Advances in the development and adoption of International writing standards are taking place all around us. The adoption of the S1000D standard by some US DoD projects is leading to a truly trans-continental standard for the production of (mainly) Defence-oriented publication information. Similarly, DITA, which is also designed to build content reuse into the authoring process, is expanding rapidly wherever high-value long-life information is required.

These developments are extremely positive, however it may be that these standards are developing for their own sakes and not necessarily providing the best user-experience for the most important people in this process, the Information Consumers.

In this presentation Chris hopes to redress the balance a little in favour of Operators and Maintainers of complex technical equipment, who view the information we generate as merely a means to an end, rather than an end in itself. For example, it may be that the inclusion of a couple of digital photographs in an examination procedure could have much more value to the maintainer or inspector than a complex multi-hyperlinked procedure.

In our efforts to incorporate the new capabilities being brought about by rapidly developing information technology we must not forget the adage – “There is no point giving me a Ferrari if I don’t have any roads to drive it on; give me a camel instead!”