DocTrain Life Sciences News & Announcements

PTC offers resources for life sciences users

2008-06-19T18:15:00Z

The world’s most respected medical device manufacturers are implementing PTC’s Product Development System (PDS) to bring innovative devices to the market faster while still complying with strict regulatory requirements and keeping in line with shrinking price premiums. For example, with the ever-increasing FDA demands for package inserts, leaflets and labels, PTC’s Arbortext Dynamic Publishing software helps organizations reach peak efficiency by quickly converting it to XML.

PTC provides a resource library with demos, tools and tutorials (http://www.ptc.com/products/tutorials/index.htm), and pre-recorded videos for Maintenance Customers. The resources allow users to stay up to date on PTC’s latest offerings. To learn about expert solutions and gain a better understanding of product trends in the life sciences industry, join a PTC webcast. The schedule of upcoming webcasts can be found on the PTC site. Also learn more about what PTC has to offer the medical devices and pharmaceutical industries.

Vasont Systems extends XML authoring capabilities to MS Word

2008-06-19T16:55:00Z

One of the pressing issues for life science professionals is the question of how to create, manage and store multilingual content for multi-channel delivery while keeping costs low and the quality high. Best practices in content management are fast becoming the norm and those organizations that hesitate find themselves falling behind.

When it’s the leap into structured authoring that makes a move to content management impractical, Vasont has found a way to help those organizations catch up. Vasont has integrated Xpress Author, from In.vision Research, into the Vasont CMS as a front-end XML authoring tool. This allows users to author in XML without being exposed to the nitty-gritty of XML code.
Vasont also offers a content management starter kit to help organizations learn more. The starter kit begins with the nuts and bolts of content management and systematically goes through preparing business plans, content and staff for the successful adoption and use of the management system.

Vasont Systems is a leading provider of content management software with more than 55 years of experience in the information management and publishing industry. To learn more about Vasont Systems services, visit their Services page.

Recognizing legacy data for the value within

2008-06-19T15:55:00Z

Legacy data - we all have it, and in our desire to create content strategies that include single-sourcing and content re-use, we can’t overlook the need to deal with the vast quantities of documents in our organizations that exist only in paper form. In some industries, organizations may decide that storing older data may be a “good enough” solution, but in the life sciences field, that is not an option. Legacy data contains a gold mine of valuable information that is critical to current and future operations. Everything from patient records to medical forms need to be part of a forward-thinking content strategy.

With improvements in handwriting, character, and word recognition technologies, data entry costs are being dramatically reduced, and the ability to keep the conversion process in house ensures peace-of-mind for companies with sensitive-data processing requirements.

Download an industry report on Using Intelligent Word Recognition to Cut Labor Costs without Outsourcing from A2iA, named among The 100 Companies that Matter in Knowledge Management for 2008 by KM World.

McElroy Translation celebrates 40 years in the technology and translation industry

2008-06-19T14:53:00Z

Pharmaceutical translation makes up a well-established business unit at McElroy Translation, who have cultivated and maintained excellent client relationships for over two decades in the area of life sciences.

Clinical and regulatory client work has been a cornerstone of McElroy Translation’s portfolio and their services to the life sciences community includes: Protocol and informed consent translation, patient information sheets, files and questionnaires and submissions to IRB ethics committees. One of McElroy Translation’s greatest challenges was a clinical trial that required 500,000 words to be translated into English in 27 days for an interim analysis, which McElroy published as a case study.

To celebrate their success, McElroy Translation is offering the first 40 referrals in 40 days a $40 gift certificate and an opportunity to win a catered lunch for 40 people May 5 through June 13, 2008.

Translations.com family grows with TransPerfect acquisition of Overtaal

2008-06-19T13:55:00Z

The increasing need for software and website localization, Global Management System (GMS) software products as well as enterprise –wide translation services led the creation of Translations.com. - part of TransPerfect, the largest privately held language provider in the world. TransPerfect recently acquired http://www.translations.com/about/news/pr/pr_080520_overtaal.html” title=“Overtaal”>Overtaal, a language services provider based in the Netherlands. Overtaal is set to become a division of TransPerfect where they will add to TransPerfect’s already excellent service record. Translations.com provides life science professionals with a way to deliver localized products, services, applications and training in a culturally appropriate manner. All aspects of the life sciences field are covered from healthcare providers to in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) products.

Learn more about Translations.com services and particularly their services to the life sciences industry.

First of GALA 2008 WebSeminar Series announced

2008-06-19T13:48:01Z

The Global and Localization Association (GALA), an international, non-profit organization focused on collaborative efforts in localization, has set up a webinar series to allow tool providers to give an in-depth introduction to their tools. The series will cover topics from a more general aspect, such as determining whether your software is global-ready, to XLIFF, the new official OASIS standard for internationalization tag sets, to term extraction algorithms.

The first WebSeminar is scheduled for June 12, 2008. To register, visit GALA’s technology blog, which is open to non-members.
The GALA blog is a space for professionals in the localization industry to gather and discuss the impact of tools within the industry. To participate in the exchange of ideas, simply register and join in. The technology blog also offers links to other industry blogs, newsletters, white papers, and reviews.

Learn more about GALA and explore the benefits of membership.

Webworks offers ePublisher Webinars

2008-06-19T13:43:00Z

WebWorks is a brand of the Quadralay Corporation which was formed in 1992 in Austin, Texas. Quadralay offers open and configurable solutions based on industry standard XSL and XML. WebWorks has been a trusted publishing partner in the industry since the early 1990s, with its e-Publisher Platform offering design flexibility and the ability to deliver information in multiple formats including print, web, mobile and electronic devices. WebWorks uses a unique concept in their product that promotes team efforts and lessens the dependencies on any one individual.

Streamlining the creation and assembly of information helps to reduce project costs and time. In an effort to focus on showing new and existing users of ePublisher how to implement streamlined processes, WebWorks redesigned their webinars to deliver this information to users who want to expand their knowledge about getting content out of their content management systems. For a webinar schedule, visit the WebWorks site. Register for a webinar or view the Technical Assistant page for more help with ePublisher.

Information Architecture Institute offers discount on online card sort tool

2008-06-19T11:51:00Z

Members of the IA Institute can receive a special discount to a subscription of the OptimalSort card sorting tool. When card sorting, a mainstay technique of information architecture in user-centered design, needs to be done by a geographically-dispersed group of participants, an online tool is an ideal way of gathering participant data in a single location and analyzing it.The added benefit is that the application also automates the administrative aspects, such as resorting the cards into their original state and sending the thank-you notes.
For more information about the OptimalSort offer, visit the IA Institute site.
Not a member of the IA Institute? Join the IAI before you sign up and qualify for your discount.
The Information Architecture Institute also offers access to their library, tools, job board and the opportunity to connect with others within the immediate community. Visit the library, disseminate new IA tools, peruse or post to the job board, or join a local IA group, all from the IA site.

ISTC Conference 2008 - Technical Communication: Past, Present and Future

2008-06-19T10:55:01Z

The Institute of Scientific and Technical Communication (ISTC) is a non-profit organization based in the UK. With over 50 years of established history the ISTC is the largest UK body representing professional communicators and information designers striving to improve communication standards.
The third annual ISTC Conference runs from September 23 – 25, 2008 at Eastwood Hall in Nottingham. This conference will focus on the changes within the industries technical communicators work in and how to best meet the challenges that lie ahead. By looking back, it is possible to learn and move confidently into the future of technical communication.
The ISTC focus is on improving communication of scientific and technical information that support products, services and businesses.

Women and Hi Tech Discussion Group

2008-06-19T10:00:00Z

Women and Hi Tech is an established non-profit group created to address the specific needs of women in high tech industries in Central Indiana. Since their inception in 2000, the organization has branched out beyond Central Indiana to support and encourage women in high tech fields regardless of location.
Technology has been broadly defined by Women and High Tech to include everything from health care to the latest emerging technologies. This group looks beyond issues of the “glass ceiling” and concentrates instead on attracting and retaining women in the high tech sector.
Discussion groups are held once a month in Central Indiana. For those not local to the area, the discussions are posted on the organization’s blog. Users are welcome to post comments.
This blog is also a place to network with other Women and High Tech members. Join Women and Hi Tech.

CMS Watch issues first-of-kind report on component content management

2008-06-19T09:00:00Z

CMS Watch, a firm of independent content management analysts, makes its mark by providing unbiased evaluations of CMS software applications that take into account the product development and vendor evolution aspects, as well as technical capabilities. The difference between CMS Watch and other analyst firms is that they represent no vendors, promote no clients, and take no sponsorships for their reports.

The reports, which cover the areas of Web CMS, Enterprise Portals, ECM Suits, Web Analytics, and Enterprise Search, are written by independent industry experts with no ties to a specific vendor. CMS Watch is the first analyst group to issue a comprehensive report in the area of Component Content Management. Written by Ann Rockley of The Rockley Group, the report covers the major vendors of authoring software and content management systems specifically meant for multi-channel publishing.

Samples of CMS Watch reports are available from the CMS Watch site. Subscribe to CMS Watch and get a full intranet licence for a year.

Visit the CMS Watch blog to read more about the products and vendors that CMS Watch covers.

O’Reilly releases Your Brain: The Missing Manual

2008-06-19T07:59:00Z

O’Reilly, the publisher behind the extremely popular “animal cover” books for software and web developers, is widely considered the publisher of some of the most useful, truthful and interesting DIY technology project books available. What’s not generally known is that O’Reilly began as a technical writing company called O’Reilly & Associates. In 1984, they began retaining the rights to the manuals they created for UNIX vendors.
One of their latest publications is entitled Your Brain: The Missing Manual by Matthew MacDonald. Advertised as an “essential guide for the modern brain owner”, this book comes with advice on how to, amongst other things, eat right, improve your memory and use your brain effectively. As “one part science guide and one part self help concierge”, this book is grounded in neuroscience, psychology and nutritional wisdom and promises to be an interesting and entertaining read.

Learn more about O’Reilly and its founder Tim O’Reilly.

Mobile messaging has potential in life sciences

2008-06-19T06:15:00Z

Mobile marketing can sound terribly intrusive or wonderfully convenient, depending on the perspective of the consumer receiving the text messages. If you’ve ever used a “park by phone” option to pay for metered parking, and received a text message on a mobile phone to warn you that your parking will run out in 5 minutes, you know that feeling of relief of having dodged a parking ticket. On the other hand, if your teen has signed up for notifications of youth activities on your cell phone, which sets your mobile phone to beeping at your office every afternoon, you’re likely to get annoyed.

Love it or hate it, as SMS (short message service) - text messages you get on your cell phone - develops as a communication medium, it has also become another advertising channel. The possibilities, as a wider variety of people carry mobile phones, are still wide open for putting mobile messaging to good use, particularly in the medical industry. From appointment reminders to medication notifications to hospital notifications to call in - the possibilities are endless, as long as the strategy is well thought-out. For example, many cell phone users still don’t use text messaging; some don’t realize what the beeping means. To understand more about mobile messaging, read the Marketing Technology Blog and check out mobile messaging through TEXTBYREQUEST.

Meeting the FDA’s emerging SPL requirements confusing

2008-06-19T05:52:00Z

The FDA’s new requirement for XML formatted data is causing some pain for pharmaceutical Structured Product Labeling (SPL) submissions. The requirements fall into three main categories: service, hosted and enterprise, and the decision on whether to “build your own” or outsource your content for services analysis can be daunting.

Identifying an approach both meets the FDA’s regulatory requirements and pharmaceutical manufacturers’ business requirements in the short-term, while doing the analysis for future needs is a task that requires a parallel approach. While many of the issues have been discussed in journals and on the Web, the solutions are, by necessity generic.

As the deadline for XML submissions approaches, it has become clear that there is no one right approach. There are no cookie-cutter companies, however, and cookie-cutter solutions are not likely to work without some customization. SPL is only the first of many expected FDA-driven XML initiatives within the regulatory environment. For an intelligent discussion on the topic, see the white paper on the Data Conversion Labs site.

Translation management vendor brings big benefits across to small companies

2008-06-19T05:34:00Z

If you’re in a smaller company, you’re used to taking a pass on many of the tools and technologies designed to create work efficiencies, no matter how cool, developed by companies that think of scalability in terms of “upward from large to huge”. The good new is that now, smaller companies can take advantage of at least one of the tools that larger companies take advantage of on a routine basis. Across Systems, a developer of translation management software, has developed Across Personal Edition, a standalone application for smaller companies.

The Across Personal Edition is a suite of tools, which includes the crossTank translation memory, the crossTerm terminology system, the crossDesk multi-format editor, the crossSearch research tool, and the crossCheck quality management system. Information about Across Personal Edition and white papers can be found on the Across Systems site.