Commuting on the Washington, DC Metro gives me the opportunity to read a lot of books. My ride is about 30 minutes each way, so I spend at least an hour a day reading.
Recently I have read a lot of books about the state of web content. Why? Because I have been contributing web content for many years, and I have long advocated that well-structured, clear content is vital to a successful user experience. So I am fascinated to see the sudden surge of interest in content strategy.
It’s about time.
Web sites have long been products of shiny bauble design: Make it pretty and they will come. A site lures you in, but you quickly discover that you cannot find what you’re looking for. Either there’s not enough information, or there’s too much information, but it’s so poorly structured and organized that you give up.
Information architects (IAs) who focus on design over content have long fueled this problem. The best IAs realize the value of the user experience, where design and content are fully integrated. They focus on both aspects. But sometimes the scope and breadth of site requirements place too much responsibility on them. A partnership becomes necessary.
Enter the content strategist.
In this post, I discuss two books that are shaping the body of resources on content strategy. This is not an in-depth review of either book. Both are only around 200 pages long, and I don’t want to give away all of the authors’ secrets. After reading this post, I hope that you will read these excellent resources.
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Interested in learning more about the Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)? I recommend that all information developers at least break the surface. Regardless of whether you plan to adopt DITA, you can benefit from studying it. You can even borrow from its lean, efficient writing model.
I have been a fan of modular, “chunked” writing since I took an Information Mapping (IM) course years ago. Although I see value in using IM, I prefer DITA’s open, simplified, XML-based model. I appreciate its emphasis on standardization and content reuse. I like the flexibility for using specialized information types. Although none of my clients have adopted DITA, I study it because I have a driven fascination with information architecture and structure.
Toe in the water or swan dive?
Most of the available information about DITA is on the web, but at least three DITA-related books have been released (as far as I know). Each of the following titles is a great resource for neophytes who find the formal specification a bit intimidating but who would like to learn more about—and possibly even experiment with—DITA.
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I haven’t posted regularly during the summer for various reasons related to changes in my personal life. Fortunately, the dust has settled and I look forward to writing here more frequently.
Though I have been relatively quiet, I have been lurking in various online spaces. I have been especially tuned in to the lively exchanges about the future of the Society for Technical Communication (STC) and the future of technical communication in general. I contributed comments to some of the discussions.
The STC certainly has formidable challenges. The field of technical communication now comprises many professions, and each profession has its own specific needs. Increased specialization has given rise to organizations that are geared to more focused practitioners. I belong to two of those organizations: the Information Architecture Institute and the Usability Professionals Association.
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