the theory of x-refs in a modular writing environment

Subject: the theory of x-refs in a modular writing environment
From: Kevin McGowan <thatguy_80 -at- hotmail -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 13 Feb 2008 11:09:37 -0500


Hi all,

A philisophical question for this snowy Wednesday. I'm starting to do a lot of reuse of my DITA topics through my user guides, training guides, etc.

I find myself in the position of having to go through and either "fix" or "remove" a lot of X-references simply because I'm not always sure which topics will be reused, and where they may end up. I certainly don't want to build a series of new guides and have broken references everywhere.

has anyone got any thought on x-refs? Typically, they take the format of "for more information on Topic A, see "AAA on page 15" and really just serve as a guide to some extra or related data. Would a thorough Index be sufficient for readers who may want to read more on a topic?

Cheers,
K
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References:
Words with double meanings: From: Michelle Vina-Baltsas
Re: Words with double meanings: From: Dana Worley

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