On 10/30/10 9:07 AM, "dita4all" <dmorrison@...> wrote:

> I am going to a networking meeting for publishers and will using the
> opportunity to promote the use of DITA. Can you suggest what short message I
> should use to encourage them to take a look into DITA, and can you suggest
> some URLs I should refer them to?

My short message is: If you are moving to XML then using a DITA-based
solution will minimize the startup cost, ongoing cost of ownership, and the
cost of interchange of content with partners and licensors. That is, DITA
makes everything easier. Worst case, a DITA-base system will be no more
expensive than a purpose-built system but will in fact be much less
expensive. If you are already using XML and are in the process of refining
your process, DITA may also be a good option. If you are using XML and not
looking to change your content markup, DITA is still attractive as an output
and interchange format to which your existing content can be transformed.

Note that I don't say anything about the other aspects of DITA, such as
modularity and re-use support, because those tend to not be of immediate
interest to publishers and because those features of DITA, while important,
are not distinguishing in the way that the specialization feature is. It is
the specialization feature of DITA that allows it to provide *dramatically*
lower shortterm and long-term costs relative to any other possible XML-based
solution.

Publishers can get tremendous value from a DITA-based solution without doing
any reuse or being particularly modular. But once they realize that they in
fact can take advantage of DITA's modularity and re-use features, they are
there waiting to be used. At no extra cost.

The point of DITA for Publishers is to help make the cost of DITA use as low
as possible by providing common vocabulary, processing components, and usage
knowledge that all Publishers will need. It is an open-source, community
effort intended to support and foster the use of DITA by Publishers. It is
not product- or vendor-specific.

http://dita4publishers.sourceforge.net is the main site for DITA for
Publishers. That site is up to date.

The Webinar on DITA for Publishers I gave this spring is available here:
http://reallysi.com/DITA4pubs_webinar.htm

Anthony Allen from ASTD spoke at the RSuite Users' Conference about their
experience using DITA for books and magazines. The materials aren't up on
the Really Strategies site but I'm pretty sure I can make them available
(I'll have to check with our Marketing Dept.).

And of course anyone who wants more information can contact me directly or
ask here on the DITA user's list.

Cheers,

E.

--
Eliot Kimber
Senior Solutions Architect
"Bringing Strategy, Content, and Technology Together"
Main: 512.554.9368
www.reallysi.com
www.rsuitecms.com