RE: Production cycle knowledge

[jgarison -at- ide -dot- com]

Rowena,

Interesting that within the year we have started to do exactly as you said -
integrate into build cycles. 

While its necessary to do these things, I don't think there is a class you
can take ... it almost has to be learned on the job. The concepts behind
systems management and such can be learned in a class, but the specifics are
too closely tied to one place of business to be generally taught.

That said, it takes someone with a technical bent to assume this task. In my
case, one of my writers loves the nuts and bolts of the details of systems -
she writes the Installation Guide which is full of similar types of details,
setup procedures, database scripts, and the like.

While this is a good thing now, I foresee much tighter integration with
software development when we move to an XML architecture in the next year or
so. My goal there is to actually embed the documentation into the program
files. Wish me luck! And to do this, we will take some XML courses and so
forth, but we will get most of the information we need to do this from our
own developers - as we design the future structure of our application, we'll
also design in the documentation structure needed to support it, then we'll
get some coaching from our developers on how to use the tools we'll need,
and the process we'll have to follow.

My 2¢,

John

John Garison
Documentation Manager
IDe
150 Baker Avenue Extension
Concord, MA 01742

Voice: 978-402-2907
Fax:    978-318-9376
http://www.ide.com


-----Original Message-----
From: Hart, Rowena [mailto:Hart -at- SelkirkFinancial -dot- com]
Sent: Friday, November 09, 2001 3:55 PM
To: TECHWR-L
Subject: Production cycle knowledge



Sorry to veer away from the topic of
turning on the radio... ;-)

I think that one of the signs of an
experienced tech writer is how well they
understand and adapt to changes during
the production cycle. For example, 
something as simple as integrating help
files into incremental product builds
for testing purposes can be a complete
mystery to an inexperienced writer.

Did you gain your knowledge of the
production cycle (software or hardware)
on the job, or did you take a course that
gave you some insight into the process?
Would training in this area have helped
you be more effective when you first
started working as a technical writer?
Was there something about the product
development cycle that was particularly
valuable to learn?

I'm curious in part because I help to 
organize educational workshops for my
chapter of the STC (Canada West Coast).
I'm wondering if a workshop on production
cycles would be valuable, and if so, what
a workshop like that should cover. Production
cycles and issues are the same around the
world, so please share your thoughts
regardless of where you live.

Thanks,

Rowena

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