DITA



=What is DITA?= Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is a set of design principles for creating information-typed modules that can be reused as a single source. These information-typed modules are formatted at a topic level and delivered via internet as online help/support portals. DITA is important because it's structure allows for the reuse of content into several different media.

=Who uses DITA?= DITA is used in companies worldwide, or basically anyone who uses XML. Industries practicing DITA coding include payment systems, healthcare information, business process services, publishing, consulting, and education. A few companies where DITA is a habit are XEROX, Texas Instruments, Philips, and PayPal.

How is DITA relevant to the broader field of technical communication? For Technical Communicators, DITA allows the professional to write at a topic level and deliver that content as online help or support. DITA has been described as "the ultimate tech comm information architecture because it is far easier to maintain and is more deliverable to future users than existing technology. = = =What is DITA used for?= DITA is an SML-based open standard for structuring, developing, managing, and publishing content. It can be described as a generic building block of XML. Because XML plays a central part in web development, DITA assists professionals by helping XML transport and store data with a focus on what the data is.

=Sources for further information= www.namahn.com/resources/documents/note-DITA.pdf www.learningsolutionsmag.com www.ditaxml.org.blog www.learningbywrote.com/blog