The Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) has seen rapid adoption and implementation. This is especially true when you compare the adoption of DITA with other standards-based approaches to content creation and distribution. Here we are less than a year after DITA 1.0 has been approved and major companies are shipping large multi-language documentation and Help sets that have been created using DITA. We can also point to DITA-specific user groups and conferences, and a myriad of vendors who are now touting DITA support in their products.

This case study outlines an approach at BMC Software with a pilot project where we modeled both an error messages manual and an installation and configuration manual. A great read, and now the article is available with an optional registration with the Rockley Report.

Case Study: Using DITA to Develop a New Information Architecture at BMC Software

This paper describes how DITA-based documentation was implemented at CEDROM-SNi, one of Canada's leading on-line news content aggregators. The project delivers documentation as diverse as user training materials and Web Services reference guides targeted to programmers. We focus on the benefits, how tos, and lessons learned.

As you should expect, Comtech Services has used DITA to create the Introduction to DITA: A Basic User Guide as a print publication. Each lesson in the tutorial begins with a concept topic. The tutorial lesson itself is a task topic, and the list of elements used in the lesson is a reference topic. Topics are referenced in section-level maps, which in turn are organized in a book-level map.

This paper provides real metrics to prove the business benefit that Quark achieved using DITA, a solid content reuse strategy, and Quark® XML Author. Some companies offer impressive metrics without showing how they achieved the numbers. Not so in this paper. Follow our journey of designing reusable content to create custom user guides with a minimum of cost.

>Mark Lewis

And I'm adding a bunch of phrases to make sure this can be searched/found.

A white paper by Innodata Isogen -- Get Ready for DITA: Bypass Four Costly Roadblocks -- describes how companies can adopt DITA by first overcoming four roadblocks that could cause delays and cost overruns that ultimately offset the overall benefits of the implementation.

Patrick Willekens of ICOS Vision Systems shares lessons learned, success factors, and recommendations for others who are thinking of making a move to DITA in this exclusive interview with Scott Abel of TheContentWrangler.com.

Beginning in 2005, the Food & Drug Administration began passing Structured Product Labeling (SPL) rulings that require pharmaceutical manufacturers to submit drug product labels in XML. Most recently, the FDA issued SPL R4, a revision to SPL that mandates that starting June 1, 2009, all product label content must be submitted by pharmaceutical companies electronically in XML.

At CGI in Calgary, CGI and 4 sponsor companies are developing a new software program for production accountants in the oil and gas business. Along with the software, the writing team is developing the Help system using the DITA framework. We store information and reusable text in DITA topics and generate Eclipse Help. We have found the benefits of using DITA over the Help authoring tool we were using (RoboHelp) include DITA's reuse capability, link control via relationship tables and the output control through ditamaps.

Proper training is crucial when responding to emergency situations. For firefighters, police officers, homeland security agents, and others protecting the public, the Texas Engineering Extension Service (TEEX) offers renowned training and education programs via its Texas headquarters to locations worldwide. Every year, more than 175,000 people participate in TEEX programs, gaining the skills to respond safely and successfully.  With more than 550 programs in areas ranging from homeland security to health and safety, TEEX serves a range of clients in the public and private sectors.