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I've consulted on this subject and suggest that each document be defined a
document owner. At somepoint, the document becomes closed to revisions
without having them go through the document owner. That can mean turning
revisions on and letting the owner handle which revisions to incorporate in
the "master document" or whether revisions are submitted on paper and only
the ones accepted are entered by the owner. But at some point, the owner
becomes the traffic cop to the document.
I've also suggested that another option is to hold a meeting, go through
the document as a group and close it off (except for any technical
corrections) after the meeting. Having everyone who cares about the
document in one room is one way to get concensus about what is said in the
document. Some people have strong feelings about this. It can be tedious
but guarantees that all view points are considered and no more revision
work has to occur after a meeting like this.
-----Original Message-----
From: Nancy Hitchcox [SMTP:nancy -dot- hitchcox -at- GA -dot- COM]
Sent: Tuesday, July 28, 1998 9:29 AM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Concurrent writing & editing
I would like to hear from editors who allow authors to work in a document
throughout the publication process. I edit proposals and am finding that,
more and more, subject matter experts (the authors) want to continue
working in the document (on a shared file server) until just before it goes
to Repro. I feel we have to find a way to accommodate their needs and
still maintain control over the document. We are using MS Word Office 98
and have considered having them work with revisions turned on, but haven't
worked out the logistics. Any ideas out there?
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Nancy Hitchcox Phone: (619) 455-3951
Fax: (619) 455-3980
General Atomics nancy -dot- hitchcox -at- ga -dot- com
Rm 15-209A
P.O. Box 85608
San Diego, CA 92186-5608
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