Volume 2

Issue 3

September 2005

Editorial Reuse, reuse, reuse, reuse... content reuse is key to content management so it bears repeating repeating repeating. In fact, the desire to reuse their content is one of the main reasons organizations decide to move to a content management strategy. Content reuse means that you can write content once and use it wherever required, but it also means that you have to write content consistently so that it can be reused. This issue of The Rockley Report explores various aspects of content reuse including suggestions for maximizing content reuse, preparing content for reuse, and implementing content reuse.   More...
Feature Article Designing content reuse: The "tract housing" model Once you're ready to implement a content management strategy in your organization, it's useful to look at other industries that rely heavily on standards. This article compares the development of a content repository with the development of tract housing to identify best practices for content reuse, focusing on planning, identifying reuse, and incorporatiing new content.   More...
Best Practices Maximizing content reuse, reuse, reuse This article defines content reuse, reviews the types of content reuse, and outlines how organizations can best leverage content reuse when working with structured content in a single-source component-level content management system. More... People, Processes, and Change Change management issues in implementing a reuse strategy The success of implementing a reuse strategy depends on many factors, not least of which is the effectiveness of your change management process. To be clear, in this context change management does not refer to the modifications to content, but instead how changes to the workplace are introduced to and rolled out to the writers. More...	Case Study A case study in modular documentation A group of Unisys technical writers (located in Mission Viejo, CA; Roseville, MN; and Malvern, PA) recently moved to a more modular approach to creating manuals. The more modular approach to documentation was precipitated by the company strategy to use common server technology across multiple product lines. In this article, Debbie Donahue, the project manager who led the writers in the Information Development group through this change, describes their approach to and rationale for modular writing. More... Tools and Technology The marriage between dynamic and static web content Many organizations have independent designs and systems for their dynamic and static web content. But the trend right now is to find a way to give dynamic sites more flexibility, rounding out their transactional capabilities with a more content rich user experience that can be found on static html sites. In this article, Ted Spencer, a web content management consultant, describes how to adapt traditional transactional web site designs to deliver html site flexibility, and facilitate reuse across static and dynamic pages. More...