From STC 2005

We tackled this question and then some at the January Central Texas DITA User Group meeting. Sides are available on Slideshare here:

http://www.slideshare.net/annegentle/what-does-dita-have-to-do-with-wiki

http://www.slideshare.net/almondjoy/redbooks-wiki-central-texas-dita-ug-presentation 

Eric Sirois, of IBM, presentation to the Central Texas DITA Users Group. This was an extremely valuable session for anyone considering using DITA to consolidate corporate information on a centralized web site, or for delivering component-based information.

The short description is an optional element in DITA, but it has powerful usability implications. Carefully-written short descriptions can help readers more successfully navigate information and locate topics that answer their questions. In addition, the act of crafting careful short descriptions can help writers clarify their understanding of the technical content. This session will cover how the content of the <shortdesc> element is displayed in various forms of output, such as PDF, Eclipse-based help, and Microsoft HTML Help.

Robert Anderson, IBM Chief Architect of the DITA Open Toolkit, discussed Customizing the Output of the Open Toolkit at the November meeting of the Silicon Valley DITA Interest Group.

You can find the 90-minute presentation in the Open Toolkit Tutorials section of the DITA Users website.

Robert presented remotely from Minneapolis. DITA Users from around the world attended the meeting remotely via an Elluminate screen sharing session.