content in the wild: why dita matters
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Presented at DocTrain East 2007 Conference by Joe Gollner, Stilo International -- As every author knows, working with content has always been challenging. Now that we need to develop content that can be used in multiple ways, some we do not expect, makes this task even more demanding. The early experiences of working with structured XML markup have been difficult and not just because it is new. As the technology stabilized and practices were worked out, authors not only had to master new writing techniques but they often could not see a compelling benefit being returned on this effort. Least of all, their customers, the users of the documentation products, did not seem to be benefiting in any material way. At times, it even seemed that the move to structure resulted in less effective publications. But now that the technology is being worked out and as new technologies are thrusting structured content into the limelight, authors are entering a time when several things will change for the better. On one hand the challenges of working with structured markup have largely been addressed and on the other the content they produce can now be moved, rapidly into people's hands whether that be a high quality book or a blackberry. XML was hard. DITA has emerged as a technique that makes XML much easier to work with. And the wired marketplace is ready to consume structured content as soon as you hit save. This is in fact where the history of markup has been heading.TRANSCRIPT
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
Copyright © Stilo International plc 2007
Content in the Wild:Why DITA Matters DocTrain East 2007
Joe Gollner 19 October [email protected]
TopicsCurrent Trends in the Content Landscape
A Brief History of Structure
Entering the Age of Full-Spectrum Publishing
How DITA fits in
Why DITA Matters
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
Content Management Pop Quiz
In building a system to manage & process content…a. Meticulously capture the business requirements. b. Rigorously document the structural rules that apply.c. Carefully define a detailed system architecture.d. Industriously build processing components to address the
requirements given the structural rules and the realities of the system architecture.
e. All of the above.f. None of the above.E or F?
Sadly “F” may be the right answer…
Current Trends in the Content landscape
There are two relevant, but apparently divergent, trends:Simplicity wins, again.
Web 2.0 phenomenon is expanding & accelerating An era of interactive openness with users and communitiesHuge volumes of very simple, but still structured, contentDominant feature: Uncontrolled growth.
Complexity endures, again.Enterprise applications are becoming content awareIntegration of content in all forms is acceleratingApplications are appearing that consume high-precision contentDominant feature: Uncontrolled growth.
Prescriptive design methods cannot handle this growth
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
The Good News and Bad News about ContentThese trends bring changeThe Good News
The demand for content is expanding rapidly
The Not So Good NewsThe complexity confronting authors & publishers & technology providersis growing rapidly
Structured MarkupHas evolved in this contextInvestments have been made over 20 yearsMany lessons have been learned
A Brief History of StructureWhy did structured content emerge?
Why has it been challenging to adopt?
What is happening now?
Why has DITA become so popular?
Why does DITA matter?
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
In the Beginning
…was the book.
Memex
1940 1960 1980 2000
Adapting to the Exponential Growth inKnowledge Resources
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
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Communication & Control Systems
1940 1960 1980 2000
Leveraging Knowledge through Automation
The Internet
1940 1960 1980 2000
Connecting Knowledge Organizations
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
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Proprietary FormatsLimiting the Interchangeability of all data types
CALS – Tackling the Interchange ProblemGOAL
Supplier and Client
STDS
INTERIM SOLUTION
Supplier ClientSupplier
PROBLEM
Client
1940 1960 1980 2000
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
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Standard Generalized Markup Language
1940 1960 1980 2000
SGMLSGML
Reflected human communication patternsProvided absolute flexibilityDifficult to implementAdopted in documentation-intensive sectors
Military, Aerospace and Commercial Publishing
The Key Innovation of SGML:naming something (understanding) is different than describing what should be done with it (behaviour)
naming something is the important partnaming something and defining its behaviour benefits from sophistication
Yuri RubinskyThe Real Father
of XML
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
The World Wide Web
1940 1960 1980 2000
Where there’s a Will there’s a Way
World Wide Web – The Success of SimplicityOriginal Objective (1989)
“to allow information sharing within internationally dispersed teams”HTML: a simple use of a complex standard
The Key Innovation of the Web:deciding what to do (intention) is different than determining how it should be done (execution)
deciding what to do is the important partcommunicating an intention and successfully executing it benefits from simplicity
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
1940 1960 1980 2000
Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Source: Microsoft
XML offered Simplicity
XML sought SimplicityXML is an application profile constraining the use of SGMLdelivered expanded application support
Simplicity led to Adoptionthe potential for knowledge sharing becomes a realitysimplicity turned out to be a double-edged sword
Wide-scale Adoption led to Complexitypreviously isolated systems became connected all data types entered the era of open standards
XML promised Simplicity and delivered Complexity
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
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The Key Innovations of XML
The Key Innovations of XML:Fusing the innovations of SGML and the Web
naming something (understanding) is different than describing what should be done with it (behaviour)
deciding what to do (intention) is different than determining how it should be done (execution)
XML exhibits an unresolved tension between Sophistication
to meet the needs of application integrationSimplicity
to meet the needs of people interacting with technology
XML – An Incomplete Revolution?Initial focus of XML was directed to technology issues
addressing the challenges facing application integration & facilitating data interchange
the result has been spiraling complexity
Other issues emergedXML protocols proliferated at a startling ratethe sophistication of XML became an implementation challenge
Implementers were often left asking:Where did the simplicity go? Why are the authors complaining?Why are my applications so slow? What do I do with all this data?
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
Web 2.0 – The Social Web
1940 1960 1980 2000 2010
Explosivegrowth that ischanging howwe will workand live
Web 2.0 – All About EngagementWeb 2.0 has been called “The Participatory Web”Key technical elements include:
AJAX – Asynchronous JavaScript and XMLsimple syndication protocols – RSS / ATOM simplified web services – Aggregator APIsFolksonomies – collaborative taggingProcessable content – XHTML / CSS / MicroformatsAddressable, traceable, dynamic, collaborative content – wiki / blog
Much closer to the original idea behind the ‘web’The centrality of XML in making this possible is often missedWeb 2.0 is providing a new venue for content
Rapid delivery of tailored views assembled from granular content
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
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Authoring with Structured Markup
Multi-Format Automatic Publishing
XML
Entering the Age of Full-Spectrum Publishing
DITA – A Fundamentally Sound Architecture
Online Access Wireless Access
Topics
Print ManualsPDF
Customers Call Centre Staff
Maps ProductsRepositoriesSources
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)
Providing a proven framework for addressing the challenges posed by full-spectrum publishing.
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
The Tao of DITA: Specialization
Adaptability in each area provides implementers with great flexibility when building and most importantly adapting solutions.
DITA in Action
Iterative implementationallows adaptationof technology & practices
The DITA base models& Open Toolkit were key tools
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
What XML has meant for Content AuthorsAuthoring in XML exhibits to contradictory challenges
Too much markupGets in the way of creating contentForces a reliance on unfamiliar toolsAdds a level of technical complexityto what is a creative task
Not enough markupSome content demands precisionAuthors need clear guidance anduseful feedback in orderto satisfy this demandAs more content is delivered to applications, this is more common
What DITA means for AuthorsPromoting simplified markup for most contentProviding a start-up solution for publishing (Open Toolkit)Allowing specialization to be introduced
When more detailed markup guidelines help authorsWhen precise markup is essential for downstream use
Content in the Wild: Why DITA Matters
www.stilo.com
Why DITA MattersThe initial focus of XML has not been on content
The focus of XML on enabling application integration has added markup complexity
DITA represents a serious effort to direct attention towards the challenges of content
DITA specifically provides ways to address the contradictory challenges of XML authoring
What’s NextDITA is an Opportunity
The technology providers can focus on solving key problems
We can work together to refine a good shared solution for creating high quality content
DITA must become even more open DITA has more growing to doDITA deployments should avoid the “complexity trap”
DITA could be criticalCommunicating knowledge effectively has never been more important…