So
What About DITA, Information Mapping, and Content Mapper?
IMI
Announces Developing Effective DITA Content: A Two-Day Workshop for DITA
Content Creators
Information
Mapping, Inc. Announces Its 2007 Public Workshop Schedule
Register
Now for Information Mapping Webinars
Information
Mapping, Inc. Survey Reveals the True Impact of Ineffective Business Communications
FS
Pro Hints & Tips: Renumbering the Steps in a Step/Action Table
Case
Study: Hexion Specialty Chemicals
December 2006
IMI Live Webinar Series: "Getting
Compliance Under Control"
January 2007
IMI
Live Webinar Series:
"Identifying
Communication Failures in Your Organization"
February 2007
"Making Web Content Work" at the Society
for Tech. Communications
(STC)
Online Special Interest Group, in Burlington, MA
IMI Live Webinar Series:
"DITA,
Topic-Based Authoring, and Information Mapping: What Authors Need to
Know"
"Compliance,
Risk, & the Art of Policy & Procedure Writing" at
ASTD
(local chapter)
"How to Write Usable Content for Multiple Audiences" at Training
2007 in Orlando, FL
March 2007
IMI Live Webinar Series: "Improving
Customer Service Through Effective Communications"
May 2007
"Modular Writing and Reusability" at the Society
for Tech. Communications (STC) 54th Annual Conference, Minneapolis,
MN
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Information Mapping,
Inc.
307 Waverley Oaks Road
Waltham, MA 02452 U.S.A.
T:
781.547.3100
or 800.INFOMAP
F: 781.547.3200
E:
inquiry@infomap.com
W:
www.infomap.com
| December 2006 | Vol. 14, No. 4 |
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So, What About DITA, Information Mapping and Content Mapper?
By Doug Gorman, President and CEO
So, what exactly is DITA and how can it be easily implemented? Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA). DITA is an XML-based open source standard architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering content. A large group of well-known companies led by IBM are backing the DITA standard. Organizations are implementing DITA in order to improve the effectiveness of single-source publishing or to publish to multiple media.
DITA supports the concept that information should be created in chunks, called topics (a.k.a. information maps), and that the topics can have properties (a.k.a. key blocks). The primary topic types are task, concept, and reference. At this level, the implementation of DITA can be quite straight-forward, but DITA also includes the idea of domain or industry specializations. These specializations are a worthy concept, but implementation can get very complex. This complexity has often required a technical layer to be added to organizations that are implementing DITA.
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IMI Announces Developing Effective DITA Content: A Two-Day Workshop for DITA Content Creators
By Jason Murtagh, Marketing Coordinator
Increasing numbers of organizations across the globe are adopting DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture) as an XML-based, Open Source standard architecture for producing reusable content. This means that authors must now explore new ways of writing modular, topic-oriented content that adheres to this new standard.
In January, Information Mapping, Inc. (IMI) will introduce Developing Effective DITA Content, an informative two-day workshop that teaches authors how to analyze, organize, present, and develop effective, high-quality DITA content using Information Mapping principles and IMI's easy-to-learn, Microsoft® Word-based DITA authoring tool, Content Mapper™.
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Information Mapping Inc. Announces Its 2007 Public Workshop Schedule
Information Mapping, Inc. (IMI), leading provider of information life cycle solutions, recently announced its 2007 calendar of public workshops. IMI offers workshops nationwide for business, sales, and marketing professionals; program managers; technical writers; and anyone who wants to write results-getting business and technical communications, such as policies, procedures, training materials, proposals, reports, and e-mails.
To find out more about some of our upcoming workshops, click the "read this article" button.
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Register Now for Information Mapping Webinars:
Don’t Miss Your Chance to Get Answers to Painful Business Problems
By Cynthia Whitty, Public Relations Specialist
Join IMI for live
Webinars, starting December 7, on topics
that impact your business success.
As a business professional, you struggle daily with problems that affect your organization, such as
• winning and retaining customers
• achieving compliance
• implementing and maximizing your investment in a content management
system
• improving employee morale and retention, and
• saving time and money.
Find out what you can do to cure these painful business problems. By attending an IMI Webinar, you will learn the importance of clear, organized, and accessible communications and their impact on your business success.
Register today for these informative, one-hour sessions that provide valuable insight on how you can avoid wasting valuable time, destroying customer satisfaction, and damaging reputations. Each session is led by an industry expert and costs only $19.95!
Topics include:
To find out more about some of our upcoming workshops, click the "read this article" button.
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Information Mapping Inc. Survey Reveals the True Impact of Ineffective Business Communications
by Cynthia Whitty, Public Relations Specialist
The quality of an organization’s communications directly impacts its bottom line. That’s what respondents reveal in a new survey conducted by Information Mapping, Inc. (IMI). Nearly 300 respondents from finance, government, health care, high tech, insurance, and manufacturing took part in the survey. Eighty-five percent say it is possible that their organization has lost business due to ineffective presentations, proposals, memos, or e-mails.
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Formatting Solutions Hints & Tips: Renumbering the Steps in a Step/Action Table
by Sean Murphy, Software Development Manager
Have you ever had to
- edit a long step action table
- add a new step near the beginning of a step action table and then renumbered all of steps after that, or
- add another step or remove one and then renumber all of those steps AGAIN?
Microsoft® Word's numbering function might work, unless you need to
- continue your table
- convert it to a web page, or
- use a table sublabel.
Then it gets tricky or just plain does not work.
Well no more my friends! In FS Pro 3.0 there is a new feature that will handle all of this for you.
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Case Study: Hexion Specialty Chemicals
by Cynthia Whitty, Public Relations Specialist
Hexion Specialty Chemicals, Inc. (www.hexion.com) is the world's largest producer of thermosetting resins, with sales exceeding $4 billion. The company's products are used as binding, bonding, and coating agents in a diverse range of industries, such as automobile, construction, and electronics. Based in Columbus, Ohio, Hexion employs approximately 7,000 people and operates 104 manufacturing and distribution facilities worldwide.
In the mid-1990's, one of the components of Hexion, McWhorter Technologies, Inc., was formed by combining portions of the resin businesses of Cargill and Valspar. McWhorter found itself with deep experience and expertise, but also with the need for a cohesive culture that would strive for efficiency, speedy product development, and profitability.
By applying the Information Mapping® method, Greg Alexander from Hexion’s coating resins product line developed a training program with materials that were easy to understand and information that can be easily retrieved. The program helped to instill a new project management culture and increase productivity and revenue.
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Employee Profile- Kim Murphy
by Jason Murtagh, Marketing Coordinator
Despite having only worked for the company for just over a year, Kim Murphy has quickly become an integral part of the Information Mapping Inc. field sales team. At the root of her success is her extensive experience in identifying the types of communication problems encountered by business professionals and her desire to help them overcome these challenges by communicating critical information more clearly and effectively.
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We've Moved Our Corporate Offices and Training Center!
Our corporate offices and training center are now located in a newly designed space at 307 Waverley Oaks Road, just next door to our former location. The new space is very efficient for our needs with a bigger and brighter training center that has its own easy-access entry.
See Directions to U.S. Headquarters on our Web site.
New Address
307 Waverley Oaks Road, 3rd Floor
Waltham, MA 02452
New Phone Numbers
Main Phone: (781) 547-3100
Main Fax: (781) 547-3200
Our 800-INFOMAP (800-463-6627) number has not changed.
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Copyright, Trademark, and Other Information
Published
by Information Mapping, Inc. Information Mapping® and Formatting Solutions®
are registered trademarks of Information Mapping, Inc.
© Copyright December 2006. All rights reserved.
This message is privileged, confidential, and intended for the addressee only. If you have received this communication in error and are not the intended recipient, immediately notify the sender and delete this message from your computer. Your dissemination, modification, printing or copying of this message is prohibited. The contents of this message may contain personal views, which are not the views of Information Mapping, Inc. unless specifically stated. In compliance with Public Law No. 108-187 effective January 1, 2004.