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Hi Joy,
I've not worked in particular on an IT library, but I am currently
working on a document repository/management system for a legal
department, and I've observed something pretty interesting that may
resonate with your desire to "enforce the stability of the docs" in your
library.
The system I'm working on (currently being upgraded) is called Livelink.
It's been in place for about 3 years. Originally implemented for the
lawyers, contract administrators, risk management folks, etc.
Guess who uses it more than anyone else? Yep, the IT dept that
implemented it for Legal. Now, there has definitely been some attrition
due to mergers, changing job/dept functions, etc., but the functional
areas are still mostly there. But the attorneys don't use it. Neither do
the paralegals, secretaries, or other support staff because they have
their paper files and their network directories. It doesn't solve their
problems, and in fact causes some because it's so slow and you have to
work through so many layers of directories to get to the documents. We
are hoping that the upgrade, new hardware, and a new module (WebDAV)
will improve things and increase the user base.
I guess my point is this. YOU cannot enforce anything--if you try you'll
be perceived as a PITA. The developers will ignore what is not useful to
them, and management will be wondering why the invested in such a thing.
My suggestion is to look at the problems that are caused by whatever
system (or lack thereof) you have in place now. What can your system fix
for the developers? How can you make their jobs easier? You can't make
them post their most recent versions unless you make it beneficial to
them, and I suspect peer pressure will have something to do with the
final outcome. (Hmmm, I sense some cynicism.)
Unfortunately I haven't got a clue how to do THAT--not terribly helpful,
am I? Perhaps someone else can offer some insights.
Lisa
-----Original Message-----
On Behalf Of Joy_Owen -at- Dell -dot- com
Subject: Help - I/T Library
<snip>
We used to have an I/T Library that folded because there was no way to
effectively get the engineers to post the most recent versions of their
documents (as far as I know - I'm the only tech writer in the entire I/T
Department - probably about 1200 people). That means a lot of the
writing and revising is still being done by the engineers.
My question is: Is there anyone else out there in this predicament?
How do you enforce the stability of the docs in your library?
</snip>
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