9 Matching Annotations
  1. Sep 2016
  2. techwritingf16.robinwharton.net techwritingf16.robinwharton.net
    1. Inorder to achieve this level of control, every piece of information an organization is-sues has to originate from within the CMS database, and thus everyone writing forthe organization has to get used to creating, storing, sharing, and publishing withinthe system, which means that nearly everyone has to change his or her writingpractices to fit inside the CMS’s framework. Changing the way people work is animmensely difficult task, especially if the changes most clearly benefit the organi-zation while doing nothing clearly beneficial for the individual users.

      Cms writing is difficult and one needs to learn how to adapt to different writing styles. Sometimes the data base may seem less user friendly because of how difficult it is to constantly changes writing practices to fit the framework

    2. while the separation of form fromcontent is not a new concept, “no content is [truly] free of presentation” and that“[c]ontent and presentation are never separated.” Within the content managementcontext, therefore, Clark suggests understanding this separation in two ways: (a) ascontent being complete texts, and presentation being output structure, navigation,and visual style; and (b) as content being content modules, and presentation beingoutput structure, navigation, visual style, and genre definition.

      Interesting to think about, because we do not think of form, when it comes to tech writing.

    3. The most important part ofthis whole puzzle—the end user, i.e., technical communicator—is often left out ofthe process. The very expressioncontent managementexcludes any idea of writingor communicating and focuses on information independently of the people whoproduce or consume it.

      This reminds me of our discussion in class on how most of the user content that we use such as iCollege is really meant for the instructor and not always the student.

    4. No longer can writers think in terms of texts or even publications. They haveto start thinking in terms of asset management: the strict separation of form andcontent to allow for seamless repurposing of content, data mining, reduplication ofeffort control mechanisms, and writing in a collaborative environment with multi-ple authors and multiple purposes feeding off of and contributing to a conglomera-tion of assets that collectively make up a content archive.

      Tech writing teaches you how to collaborate and write for others. Its interesting to think about how your writing is part of a big archive that will help people.

    5. For a content management system to be successful, Hall (2001) argues, two im-portant factors must be emphasized: end users (documentation specialists) anduser needs.

      What type of information should the business include that will also help its users

    6. What also gets lost amid all this focus on technology (systems and soft-ware) is the content—“not just any content, but useful content”

      This is important to remember because it is true. Again I think often times in tech writing and writing in general we lose focus on who the audience is and what information will be useful to them. Sometimes people don't want the the run around on how to get something done. Most people just want to get to the point.

    7. Another factor contributing to the difficulty of CMS implementation is thatmost content management systems take a systems-based approach toward manag-ing content/information/knowledge at the cost of considerations for content anduser needs. As Jefferey-Poulter points out, most CMSs do not allow for a widerange of exception and improvisation and may eventually demotivate users

      Further shows the difficult of implementing CMS and how its not that adaptable. I think the main problem with CMS is that its too long and since we live in the age of technology where everything happens in the "right now" it fails to take take into account want the audience wants.

    8. The purpose of CMS software is to cen-tralize all communications practices, to standardize layout and design, and to in-crease efficiency when it come to distributing information, ensuring that the com-pany stays on message and does not issue redundant or conflicting statements. Inorder to achieve this level of control, every piece of information an organization is-sues has to originate from within the CMS database, and thus everyone writing forthe organization has to get used to creating, storing, sharing, and publishing withinthe system, which means that nearly everyone has to change his or her writingpractices to fit inside the CMS’s framework. Changing the way people work is animmensely difficult task, especially if the changes most clearly benefit the organi-zation while doing nothing clearly beneficial for the individual users.

      The purpose of CMS is to turn something that is complex into something simple, without oversimplifying. To do this, you have to take into account the audience that your writing for and also the people who you are writing with. What I think is interesting about CMS is that you have different types of writing styles that can works with the framework. I think its a good way for companies to get dynamic writing styles and backgrounds

    9. We started our work on this special issuewith a rather ambitious mission—to bring together some diverse perspectives oncontent management and CMSs, to both theorize and operationalize the contentmanagement practice, and to rationalize our participation in the broad domain ofcontent management discourse. Grounded on the premise that technical communi-cation requires information and knowledge management, this special issue is oneof the first systematic and deliberate attempts to extend our perspectives, both the-oretical and practical, about technical communication from the relatively staticsphere of document design to the more dynamic horizon of content (informa-tion/knowledge) management.

      Here it is important to understand what the framework of this article is about. The authors are researching how to better understand content management and content management systems in technical communication. They are also attempting to extend the perspectives of content management and bring from a static hemisphere to something more dynamic