Today information delivery is more complicated as information is delivered in a lot of different formats and is designed for discrete audiences. So, how to keep up with this evolution and deliver content in multiple outputs for different people? Single Sourcing is the answer to all your questions.
Single source publishing is a process where you create content in a single source and from this single source, you use processes that publish this content to several formats. For example, your documents might be published as online help (chm), PDF, and HTML. By using single sourcing for multiple types of output documents, you only need to create content once.
How does this help?
Single source publishing is more than just publishing your documents into multiple versions in any medium. Single sourcing allows you to:
- Establish a consistent corporate branding across different documents
- Change the appearance of documents (headers, footers, CSS) by modifying one file and then applying the change to all of the output files
- Generate a table of contents and index without the need for manual updates
- Publish to different audiences with different information needs
- Format content that is appropriate for the output type. For example, print and online documents have different display needs. Style sheets can format the content so that it is appropriate for the type of output.
- Avoid problems with duplication of content by reusing content. If you are maintaining more than one information source, you run the risk of inconsistencies in content.
- Adapt more easily to changes in file formats and browser implementations
For instance, consider your company is in the process of releasing a great software application. Several types of documents will be needed to support the new software:
- Marketing materials
- Online help
- Training materials
- Manual
Using traditional methods of content authoring, you would have to create separate documents for each document type. By maintaining four different documents, more time and effort is needed to write and update each of these documents. If an update is needed, then changes must be made to all documents that include the content. Single sourcing helps you to reduce the work needed to author different documents for different outputs by cutting down your work by almost 80%.
If you still ask “Why bother with single sourcing?”
The main reasons for single sourcing are cost and consistency.
- Cost – Consider the team that is creating content for both a manual and online help. Traditionally, maintaining two separate documents increases the time needed to produce the final documents. If the online help can be produced from the same source as the manual, fewer resources are used. (There are some upfront costs in switching to single sourcing. But if you are working on projects that involve multiple outputs, conditional processing, re-use and translation, the initial costs will probably be recouped by increasing efficiency.)
- Consistency – It can be difficult to maintain consistency when you have multiple versions of your content. If you have two or more versions of your content, it is more likely that you will have errors and inconsistencies. If you have a single source of content, then you can be certain that all versions of your content are correct. This is especially beneficial during content updates and verification. When information changes or needs to be verified for accuracy, you only need to check it in one spot.
