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Again, the answer is "it depends." I do believe it will vary from agency to
agency. I believe others may have another situation, so there is no "one
size fits all" answer to this.
Deliverables for me to the military can be Word, PDF, or occasionally Excel
or PowerPoint.
However, for product internally it can be done any way (I work for a
contractor, and have several times prior to this job for military
contractors or directly for the state of Ohio).
In these instances, I may have multiple authors. So in this capacity, I am
primarily editor and and coordinator/project manager. This requires
compatability, and there would be no way I could get an international team
all to use anything other than Word. The training and purchase costs would
be prohibitive.
If I produce documentation for product that goes to multiple
customers/clients, I typically use Robo and generate to either HTML or PDF.
I can likewise produce in FrameMaker to produce PDF/print. But in these
instances, I am the only author.
On Mon, May 17, 2010 at 12:07 PM, Pinkham, Jim <Jim -dot- Pinkham -at- voith -dot- com>wrote:
> Two more questions:
>
> 1. PDF is the "deliverable" for Donna. But what programs are used to
> create the files that become PDFs? (My hunch is that Word is not the
> sole or even necessarily the major "page-design application" (I'm using
> the term **very** loosely to include Word) for government agencies).
> 2. Is there really a one-size-fits-all for our government or might it
> vary significantly from agency to agency?
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+jim -dot- pinkham=voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+jim.pinkham <techwr-l-bounces%2Bjim.pinkham>=
> voith -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On
> Behalf Of Dan Goldstein
> Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 9:41 AM
> To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> Subject: RE: InDesign versus FrameMaker (versus Word)
>
> Donna and Chris have significantly different impressions of what's
> expected nowadays in government circles. Does anyone have data on this?
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Donna McManus
> > Sent: Monday, May 17, 2010 10:37 AM
> > To: Al Geist
> > Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > Subject: Re: InDesign versus FrameMaker (versus Word)
> >
> > ...Most "higher-ups" in the "gubmint" circles (at least in the
> > military) expect either a Word document or a PDF. It's what they're
> > standardized on. I work primarily with the Army but have experienced
> > this with previous Air Force and Marine work as well...
> >
> >
> >
> > From: Chris Morton
> > Sent: Friday, May 14, 2010 7:54 PM
> > To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> > Subject: Re: InDesign versus FrameMaker (versus Word)
> >
> > I'm really surprised by the replies. My understanding is that
> > FM is used extensively in gubmint circles, especially in
> > these parts (Northrop Grumman, Aerojet, et al.)...
> >
>
>
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> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
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--
Donna M. McManus
Technical Writer, DSCI
Volunteer STC TE Sig, Membership Manager/Communications Coordinator
donna -dot- mcmanus -at- gmail -dot- com
Skype: ds_donna_mcmanus
www.kuschwantz.wordpress.com
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