Malcolm, Technique-wise, instead of relying on team members to contribute, and to get more then a data dictionary (and flowcharts), I'd suggest:
- hiring a tech writer/librarian type who can demonstrate having achieved your goals with another system and already knows the tools of the trade. - provide this person with the equipment he/she needs (scanner, multi-monitor setup, etc) - have this person attend meetings with a tape recorder and pad, and regularly sit and interview each team member for input as the project progresses - monitor this person's work - meet regularly with this person to chat about progress - don't become too reliant, because people come and go I've seen this approach work successfully (and others that didn't). Much depends on the individual and the workplace attitude. And experts aren't always so willing to document their knowledge, can leave holes, and even think differently, so this person's job is basically to extract and distill this information with your big picture in mind. Personality is a big factor. An older person is good because he/she doesn't pose a job security threat, brings experience to the table, and presumably being mature and wise, can get others to share information and even look forward to the chats. Bill > Looking for recommendations on a commercial Windows based > data dictionary product. Background: New project that will be > integrating data from multiple systems - all undocumented. > I'm looking for a data dictionary-like tool to help my team > capture and organize information about these data sources. > The ideal product would be multi-user so that all team > members can contribute content including key members (power > users) of the user community. > > My fall back plan is to put in place a wiki with pre-built > 'template' pages designed to capture data. I recognize that > this is far from perfect (totally unstructured), but better > than the alternative of rolling my own data dictionary > application, or consolidating all information in a set of > Word documents or spreadsheets maintained by a single person. > > What products or techniques have you used in similar situations? > > Thanks! > Malcolm _______________________________________________ Post Messages to: [email protected] Subscription Maintenance: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profox OT-free version of this list: http://leafe.com/mailman/listinfo/profoxtech Searchable Archive: http://leafe.com/archives/search/profox This message: http://leafe.com/archives/byMID/profox/[EMAIL PROTECTED] ** All postings, unless explicitly stated otherwise, are the opinions of the author, and do not constitute legal or medical advice. This statement is added to the messages for those lawyers who are too stupid to see the obvious.
