Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals (IETM)

Technical manuals have long been used in the military, manufacturing, electronic, and aerospace industries to instruct and share technical information with those using their equipment, machinery, systems, and software. Until the emergence of computers, paper manuals were the only resource for this type of information, and are still very widely used today. However, their sheer volume can make them physically cumbersome, difficult to find desired content, and expensive to maintain. Thus, interactive electronic technical manuals (IETMs) have quickly become the preferred method of technical communication for many agencies. SAIC's IETM products provide a more efficient alternative to paper manuals, with their ease-of-use, cross-referencing capabilities, and digital portability.

Benefits

At SAIC, we are experts in IETM programming. We specialize in the conversion of legacy and paper manuals to IETMs, delivered on CD-ROM and over the Web. Our team of technical writers and editors, programmers, technical illustrators and user interface designers work together to create digital information architecture that combines straightforward navigation with quick access to large quantities of information. Using only a standard web browser, data can be easily retrieved across thousands of documents.

We utilize interactive elements to further enhance the information store. Hyperlinks are placed within the pages of an IETM, which allows a user to cross-reference a topic between separate manuals. Interactive scalable graphics and other media are included to allow for further expansion of a subject. The electronic nature of IETMs deployed on CD-ROM and the Internet allows for easy integration of future updates.

Experience

SAIC has over 15 years experience developing interactive electronic technical manuals for U.S. and foreign military organizations, during which we have performed the following tasks:

Military Organizations

• Authoring of extensive XML style sheet language transform (XSLT) documents to transform technical manuals from XML to XHTML for web-based delivery and deployment
• Preparation of analysis reports and feasibility studies
• SGML/XML DTD and XML schema modeling
• XSLT presentation transform
• Minimum Revisable Unit (MRU) general entity and parallel and sequential procedural workflow thread entity analysis
• MRU taxonomy development
• Reorganize, revise and re-author content MRU entities and MRU general entity reference chain entities to simplify and streamline variant-specific procedural workflow presentation
• Streamlining via development of book plans and authoring of new document spine configuration files

• Development of detailed pilot XSLT transformation mappings in support of emerging presentation schemas
• Development and integration of Interactive Courseware (ICW) SCORM-conforming objects in the form of reader-invoked just-in-time training vignettes
• Setup of automated browser confidence checks
• Deployment of MRU configuration-managed repository systems such as SVN
• Defined SGML DTD to XML migration schemas for technical data communications and transforming architecture, including message spawning and response protocol, design, and implementation. Used XML for design of large-scale repository for IETMs, including revision control, data storage and access
• Designed and revised MIL-D-87269 Generic Layer and Sample Content Specific Layer Document Type Definition (DTD), the precursor of XML Schema, for IETMs

Success Stories

SAIC designed and implemented an IETM Presentation Engine capable of converting SGML to HTML "on the fly" for delivery over the Internet and viewing with common Web browsers. Work performed contributed to SAIC winning the National Tibbetts award for Small Business Innovation Research.

SAIC expanded its IETM programming techniques to increase productivity in other areas. For example, we created an XSLT document to automate the transformation of military legacy ICW to XML, which was then imported into an authoring program and used to create new ICW. This eliminated countless hours of manual transformations and potential errors.

Whatever your IETM needs, SAIC is poised to deliver a customized solution that will effectively reach your target audience.

See the Capabilities and Experience section for more information.