Structured, Modular, Open: The DITA Promise, 20 Years Later
A chronological look at DITA's 20-year history — from early XML experiments to DITA 2.0's machine-interpretable knowledge model — told through the lens of one practitioner's career.
When Design Meets IA: Building Content That Actually Works
A practitioner-driven walkthrough of how design and information architecture must work together — not in sequence, not in silos — to build content experiences that hold up in the real world.
How Information Architecture Powers Self-Service Documentation
Good self-service documentation doesn't happen by accident — it starts with information architecture. Amber Swope and Lief Erickson explain how IA structures content that users can actually find and use on their own.
Content Matters: Unlocking the Power of Information Architecture
How do you scale your content strategy while preparing for AI? Amber Swope covers IA maturity models, DITA roles, and generative AI's impact on content architecture in this hour-long podcast conversation.
How to Work with Your Agent of Change
Four scenarios that reveal the blind spots, team reactions, and practical takeaways for agents of change and their teams navigating tool adoption, structured authoring, new metrics, and process change.
LavaCon 2024 — Navigating AI: Real Tales from Content Frontiers
A practitioner case study from LavaCon 2024 examining how content quality, semantic structure, archetype-informed prompting, and knowledge injection shape generative AI results.
What To Do If You Don’t Have An IA On Your Staff
Most teams doing structured content work don't have a dedicated information architect. That doesn't mean the IA work doesn't need to happen — it means someone on your team is already doing parts of it without the title or the framework. In this session, I walk through the distinction between management IA and delivery IA, and what a small team can do to make real progress on both without hiring a full-time specialist.
What Makes Intelligent Content Indispensable? An Expert-led Roundtable Discussion
Intelligent content is content that can have a life of its own — designed to be delivered across contexts and to perform as designed when it gets there. In this roundtable from PoolParty Summit 2024, I joined five colleagues from the Content Component Alliance to work through what that actually requires. The conversation covers framework, metadata, terminology, knowledge graphs, and why most organizations building AI tools right now are solving the wrong problem.
The Information Architect's Role in a Successful DITA Implementation
Most DITA implementations underestimate what information architecture actually requires — and that gap shows up in the content well after go-live. In this STC presentation, I walk through the distinction between management and delivery IA, how the DITA Maturity Model maps investment to return, and what an information architect actually does at every stage of the content lifecycle, from authoring through delivery.
Breaking Barriers: Content Pros as GenAI Pioneers
Most generative AI projects don't fail because the technology doesn't work — they fail because the content fed into the system isn't structured, scoped, or quality-controlled. In this panel, Lief Erickson, Fabrice Lacroix, and I discuss the patterns we've seen across real projects, including why "almost right" answers are more dangerous than obvious hallucinations. If you're a content professional trying to figure out where you fit in your organization's AI initiative, this conversation is for you.
Boston DITA User’s Group: Developing a DITA Content Model
A DITA content model is often the first thing cut when deadlines are tight — and it's always a mistake. Amber Swope walks through her methodology for building one efficiently, even under pressure.
IXIAtalks: Episode 17 - How to Power Up Your Content With Taxonomy
Without taxonomy, content is unfindable — no matter how good it is. Amber Swope explains how to recognize, build, and optimize taxonomy in your organization to power search, navigation, and personalized delivery.
Sharing content across the enterprise
Sharing content across departments sounds simple, but it requires careful architecture. Amber Swope walks through how to define, scope, and manage DITA content collections for cross-team reuse.
Using Structured XML to Power your Learning Content
Learning and training content has the same reuse problem as technical documentation — and the same solution. Amber Swope explains how DITA XML gives L&D teams one structured source that powers any delivery platform.
DITA XML as a Neutral Content Source for Educational Publishers
Educational publishers can't afford to maintain separate content for every delivery format. Amber Swope explains how DITA XML creates a single neutral source that powers print, digital, and personalized learning — from one place.