Content Operations

The next installment in an occasional series on how to avoid pitfalls in your content strategy. In this podcast, Sarah O’Keefe, Bill Swallow, and Alan Pringle discuss content silos, how they come to be, and how to deal with them. Related links: Single-sourcing is dead. Long live shared pipes! Content strategy pitfalls podcast: tools The post Content strategy pitfalls podcast: silos appeared...

The first in an occasional series on how to avoid pitfalls in your content strategy. In this podcast, Sarah O’Keefe, Bill Swallow, and Alan Pringle discuss how to dodge tool-related traps in your content strategy. Related links: Tools are not a content strategy Tools, the content strategy killers Authoring tools do matter The post Content strategy pitfalls podcast: tools appeared first on Sc...

In this podcast, we interview Alyssa Fox about aligning content strategy across marketing and technical communication and discuss her leadership role in the Society for Technical Communication. Twitter handles: Alyssa Fox Sarah O’Keefe The post Content strategy across the enterprise podcast with guest Alyssa Fox appeared first on Scriptorium .

This podcast features special guest Ed Marsh of the Content Content podcast. Scriptorium’s guest appearances on the Content Content podcast inspired us to start our own. In this episode, Gretyl Kinsey and Ed Marsh discuss content strategy and how it applies to the world of podcasting, solutions to the ever-present problem of content silos, how to find your tribe at events like LavaCon, and m...

Bill Swallow discusses the possibilities and the limitations of machine translation tools such as Google Translate. When is Google Translate good enough and when do you need professional (human) translation? Resources: Is Google Translate good enough (article version)? Hierarchy of localization needs LearningDITA Live registration Featured image: ©jarretera/123RF.com The post Is Google Translate g...

For the New Year, we have a set of content-related resolutions. Our content needs to lose weight, exercise, and much more. Sarah, Bill, and Alan discuss how to improve content in 2018. Resources: Podcast on  finance in technical communication with Erin Vang New Year’s resolutions, content strategy edition   The post New Year’s resolutions for content (podcast) appeared first on Sc...

There are special considerations when localizing DITA content. In this podcast, Bill Swallow and Simon Bate discuss the conventions available in DITA for localization, and share anecdotes and advice to help you circumvent localization problems. Resources: Localization and the DITA Open Toolkit DITA localization for output Revisiting the ROI of DITA Webcast: Localization and the DITA Open Toolkit L...

How can faster access to cancer staging information lead to better diagnoses and improved patient care? What if cancer staging content could be integrated into electronic medical records and accessed via API instead of just in a printed book? We discuss these questions and more with guest Laura Meyer Vega of the American Joint Committee on Cancer in this podcast recorded at LavaCon 2017 in Portlan...

In this podcast, Alan Pringle and Sarah O’Keefe discuss the history—and health—of the PDF format. Is it still useful in today’s connected world? Are there business reasons to distribute PDF files—and not to? Resources: Four years later, PDF is not dead The PDF roadblock XML product literature Twitter handles: alanpringle sarahokeefe     The post The death of PDF (podcast) app...

In this podcast, Gretyl Kinsey and Sarah O’Keefe discuss DITA specialization, or the process of creating new structures from existing ones. What is involved in developing and testing a DITA specialization? What are some risks and benefits you should consider before specializing your DITA content? Resources: DITA specialization : Extensibility and standards compliance Content interoperability...

Erin Vang of Global Pragmatica LLC discusses the basics of finance for technical communication managers. What do you need to know about budgeting and corporate finance to make your department run smoothly? This podcast is a preview of a presentation that Erin will deliver at tcworld 2017 in Stuttgart, Germany. Resources: Email Erin Global Pragmatica website tcworld event site Twitter handles: erin...

In this podcast, Gretyl Kinsey and Simon Bate discuss the DITA Learning and Training specialization. How does this specialization work? What are some ways an organization might benefit from using Learning and Training to structure its educational content? What should you consider before implementing a DITA authoring environment with Learning and Training? Resources: LearningDITA.com LearningDITA G...

In this podcast, Alan Pringle, Sarah O’Keefe, and Bill Swallow discuss ways of measuring the return on investment in a content strategy implementation. A content strategy is tied to specific business goals; it’s designed to either solve a business problem with content or better position your company to meet current and future business goals. Like any business strategy, it needs to be m...

In this podcast, Alan Pringle and Sarah O’Keefe discuss the shift in training priorities. In the past, companies would train employees to avoid dependence on Evil Outside Contractors. Today, companies don’t want to invest in training their employees (“They might leave!”), so instead they farm out specialized tasks to expert contractors. Many thanks to Danielle Marie Villega...

In this podcast, Alan Pringle and Bill Swallow discuss transitioning from a developed content strategy to implementation of that strategy. What’s involved in a content strategy implementation? What should you be mindful of? How should you handle change? Resources: Content strategy and change resistance Webcast: The technology is the easy part! Leading through change The good manager litmus t...

In this podcast, Sarah O’Keefe and Bill Swallow discuss the client-consultant relationship. What is it like working with a content strategy consultant? How can consultants help? How deep do such engagements go? Resources: Keys to content strategy: consultants Do I need a content strategy consultant? Consulting lite: life at Scriptorium Content strategy failure in ten easy steps Moving past c...

Highly designed content uses presentation to call its audience’s attention to the most important information. This kind of content requires more attention to detail and exceptions to the standard layout than content with a purely functional design. In this podcast, we discuss strategies for producing highly designed content and solutions for exerting more control over your design in a publis...

2017 marks 20 years of business for Scriptorium. In this podcast, Sarah O’Keefe, Alan Pringle, and Bill Swallow reflect on changes in the content industry over the past 20 years and on how Scriptorium came to be. From content development approaches to professional development resources… What’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and what does the future look like? Resources: S...

In this podcast, Sarah discusses content accessibility with Char James-Tanny. What makes content accessible? How can content creators include accessibility in their planning process? What happens if you do not provide accessible content? Resources Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 Accessibility Checklist for Web Writers (but applies to all) WebAIM articles WebAIM Color Contrast Check...

In this podcast, Bill, Alan, and Sarah discuss localization strategy. Writing good content in the source language is only the beginning. Resources Localization strategy: your key to global markets white paper Twitter handles: sarahokeefe alanpringle billswallow Additional contact information The post Localization strategy: not just cost minimization appeared first on Scriptorium .

In this podcast, Sarah and Gretyl discuss the traditional separation of marketing and technical content, and look at the reasons that these content types are now converging. Resources The age of accountability: Unifying marketing and technical content with Adobe Experience Manager  white paper Twitter handles: sarahokeefe gretylkinsey Additional contact information The post Convergence of marketin...

In this podcast, Alan, Bill, and Sarah discuss some of the characteristics of typical DITA projects. What is DITA? What are some reasons why you might move to DITA? What are some of the common challenges when implementing DITA? How does publishing work? Resources LearningDITA.com : a resource for learning about DITA, from what it is to authoring to publishing DITA content strategy : advantages, di...

In this podcast, Alan, Bill, and Sarah provide an overview of structured authoring. What are the business requirements that might cause an organization to consider structured authoring? Resources Structured authoring and XML white paper : Introduction to structured authoring Top eight signs it’s time to move to XML : Indicators you need to implement structured authoring XML product literature : Ho...

Content strategy, localization strategy…and pasta? The post The Content Strategy Experts podcast launch appeared first on Scriptorium .