Hi Ginger et al.
You should be starting by learning about the OASIS DITA standard for
topic-based authoring. Many other companies in industries like yours
around the world have already implemented DITA. The DTDs are available
free and are updated by the volunteer members of the DITA Technical
Committee in OASIS. Arbortext also has a complete DITA implementation
built into the editor.
I suggest that you visit the OASIS DITA website
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