Content Management and Document Synthesis

We tend to look the other way when content gets replicated, thinking nothing of duplicating assets in our content management system in the name of content re-use. And yet this same practice would be ridiculed in software engineering circles, where the technique of refactoring was developed precisely to address gratuitous duplication [Fowler, 1999]. This paper discusses methods of content re-use that lead to fewer cases of content duplication. The methods are presented using the technical reference documentation for a function library as a case study. The demonstrates that a careful application of these methods requires a certain amount of user re-education, but results in less content duplication, thereby side-stepping many of the issues associated with content anomalies. This can lead to a more consistent documentation set, reduced workflow, and leave the editorial staff to do editorial work, instead of enforcing either content or presentational continuity.