Notes from 46th International STC Conference
Cincinnati, Ohio, May 16-19, 1999

Global Transitions

Session Description: The pressure to shorten time to market continues to grow. These 3 presenters examine Web-based documentation development, movement from paper to HTML formats, and localized management, which are in global transition.

Jaap van der Meer
ALPNET, Inc., Montreal, QC

Van der Meer is a 20-year veteran in translation industry.

• Global transitions = recognition that writing and translation can no longer be demarcated. They are becoming one and the same.
   
• Large global information service companies
• Integrated information development and localization
• Customized knowledge bases
• ALPNET, Inc. is one of the three largest international translation companies.
• The rapid-growing translation industry will be worth $6B in 1999.
• Despite the growth market, there is downward pressure on prices.
• The strategy for making profits in this environment is twofold:
   
• Standardize and automate
• Integrate the information process
• Problems
   
• Scope growth
• Changes
• Format issues on computers
• It is wise to involve the translators early in the product planning process. The better sense they have of scope and content, the better job they can do in the actual translation.
• Information is stored separately in several different languages, which makes it easier to develop and maintain multilingual Web sites.
• Technological innovations
   
• Internet/Intranet
• SGML/XML -- single source, multiple output
• Three factors must be integrated in high-tech translation:
   
• TM = translation memory
• MT = machine translation
• KM = knowledge management
• Controlled language: This refers to restricted use of conjugations to streamline the translation process. It offers a significant payoff in efficiency, but it is a highly specialized skill.

JoAnn Hackos
Comtech Services, Inc., Denver, CO

Hackos is the founder and president of Comtech and a prolific author.

• We cannot afford to remain a "cottage industry." Hand-crafted documentation manuals are no longer viable in today's environment. We must pursue new paradigms.
• Knowledge base management and online documentation are keys to the future success of our profession.
• Stages of use vary among users... and so, too, do their information needs... this demands a flexible information format, breaking from the classic book metaphor.
• To use the Web effectively, we must handle it correctly. A key advantage is the ability to update in real time as user feedback starts to flow. In the past, it wasn't till after the documentation was released (on paper) that much of the useful feedback was forthcoming. With paper, "block" updates to documentation are possible with subsequent releases, but continuous, real-time updates are not. The Web makes them possible.
• "Streaming releases" -- Any significant product improvement is released immediately, to improve cash flow. We must shift our paradigm to publish info as soon as it is gained, in "information nuggets." XML can identify chunks of information according to places in which it should be placed, with links to a knowledge base that can keep those chunks of info continuously current.
• Continuous publishing will require us to re-engineer our processes and cease to be a cottage industry. No longer can a couple of editors and graphic specialists be competitive in developing products suitable for translation and global marketing on the Web.

Deborah Rosenquist
Dell Computer Corporation, Austin, TX

Rosenquist works in the Information Development Group at Dell.

• Dell Communications team had to overcome the "cottage industry" mind set and step into the world of repurposing paper-based information into globally disseminated, multiply translated online information.
• CEO Michael Dell personally endorsed and supported the move to online delivery of information.
• Dell's keys to success
   
• Used cutting-edge technology, tools, and processes
• Eliminated paper
• Increased factory usage
• Reduced costs
• Extended cost savings worldwide
• The challenges
   
• Different platforms require different deliverables
• Both paper and online delivery are needed from the same files
• Hyperlinks are required within files
• Customers must always have a print option
• All documents must be translated into European (single-byte) and Asian (double-byte) languages
• Reasonable file sizes must be maintained
• Files must be viewable and printable from multiple browsers
• Observations on the transition to online documentation
   
• Online vs paper (vs. both)... if both, which should get the primary design focus?
• Conversion of files to HTML was a major challenge
   
• Massive scope
• Overcoming the text-oriented focus of the source manuals required significant effort
   
• Reduction of text
• "Chunking" of information
• Introduction of graphics
• Suppliers must be required to submit information in HTML (or other suitable) format... and links must be checked!
• Since most of the Dell product information is online, they had to create a short paper document to guide installation... otherwise the users could not access the documentation!
• Developed style and format template.

Questions and Answers

• Q: Has Dell considered using the Web site for "streaming" documentation?
  
  A: Yes; it's coming soon.
• Q: Is off-the-shelf software available to manage the multiple components of complex documentation packages?
  
  A: Enigma, Chrystal, and High-Net are developing software packages that use XML to tie together multiple components of documentation packages. However, some customer programming is still required to achieve seamless component management; it is not yet available totally "out of the box."
• Q: Are standardized formats available for translation?
  
  A: Not yet. The translation companies have to work with a wide range of input formats (Word, Framemaker, Quark, PageMaker, you name it). However, there are substantial cost advantages (on the order of 50%!) to be gained in using XML and SGML as a standardized point-of-departure for translation, so these tools are bound to play an increasing role. This is definitely the direction the industry is pursuing.