TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: Building a documentation knowledgebase From:"Mark Baker" <listsub -at- analecta -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 17 Feb 2004 16:00:01 -0500
Gene Kim-Eng wrote:
> A measure of "dumb compliance" is the basis
> of just about every successful document and content management system in
> existence.
Well, that is certainly not the impression I have. Every presentation I have
ever attended on a successful CMS implementation has stressed the importance
of getting buy-in at all levels before proceeding and has also stressed the
enthusiasm of most of the participants as they saw the benefit it brought to
their jobs. Similarly, the unsuccessful ones were those in which the users
saw no value. Perhaps you have some cases to back up you belief?
> > Only if one supposes that a corporate knowledge base is in fact a
> > universally desirable thing.
>
> The OP already established that she thought it was. The question asked
was
> not whether it was desirable, but how best to go about it.
Actually, the question asked was:
> Any suggestions on how to establish an information flow that can be used
> by all?
Which is a very sensible question, and in fact, a much better question than
"how do I establish a knowledge base". I simply pointed out that
establishing a central knowledge base is not necessarilly the best answer to
this question.
> Since management
> has already decided on its "grand plan," ... "Lack of management support
and
> differences in opinion" from a writer's
> viewpoint is often "Lack of cooperation and teamwork" from management's.
You might be right, of course. But the purpose of this list is to discuss
technical communication issues, not corporate survival issues. If people
post question about technical communication on the list, they may get
answers which, while good answers, they do not feel willing to present to
their management. That is their decision to make. However, on this list we
should not censor the advice we give because the person who asked may decide
that management won't listen. Here we should give the best technical
communication related advice we can and let the person who asked the
question decide what to do with it.
