Claddingsurveyor wrote: It occurred to me that you might have encountered a type of software that I'm seeking to rationalise my work. My issue is that most of my instructions on commercial property are quite large. They demand input resulting in reports numbering between say 50 and 100 pages. Also, issues I must consider increase with my age and experience. The downside is that each report involves an enormous amount of mental processing and there is a risk that topics might be overlooked. I now have a pile of reports and all of these can include some gem of information worthy of inclusion in future reports though it's not easy to keep track of these. And, if I haven't worked on a particular failing/problem for some years I can forget past research on the matter. I've worked with Word templates and where possible 'cut and paste' relevant text from one report to another though this is time consuming and not ideal. Also, on numerous occasions I've managed to grind Word to a halt because the file size grew too large when I combined photos, drawings and text. Consequently, I've spent a considerable amount of time looking for software that combines database features with desk top publishing. I want to be able to store standard report clauses that I could say drag and drop into a report on demand or, that might be included in a report by ticking the appropriate box in a database. This is not only a potential time saving exercise. I'm also interested in a quality control process so I can ensure that topics are included in my reports when appropriate. Have you experience of software solutions that might fit the bill? I note that Framemaker has a repository feature though I can't currently get my head round whether this feature is suitable for my needs. |
IMO, this succinctly states your need: "...some gem of information worthy of inclusion in future reports though it's not easy to keep track of these. And, if I haven't worked on a particular failing/problem for some years I can forget past research on the matter."
Aside: one likely reason for bogging Word down is that graphics are embedded (copied) into your material, rather than being linked in ("imported by reference" in FrameMaker-ese.) Embedding content in "container files" makes larger files, while linking makes smaller files. Word can link/refer, just as FrameMaker can; it's about which method you choose, not which product.
You can use FrameMaker to do this, but not without developing lots of skills using FrameMaker's included features, and perhaps also using related Adobe and third-party tools. Whatever Word skills you've developed don't seem to do the complete job, even if Word weren't bogged down by the size and complexity of your documents.
A database mentality is appropriate, though a database product may not be the best single solution, depending on how you want the final document layout to appear.
Essentially you want to have a repository of everything that has been or might be relevant to each new project, plus new material that's not yet in the database, and which, going forward, might also be added to the growing database. The repository needs to be capable of storing and retrieving many different kinds of content - unformatted and formatted text, various graphics, photos, charts, even perhaps audio and video.
And, you want a way to identify each chunk of content so that you can retrieve appropriate ones by some kind of search-and-retrieve method or tool.
And, you want a way to assemble the selected chunks for final presentation.
In a sense you want a mini-Google, or Picasa, search engine in your laptop, with which you enter a search query and they return appropriate candidates.
Aside from the technical means of accomplishing this task, you'll need to develop a cataloging strategy to identify each chunk by as many descriptive tags as necessary, so that your chosen retrieval tool or method can filter and select what's appropriate from the whole collection. Whether this means that your existing multi-topic chunks need to be broken into single-topic chunks, for more-selective retrieval, you'll still need to assess each chunk and apply appropriate tags. This is MASSIVE work on its own.
The "content management" class of products is ideal for this purpose, but they're typically costly to buy and difficult to learn and use. There are open-source, free, tools, but the learning curve remains an issue. Whatever investment you make in carefully tagging the content chunks, the better any retrieval tool will perform.
I'm working on a book that's so far not gone beyond the research phase. Almost all of my source material comes from emailed postings on forums like this one. I use Gmail, which stores the mail on Google's servers, so it's available via any Web browser. I "pseudo-forward" any posting that seems promising; that is, I create a forwarded copy with no addressees, and modify the subject line to include keywords that I can use with Gmail's search feature. Then I delete the original mail. When I encounter a new email that seems related to earlier ones, I try to remember and apply the same keywords. Sometimes I'll search for related material already in my collection, and copy/paste the new instance into an existing one, for later refinement. It's crude, but a beginning step that's quick to employ. Email has the advantage of using attachments - graphics, audio and video recordings, and also URL links to related material on the Web. I also collect all my email in Macintosh's Mail application, so it's stored on my computer, and backed up to my usual external backup drives. The local mail is available when there's no Internet connection.
I've also started using the free version of Evernote (evernote.com) It's a database that works on smartphones and PCs and Macs. You can import and export its content; it prints content, but it's not a layout application. It stores all file formats "in the cloud" and synchronizes across all your devices, and has smart searches using your keywords, tags, and anywhere in the body of the stored item. It recognizes text within graphics, and handwriting, in almost anything that you add to its database. The paid version is $5/mo, or $45/year. I'm just a user with no commercial connection to it. You might want to quickly try tagging and retrieving some of your content, to get an idea of what capabilities you need and want in whatever system, product, or method you employ.
HTH
Regards,
Peter
_______________________
Peter Gold
KnowHow ProServices
Message was edited by: peter at knowhowpro
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