Comments on: Content Audits http://www.onemanwrites.co.uk/2007/07/13/content-audits/ musings on technical communications Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:01:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Gordon McLean http://www.onemanwrites.co.uk/2007/07/13/content-audits/#comment-54 Gordon McLean Mon, 16 Jul 2007 17:21:13 +0000 http://onemanwrites.co.uk/2007/07/13/content-audits/#comment-54 Yes, that term comes directly from the book you mention (which I'll happily recommend). Not sure why you think I'm suggesting there is a 'buzz' about this... I don't make that claim in my post and I'm perfectly aware that there are other ways to do such things. Can you give some pointers to these other "analytical formalisms"? And is what I posted wrong? I was merely posting about my personal experience, but I'm always open to new ideas Gary. Yes, that term comes directly from the book you mention (which I’ll happily recommend).

Not sure why you think I’m suggesting there is a ‘buzz’ about this… I don’t make that claim in my post and I’m perfectly aware that there are other ways to do such things.

Can you give some pointers to these other “analytical formalisms”? And is what I posted wrong? I was merely posting about my personal experience, but I’m always open to new ideas Gary.

]]> By: Gary Kopp http://www.onemanwrites.co.uk/2007/07/13/content-audits/#comment-52 Gary Kopp Sun, 15 Jul 2007 19:22:53 +0000 http://onemanwrites.co.uk/2007/07/13/content-audits/#comment-52 From what I can determine, the term "content audit" was coined many years ago by Ann Rockley (The Rockley Group) and Hillary Marsh (Content Company). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't see any recent buzz about this concept, and I get the distinct impression that it is more of a specific's consultant's approach rather than an open discipline. It doesn't seem to rest on any theroetical foundation or have any reasonable body of knowledge associated with it. Of course you have to understand what you have and refactor it. This is part of the analysis phase (and subsequent phases) of any development project, whether or not it's a CMS or single-source publishing deployment. There are many analytical formalisms that can be brought to bear in this kind of effort. But a "content audit," as it is explained here and in some of the earlier works seems rather vague and ad hoc. Ann Rockley wrote a book in 2002, which I admittedly have not seen, in which the entire 6th chapter is dedicated to "content audit." Does it have any meat? --Gary Kopp (www.policy-procedure-document-conversion.com) From what I can determine, the term “content audit” was coined many years ago by Ann Rockley (The Rockley Group) and Hillary Marsh (Content Company). Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see any recent buzz about this concept, and I get the distinct impression that it is more of a specific’s consultant’s approach rather than an open discipline. It doesn’t seem to rest on any theroetical foundation or have any reasonable body of knowledge associated with it.

Of course you have to understand what you have and refactor it. This is part of the analysis phase (and subsequent phases) of any development project, whether or not it’s a CMS or single-source publishing deployment. There are many analytical formalisms that can be brought to bear in this kind of effort. But a “content audit,” as it is explained here and in some of the earlier works seems rather vague and ad hoc.

Ann Rockley wrote a book in 2002, which I admittedly have not seen, in which the entire 6th chapter is dedicated to “content audit.” Does it have any meat?

–Gary Kopp (www.policy-procedure-document-conversion.com)

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