Announcing CTDUG 1/25/06: Featuring Dr. JoAnn Hackos

[Andrew Lucchesi]

I'm cross-posting Wendy Shepperd's note from stc-austin-general. My 
apologies if you are receiving this twice. 

===================================================

Please mark your calendars and plan to join us for the CTDUG meeting on 
January 25, 2006. I am pleased to announce that Dr. JoAnn Hackos will lead 
a discussion about moving from books to topic-oriented writing! JoAnn will 
be in Austin that week teaching a structured writing course. More details 
about the full course are included at the end of this email. My apologies 
if you receive this announcement more than once.
The Central Texas DITA Users Group (CTDUG) was formed in October to share 
and advance knowledge and adoption of DITA in the central Texas region. 
DITA stands for Darwin Information Typing Architecture. DITA is an 
XML-based, end-to-end architecture for authoring, producing, and 
delivering technical information. This architecture consists of a set of 
design principles for creating "information-typed" modules at a topic 
level and for using that content in delivery modes such as online help and 
product support portals on the Web.
Moving from Books to Topics-oriented Writing
Dr. JoAnn T. Hackos
Comtech Services Inc.
710 Kipling Street, Suite 400
Denver, CO 80215
303-232-7586
joann.hackos at comtech-serv.com
Books, no doubt, will always be with us. As an omnivorous reader of print 
books, I expect no changes in the medium in my lifetime. However, I would 
argue that technical information supporting the proper use and maintenance 
of products appears in book form simply for ease of packaging. Customers 
rarely read them from beginning to end, instead selecting small sections 
to address immediate questions. 
The move toward topic-oriented writing is not new for technical 
information. Technical manuals have contained procedural topics for nearly 
150 years. However, DITA (Darwin Information Typing Architecture), 
accompanied by content management solutions, facilitates topic-oriented 
writing and presents new opportunities for conveying information to our 
customers. Topics lend themselves to the flexibility required of multiple 
media and present opportunities for reuse that increase efficiency and 
decrease cost.
In this address, Dr. Hackos discusses the benefits of a DITA-based, 
topic-oriented approach and describes the components of the DITA 
architecture and how it facilitates the development of technical 
information.
Meeting Details
What: Central Texas DITA Users (CTDUG) Group meeting
When: Wednesday January 25, 2006 7:00 - 9:00 pm Central
Where: BMC Software - Executive Briefing Center 
10431 Morado Circle
Office Building: 5
Austin, Texas (TX)78759 
Who: All are welcome. The meeting is free of charge. No previous knowledge 
or membership is required.
Agenda
7:00-7:30 Networking and Food (please plan to chip in for delivery or 
bring your own dinner)
7:30-8:30 Speaker - Dr. JoAnn Hackos, "Moving from Books to Topic-oriented 
Writing"
8:30-9:00 Q&A
Directions:
&&&&
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=10431+Morado+Cir+Austin,+TX+78759-5637&spn=0.014839,0.031760

&iwloc=A&hl=en