Document engineering

In order for any organisation to fully utilise the information it has it is necessary to merge the information sources into a central location (effectively-a database) and provide tools that facilitate information retrieval and maintenance. The nineteen eighties saw a rapid uptake of desktop publishing (DTP), word processing (WP) and text composition systems which have allowed people to produce large quantities of information in electronic form. The emergence of CD-ROM and WORM technologies will facilitate cheaper optical media for information delivery, while hypertext systems will aid the process of information retrieval. DTP and WP systems, however, fail to address the needs of technical authors responsible for developing, structuring, publishing and then maintaining large volumes of technical documentation and they fail to address the requirements for on-line delivery. The paper discusses Concordia, a documentation environment for technical writers. Concordia provides the tools needed to support the documentation process, and allows both on-line hypertext and printed delivery