Type-able Text Markup for Structured Writing
Structured Writing
====
Christian Augustin
2012-02-23 06:05
2012-10-21 17:20
Draft
-------------------------------------------
Source Material
The main (freely available) primary source about the term "Structured Writing" seems to be the "inventor" of Information Mapping®, Robert E. Horn, on his Stanford page (->"Information Mapping® / Structured Writing / Learning Objects" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ tocStructrdWriting.html]):
-> "Structured Writing as a Paradigm" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ artclStrctrdWrtngPrdigm.pdf] by Robert E. Horn; this gives the best introduction in my opinion ...
-> "Two Approaches to Modularity: Comparing the STOP Approach with Structured Writing" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ artclTwoApprchsModularity.pdf] by Robert E. Horn
-> "Structured Writing at Twenty-Five" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ artclStwrtngAt25.pdf] by Robert E. Horn
-> "What Kinds of Writing Have a Future?" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ spchWhatKindsofWriting.pdf] by Robert E. Horn
-> "How High Can It Fly—Examining the Evidence on Information Mapping's Method of High-Performance Communication (Chapter 1)" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ HowHigh.Ch1.pdf]
-> "How High Can It Fly—Examining the Evidence on Information Mapping's Method of High-Performance Communication (Chapter 2)" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ HowHigh.Ch2.pdf]
This can be found on Wikipedia:
-> "Information mapping" [http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Information_mapping]
-> "Structured writing" [http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Structured_writing]
Both Wikipedia articles give little away about both topics and are of limited help to get into structured writing ...
????
Perhaps the situation with the Wikipedia articles could be bettered by including the following research note.
????
Of some interest is a paper by Namahn comparing Information Mapping and Structured Writing (hinting at a preference for the latter):
-> "Information Mapping, a research note by Namahn" [http://www.namahn.com/ resources/ documents/ note-IM.pdf]
Some "official" information on Information Mapping from the commercial venture of the same name:
-> "Information Mapping: The Method" [http://www.informationmapping.com/ us/ the-method]
They have some ridiculously broad copyright claims (->"as can be found on their website" [http://www.informationmapping.com/ us/ the-method/ how-is-information-mapping-licensed]) on Information Mapping and their method, so you have to decide for yourself what to make out of it and if you are interested in dealing with them. I decided that this is going to be the only mention of IM on this website.
Comparison between Information Mapping and DITA:
-> "Information Mapping® and DITA (IMI White Paper)" [http://www.informationmapping.com/ en/ resources-en/ whitepapers/ 261-information-mapping-and-dita]
-------------------------------------------
Further Sources and Reading Material
A search for "structured writing" produces additional sources on the topic:
-> "How to write better documents: Structured Writing" [http://members.ozemail.com.au/ ~bcoster/ structured_writing.htm] by Brett Coster; this is directly related to Horn's use of "structured writing".
-> "Structured writing, structured documentation - What’s it all about?" [http://www.mbwest.com/ MBW%20pages/ Rants-structured.htm] is also related to Horn's take on writing (mentioning Information Mapping).
The term "structured writing" is not a clear cut method like Information Mapping and therefor used for different (but somewhat related) concepts:
-> "Structured Writing is not Desktop Publishing plus Angle Brackets" [http://everypageispageone.com/ 2011/ 12/ 12/ structured-writing-is-not-desktop-publishing-plus-angle-brackets/ ] is more about "structured writing [...] is database design with content".
-> "Structured Writing - It’s Not What You Write; It’s How You Write It" [http://thecontentwrangler.com/ 2007/ 05/ 01/ structured_writing_its_not_what_you_write_its_how_you_write_it/ ] is more about "structure templating" (as I would call it). A nice and instructive story nonetheless.
-> "Structured Writing" [http://www.structuredwriting.com/ ] seems to be a different (and more classical) approach than Horns.
-> "Basic Structured Writing - The Write Foundation" [http://sites.google.com/ site/ basicstructuredwritingclasses/ ] has a classic approach to "structured writing" which seems to be more or less contradictory to Horn (but they are aiming at "Essay Writing").
-> "Structured Writing with Granular Computing Strategies" [http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/ ~yyao/ PAPERS/ structured_writing.pdf] seems to be a very abstract take on the subject. Phew, lots of text that I will have to read ...
====
Christian Augustin
2012-02-23 06:05
2012-10-21 17:20
Draft
-------------------------------------------
Source Material
The main (freely available) primary source about the term "Structured Writing" seems to be the "inventor" of Information Mapping®, Robert E. Horn, on his Stanford page (->"Information Mapping® / Structured Writing / Learning Objects" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ tocStructrdWriting.html]):
-> "Structured Writing as a Paradigm" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ artclStrctrdWrtngPrdigm.pdf] by Robert E. Horn; this gives the best introduction in my opinion ...
-> "Two Approaches to Modularity: Comparing the STOP Approach with Structured Writing" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ artclTwoApprchsModularity.pdf] by Robert E. Horn
-> "Structured Writing at Twenty-Five" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ artclStwrtngAt25.pdf] by Robert E. Horn
-> "What Kinds of Writing Have a Future?" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ spchWhatKindsofWriting.pdf] by Robert E. Horn
-> "How High Can It Fly—Examining the Evidence on Information Mapping's Method of High-Performance Communication (Chapter 1)" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ HowHigh.Ch1.pdf]
-> "How High Can It Fly—Examining the Evidence on Information Mapping's Method of High-Performance Communication (Chapter 2)" [http://www.stanford.edu/ ~rhorn/ a/ topic/ stwrtng_infomap/ HowHigh.Ch2.pdf]
This can be found on Wikipedia:
-> "Information mapping" [http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Information_mapping]
-> "Structured writing" [http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ Structured_writing]
Both Wikipedia articles give little away about both topics and are of limited help to get into structured writing ...
????
Perhaps the situation with the Wikipedia articles could be bettered by including the following research note.
????
Of some interest is a paper by Namahn comparing Information Mapping and Structured Writing (hinting at a preference for the latter):
-> "Information Mapping, a research note by Namahn" [http://www.namahn.com/ resources/ documents/ note-IM.pdf]
Some "official" information on Information Mapping from the commercial venture of the same name:
-> "Information Mapping: The Method" [http://www.informationmapping.com/ us/ the-method]
They have some ridiculously broad copyright claims (->"as can be found on their website" [http://www.informationmapping.com/ us/ the-method/ how-is-information-mapping-licensed]) on Information Mapping and their method, so you have to decide for yourself what to make out of it and if you are interested in dealing with them. I decided that this is going to be the only mention of IM on this website.
Comparison between Information Mapping and DITA:
-> "Information Mapping® and DITA (IMI White Paper)" [http://www.informationmapping.com/ en/ resources-en/ whitepapers/ 261-information-mapping-and-dita]
-------------------------------------------
Further Sources and Reading Material
A search for "structured writing" produces additional sources on the topic:
-> "How to write better documents: Structured Writing" [http://members.ozemail.com.au/ ~bcoster/ structured_writing.htm] by Brett Coster; this is directly related to Horn's use of "structured writing".
-> "Structured writing, structured documentation - What’s it all about?" [http://www.mbwest.com/ MBW%20pages/ Rants-structured.htm] is also related to Horn's take on writing (mentioning Information Mapping).
The term "structured writing" is not a clear cut method like Information Mapping and therefor used for different (but somewhat related) concepts:
-> "Structured Writing is not Desktop Publishing plus Angle Brackets" [http://everypageispageone.com/ 2011/ 12/ 12/ structured-writing-is-not-desktop-publishing-plus-angle-brackets/ ] is more about "structured writing [...] is database design with content".
-> "Structured Writing - It’s Not What You Write; It’s How You Write It" [http://thecontentwrangler.com/ 2007/ 05/ 01/ structured_writing_its_not_what_you_write_its_how_you_write_it/ ] is more about "structure templating" (as I would call it). A nice and instructive story nonetheless.
-> "Structured Writing" [http://www.structuredwriting.com/ ] seems to be a different (and more classical) approach than Horns.
-> "Basic Structured Writing - The Write Foundation" [http://sites.google.com/ site/ basicstructuredwritingclasses/ ] has a classic approach to "structured writing" which seems to be more or less contradictory to Horn (but they are aiming at "Essay Writing").
-> "Structured Writing with Granular Computing Strategies" [http://www2.cs.uregina.ca/ ~yyao/ PAPERS/ structured_writing.pdf] seems to be a very abstract take on the subject. Phew, lots of text that I will have to read ...