Information modeling for single sourcing

Writers often have to create documents for different audiences, for different media (e.g. Web, help, training), for different products, and for different platforms. Single sourcing information can help writers to accommodate all possible uses and audiences. Single sourcing involves identifying all information requirements up front, then developing them from a single source. All information products required by a particular project (e.g., brochures, user guides, training materials, online help, external Web site) are created from the single file, hence the name, single sourcing. In single sourcing, writers break information down to the element level (e.g., section, paragraph, sentence, even phrases and words), then write and compile all elements into a single source file. The power of single sourcing lies in effectively reusing information elements, whether they are paragraphs, procedures, or sentences, over and over again. Information models identify to writers all the required elements, how to structure them, and how to reuse them. This paper describes the process of information modeling, including: analyzing audiences and their needs; analyzing information to determine the structure and content; building the model both at the product and the element level; and structuring and tagging writing to accommodate the model.