Alan Houser's presentations on XML and DITA at the STC conference in Coventry were all about getting real with XML. Alan, author of XML Weekend Crash Course and consultant with Group Wellesley Inc, brought his rich experience to bear at the event held at Coventry University on 19 November.

In his presentation on XML, Alan showed how to determine if it's right for your organisation. Alan outlined the process, advantages of XML-based documentation, red herrings to look out for as well as potential trouble spots. His presentation encompassed:

• Assessing your business requirements. Will XML provide a solution?
• Identifying necessary skills/roles
• Choosing or developing an information model
• Choosing an authoring tool
• Developing your publishing solutions
• Assessing your needs for content management

Lunch was followed by a panel discussion on the state of the industry. One of the points mentioned by Mark Clifford was that the industry seemed to be picking up for the first time since the 2001 downturn. So, if you’re looking for opportunities, this may be the right time to sharpen that CV.

In his second presentation, titled Introduction to DITA Information Architecture, Alan walked us through the challenges of XML publishing, what DITA does, its background and history, how it works, when to use DITA and when not to.

This was not all. For those who stayed on for the workshop the following day, Alan’s on-screen exercises demystified XML further. We were guided through creating an XML file, applying styles, including and excluding information, and displaying the topic in a browser window with the styles applied. A weekend well spent!