Su-Laine,
Thanks very much for sharing
your initial thoughts on our mission statement. I think you have covered
most (if not all) of topics that we should discuss and come to
consensus.
One thing I had difficulty with
is the prioritization of the suitable content for our websites. It seems
to me that the first two items, i.e., more "user friendly" documentation of DITA
OT and DITA Spec, are rather technical in nature and may have already been
considered by other communities. Besides, DITA OT is merely a reference
implementation, and I suspect that some DITA adopters will not necessarily touch
that at all in their implementation of DITA.
I tend to think that items 3-6
would be more useful for DITA adopters, especially those who are in the
information architect and designer roles. And information such as "lessons
learned" and "proven practices" would be quite useful to those fresh
adopters.
These are just some of my
thoughts right now for continued discussion.
Regards,
Scott Tsao $BAbThT"(B
Information
Architect - Associate Technical Fellow
The Boeing Company
-----Original Message-----
From: Su-Laine Yeo [mailto:]
Sent:
Monday, March 09, 2009 7:25 PM
To:
Cc: DITA Adoption TC
Subject:
[dita-adoption] RE: Groups - New Action Item #0002 Develop a draft of a mission
statement for dita.xml.org
Hi everyone,
Here are some initial
thoughts on a mission statement for dita.xml.org. I'd like us to make this a
prescriptive rather than descriptive statement. I.e. let's discuss the goals
that we want the site to achieve rather simply describe what it already
does.
I'm going to be even more bold and extend this scope of this
discussion to "OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites" and not limit discussion
to the existing boundaries of dita.xml.org. I'd like to contemplate, for
example, having different sites for different subject areas that are currently
covered by dita.xml.org, if doing so is what is best for the DITA community and
is feasible to implement and maintain.
I think we should try to come to
consensus on four things:
1) Who is our intended audience?
2) What is
suitable content for OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites?
3) What is NOT
suitable content for OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites?
4) What kind of
content development most needs a major *centralized* effort, as opposed to
effort from individuals?
My opinions are below:
Who is our
intended audience?
- OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites are primarily
intended to help current and potential adopters successfully adopt DITA. DITA
application vendors, Technical Committee members, and Open Toolkit developers
are secondary audiences, but the needs of DITA adopters come first.
What
is suitable content for OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites (in priority
order from most important to least)?
1) Up-to-date user documentation for
using and customizing the DITA Open Toolkit. Take the Open Toolkit user guide
and make it up-to-date.
2) Descriptions of DITA features, elements, and
attributes that are more user-friendly than the explanations in the official
DITA specifications. Use additional examples to make it easier to understand
what different element types are for, and how they are likely to be processed.
We've started doing this kind of thing for DITA 1.2, but not systematically for
DITA 1.1.
3) Sample content and markup examples: Many people learn well by
imitating realistic, high-quality examples of DITA topic writing.
4)
Information about implementing DITA, e.g. information modelling, conversion,
tool selection.
5) Concrete ideas for using DITA features to solve realistic
problems, e.g. how to implement a "variables" feature
6) Stories about actual
DITA implementations.
7) Product reviews
8) Calendar of events
What
is NOT suitable content?
1) Repository of proposed specifications for the
DITA Open Toolkit
2) Advertising. Our site(s) might link to press releases
and promotional web pages, but should not duplicate large amounts of promotional
material. Duplication of content that is available elsewhere is not helpful, and
may hinder adoption by increasing confusion and noise.
What kind of
content development most needs a major centralized effort?
- In my opinion,
items #1 and 2 in the "suitable content" list above are where we most need a
centralized effort. The other things can be managed by passionate individuals or
vendors.
Thoughts? Let's discuss by email first and then take it to the
wiki once ideas take shape or if the discussion becomes hard to
manage.
Su-Laine
Su-Laine Yeo
Interaction Design
Specialist
JustSystems Canada, Inc.
Office:
778-327-6356
www.justsystems.com
-----Original
Message-----
From: [mailto:]
Sent: Monday,
March 02, 2009 8:07 AM
To: Su-Laine Yeo
Subject: Groups - New Action Item
#0002 Develop a draft of a mission sta...
DITA Adoption Focus Area SC
member,
Kristen Eberlein has created a new action item.
Number:
#0002
Description: Develop a draft of a mission sta...
Owner: Su-Laine
Yeo
Due: 09 Mar 2009
Comments:
View Details:
http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita-adoption-fasc/members/action_item.php?action_item_id=2581
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