Reasons to structure

[Art Campbell]

You may want to look over, and play with, the FM DITA plug in. It's a
structured tool, obviously, but seems to be a rationally usable tool
rather than an entire philosophy.

Art

On 2/15/07, Gordon McLean <Gordon.McLean at grahamtechnology.com> wrote:
> "If you work in the tech industry and don't have time to learn, your fate is
> sealed."
>
> I know what you are saying, but you are presuming that learning how to use a
> technology is more important than learning whether or not that technology is
> cost-effective to me in my current situation.
>
> On top of that, at the moment and to a lot of people, structured FrameMaker
> talks the talk but -heavens to betsy- the walk looks like a complicated one.
> When the walk is a little easier, I'll start to learn the steps. Just as I
> did with HTML, then CSS.
>
> There is a brewing thought in here about Tipping Points but time marches
> on..
>
> So, that's what I have learned about structured FrameMaker, but then I tend
> to let the early adopters do all the work and then swoop in later on. ;-)
>
> G
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> Jeremy, I don't think that is harsh at all. What I think is harsh is the
> constant discouragement from learning and professional development from
> certain members of this list.  It is so important for any tech writer to
> learn about structured content, and I do not think I am any smarter than
> anyone else just because I have expertise in structure. The only difference
> with me is that I just spent the last five years being interested in it, and
> I would like others to be interested in it as well. And that excuse about
> "not having time" is really quite worn out. If you work in the tech industry
> and don't have time to learn, your fate is sealed.
>
> And by the way, HTML is a perfect example of fully structured content, and
> the web is a good example of the miracles that are possible with it. Thanks
> for bringing that up.
>

-- 
Art Campbell                                             art.campbell at gmail.com
  "... In my opinion, there's nothing in this world beats a '52 Vincent
               and a redheaded girl." -- Richard Thompson
                             No disclaimers apply.
                                     DoD 358