Single content management system? Maybe Not likely

WCM is great for web content management but probably does not support other channels (print, help)

ECM manages documents well, but probably does not manage components and reuse

Multichannel CCM manages components well, but probably has no capability to manage a web site

Solution Authoritative source Autosharing Federated/integrated search

Authoritative source A single authoritative source (single point of

storage) for any piece of information needs to be identified.

The most accurate, complete, authorized content is drawn from the authoritative source for reuse.

If content is stored in multiple locations for ease of publishing, all but the authoritative source are considered secondary copies.

All changes to authoritative source must be made in the authoritative source so that everywhere that content is reused it can be updated appropriately.

Derivative content (content which is reused and modified) can be created and stored in an alternate location

Autosharing

As reusable content is update it is automatically shared among the systems where reuse is required

Typically requires custom software

Federated/integrated search

Provides the ability to simultaneously search multiple data sources

Content management systems Databases Fileservers

Content is indexed on all the systems to facilitate search

Common taxonomy is very important for this

Multiple authoring tools

Authors are diverse, no single tool will suffice

Web, web templates/forms Documentation, XML editors Training, multiple Marketing, Word Customer support, multiple

Key is to have common models implemented in XML so that content can be shared into any tool

Don’t forget the people Structured reusable content is a paradigm

shift Requires

Different ways of writing New processes Intention to share

You will experience Not invented here My customers are different My media is different I don’t have time to look for it, it is faster

to write it myself And more

Conclusion

Sharing content results in: Increased consistency Reduced costs Focused branding Increased productivity Customer satisfaction

And requires: Unified taxonomy Content models Technology changes Change management

Additional Resources

www.rockleyreport.com www.rockleyblog.com

Questions?

Ann Rockley

The Rockley Group Inc.

www.rockley.com

rockley@rockley.com

905-939-9298