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> Specifically, if you're doing all your doc in Word (and not planning on
> single-sourcing), what value is there in attending an XML hands-on
> training session?
Probably not much. XML is a very low level technology used to build
solutions to a large number of computing problems. You are almost certainly
using some of those solutions already, though you probably have no idea that
they use XML. You will probably be using more such solutions in the future,
and you probably still will not be aware that those solutions use XML.
It is possible that at some time in the future you may be asked to create
content with an explicit element structure. The application you will be
asked to use will probably have XML underneath, but you probably won't be
asked to type actual XML tags. What you will need to learn then are the
details of the explicit element structure that you are going to use, and the
details of the application you are going to be writing in. You certainly
won't learn the first and you probably won't learn the second in a generic
XML course.
It is also possible that you may one day be asked to create content using
explicit XML tagging. Learning to do this will be pretty much like learning
to write HTML in a text editor. It's not hard, and the biggest problem is to
remember the names of the elements and what they mean. Again, you are not
likely to learn this in a generic XML course. (HTML is an application of
SGML, and nobody ever took an SGML course to learn how to use HTML.)
As a low level tool, XML is really for people who design and implement
systems. As a writer, you may at some point be asked to participate in the
design of an content creation or single sourcing solution, or you may wish
to initiate the creation of such a system to address quality or efficiency
issues in your current process. At that point, an XML course will likely be
useful, but it will only be one of many things that you need to learn.
Taking an XML course might help open your eyes to the possibilities for
redesigning your content creation process, but only if it is specifically
designed to address those issues. Unless it is designed with this purpose in
mind, it is likely to contain information of interest only to programmers
and system designers(even if it is packaged for non-programmers).
Except for the resume padding advantages that others have mentioned,
therefore, there is probably little value in taking a generic XML course,
unless the course is specifically geared to address documentation issues and
you expect to at least think about redesigning your content creation process
in the immediate future.
I would suggest looking for a higher level course that addresses issues
specific to documentation.
---
Mark Baker
Analecta Communications
www.analecta.com
+1 613 614 5881
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