RE: [dita-adoption] RE: Groups - New Action Item #0002 Develop a draft of a mission statement for dita.xml.org

["Tsao, Scott" <scott.tsao@boeing.com>]

Su-Laine,

Thanks very much for sharing your initial thoughts on our mission statement.  I think you have covered most (if not all) of topics that we should discuss and come to consensus.

 

One thing I had difficulty with is the prioritization of the suitable content for our websites.  It seems to me that the first two items, i.e., more "user friendly" documentation of DITA OT and DITA Spec, are rather technical in nature and may have already been considered by other communities.  Besides, DITA OT is merely a reference implementation, and I suspect that some DITA adopters will not necessarily touch that at all in their implementation of DITA.

 

I tend to think that items 3-6 would be more useful for DITA adopters, especially those who are in the information architect and designer roles.  And information such as "lessons learned" and "proven practices" would be quite useful to those fresh adopters.

 

These are just some of my thoughts right now for continued discussion.

 

Regards,

Scott Tsao 曹壽國
Information Architect - Associate Technical Fellow
The Boeing Company

-----Original Message-----
From: Su-Laine Yeo [mailto:su-laine.yeo@justsystems.com]
Sent: Monday, March 09, 2009 7:25 PM
To: dita-adoption-fasc@lists.oasis-open.org
Cc: DITA Adoption TC
Subject: [dita-adoption] RE: Groups - New Action Item #0002 Develop a draft of a mission statement for dita.xml.org

Hi everyone,

Here are some initial thoughts on a mission statement for dita.xml.org. I'd like us to make this a prescriptive rather than descriptive statement. I.e. let's discuss the goals that we want the site to achieve rather simply describe what it already does.

I'm going to be even more bold and extend this scope of this discussion to "OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites" and not limit discussion to the existing boundaries of dita.xml.org. I'd like to contemplate, for example, having different sites for different subject areas that are currently covered by dita.xml.org, if doing so is what is best for the DITA community and is feasible to implement and maintain.

I think we should try to come to consensus on four things:
1) Who is our intended audience?
2) What is suitable content for OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites?
3) What is NOT suitable content for OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites?
4) What kind of content development most needs a major *centralized* effort, as opposed to effort from individuals?

My opinions are below:

Who is our intended audience?
- OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites are primarily intended to help current and potential adopters successfully adopt DITA. DITA application vendors, Technical Committee members, and Open Toolkit developers are secondary audiences, but the needs of DITA adopters come first.

What is suitable content for OASIS-sponsored DITA adoption websites (in priority order from most important to least)?
1) Up-to-date user documentation for using and customizing the DITA Open Toolkit. Take the Open Toolkit user guide and make it up-to-date.
2) Descriptions of DITA features, elements, and attributes that are more user-friendly than the explanations in the official DITA specifications. Use additional examples to make it easier to understand what different element types are for, and how they are likely to be processed. We've started doing this kind of thing for DITA 1.2, but not systematically for DITA 1.1.
3) Sample content and markup examples: Many people learn well by imitating realistic, high-quality examples of DITA topic writing.
4) Information about implementing DITA, e.g. information modelling, conversion, tool selection.
5) Concrete ideas for using DITA features to solve realistic problems, e.g. how to implement a "variables" feature
6) Stories about actual DITA implementations.
7) Product reviews
8) Calendar of events

What is NOT suitable content?
1) Repository of proposed specifications for the DITA Open Toolkit
2) Advertising. Our site(s) might link to press releases and promotional web pages, but should not duplicate large amounts of promotional material. Duplication of content that is available elsewhere is not helpful, and may hinder adoption by increasing confusion and noise.

What kind of content development most needs a major centralized effort?
- In my opinion, items #1 and 2 in the "suitable content" list above are where we most need a centralized effort. The other things can be managed by passionate individuals or vendors.

Thoughts? Let's discuss by email first and then take it to the wiki once ideas take shape or if the discussion becomes hard to manage.

Su-Laine


Su-Laine Yeo
Interaction Design Specialist
JustSystems Canada, Inc.
Office: 778-327-6356
syeo@justsystems.com
www.justsystems.com





-----Original Message-----
From: kjeberle@us.ibm.com [mailto:kjeberle@us.ibm.com]
Sent: Monday, March 02, 2009 8:07 AM
To: Su-Laine Yeo
Subject: Groups - New Action Item #0002 Develop a draft of a mission sta...


DITA Adoption Focus Area SC member,

Kristen Eberlein has created a new action item.

Number: #0002
Description: Develop a draft of a mission sta...
Owner: Su-Laine Yeo
Due: 09 Mar 2009

Comments:


View Details:
http://www.oasis-open.org/apps/org/workgroup/dita-adoption-fasc/members/action_item.php?action_item_id=2581



PLEASE NOTE:  If the above links do not work for you, your email application
may be breaking the link into two pieces.  You may be able to copy and paste
the entire link address into the address field of your web browser.

- OASIS Open Administration