Information Mapping Insider Online Newsletter

Insider Online delivers a valuable resource to the Information Mapping community. Not only do you receive information about industry trends, new product announcements, and upcoming events, you will also get useful hints, tips, and in-depth articles from Information Mapping Insiders on Knowledge Management, Content Management, Learning Solutions, and various applications of the Information Mapping® method. Please pass Insider Online to others who may be interested.

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So, What About DITA, Information Mapping and Content Mapper?

by Doug Gorman, President and CEO - Information Mapping, Inc.

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. Read this article

Announcing Developing Effective DITA Content: A Two-Day Seminar for DITA Content Creators

by Jason Murtagh, Marketing Coordinator - Information Mapping, Inc.

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 seminar 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™. Read this article

Announcing our 2007 Information Mapping Public Seminar Schedule

by Lisa Thompson, Manager, Marketing - Information Mapping Canada

Information Mapping Canada, the exclusive Canadian distributor of Information Mapping recently announced its 2007 calendar of public seminars. Communicare offers workshops nationwide for business, sales, and marketing professionals; program managers; technical writers; and anyone who wants to write results-obtaining business and technical communications such as policies, procedures, training materials, proposals, reports, and e-mails. Read this article

Information Mapping Inc. Survey Reveals the True Impact of Ineffective Business Communications

by Cynthia Whitty, Public Relations Specialist - Information Mapping, Inc

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. Read this article

Case Study — Hexion Specialty Chemicals

by Cynthia Whitty, Public Relations Specialist - Information Mapping, Inc.

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. Read this article

Employee Profile — Mike Rowlinson

by Lisa Thompson, Manager, Marketing - Information Mapping Canada

Although Mike is our most recent Information Mapping instructor certified, he has already been busier than ever. From instructing our overflow of fall public seminars in Toronto to instructing a series of client onsite seminars in New Brunswick. In between seminars Mikes also been helping out our documentation team on some big client project as well as delivering workshops at recent conferences. Through it all Mike has still found the time to climb the CN Tower with his younger daughter for charity and keep active with some of his favorite sports. Read this article

Formatting Solutions® Pro Hints and Tips Renumbering the Steps in a Step/Action Table

by Sean Murphy, Software Development Manager - Information Mapping, Inc.

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 sub label.

Then it gets tricky or just plain does not work. Well no more Mappers! In FS Pro 3.0 there is a new feature that will handle all of this for you. Read this article

Public Learning Program Dates and Locations

Find a public seminar date and location convenient for you; visit our Public Seminars page for dates and locations.

Upcoming Events

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