XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing, and What
it Means for Content and Product Development
XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing, and What
it Means for Content and Product Development
Presented by Jabin WhiteExecutive Director, Electronic ProductionElsevier
AMPA Annual Practicum – March 14, 2005AMPA Annual Practicum – March 14, 2005
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
AgendaAgenda
Introductions XML vs. Traditional Publishing Workflows XML’s impact from A to Z Financial Aspects of XML Best practices in moving to XML Conclusions
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Introductions: Who am I?Introductions: Who am I?
Started as Editorial Assistant, then Developmental Editor
Learned SGML at Mosby in mid-90s Moved to Williams & Wilkins in 1997,
merged with L-R in 1998 – responsible for SGML group
Moved to Harcourt Health Sciences in October, 2000, acquisition by Elsevier completed in September, 2001
XML vs. Traditional Publishing Workflows
XML vs. Traditional Publishing Workflows
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML vs. Traditional Publishing CycleXML vs. Traditional Publishing Cycle
First, traditional publishing cycle was geared toward printed page
XML’s separation of description of content from display is a *huge* change
Differences in tools, processes, and people are all required, and all have an impact
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Traditional Workflow (circa 1980s)Traditional Workflow (circa 1980s)
Acquire content (agreement to submit) Pages received on paper Pages photocopied, edited on paper (AU queries inserted) Composition marks inserted on paper Pages mailed to compositor Comp typesets pages (includes AU queries) Pages returned to publisher Pages copied, mailed to authors and proofreaders Authors make AAs, respond to queries Pages mailed back to publisher Proofreading corrections, query responses mailed back to comp New pages typeset Galleys proofed Final pages produced Bindery Distribution in print form (Later) Convert typesetting files for electronic output
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Today’s Possible WorkflowToday’s Possible Workflow
Acquire content (agreement to submit) Receive content in MS Word (w/ or w/o templates) Edit electronically Convert to XML (if not already) FTP to comp Comp typesets based on stylesheet (ideally with XML ‘aware’
pagination system) Produce PDF proofs Email PDF proofs to AU, or send them to website to
download AU responds to queries electronically Re-flow pages Proofread final pages Print and bind book Send XML content to website, aggregator, CD-ROM, PDA,
etc.
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
What were those changes again?What were those changes again?
Changes in processes Changes in employee skills Changes in expectations Changes in financials (ROI) Changes in knowledge (Alphabet
soup, TMA)
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Why move to XML?Why move to XML?
Multi-channel publishing (for most publishers, this is enough)
Intelligent storage for next edition
Enables inclusion of semantic markup, if you want/need it
Allows for creation of products that would not have been economically feasible before
XML’s Impact from A to ZXML’s Impact from A to Z
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: AuthorXML’s Impact: Author
Depends on publisher’s level of control Best case: Authors participate in
adding semantic knowledge into content
Worst case: Authors get confused or refuse to participate in tagging
Best case: strike a balance that *allows* for author participation but doesn’t *depend* on it
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: SubmissionXML’s Impact: Submission
XML enables electronic submission with validation
Depending on how sophisticated you get, one could cut down significantly on missing or incorrect submissions Real-time author queries
Again, control issue
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: Developmental EditingXML’s Impact: Developmental Editing
Pro: DE’s can now insert “intelligence” into the data and do things they couldn’t do before
Con: DE’s can now insert “intelligence” into the data and do things they couldn’t do before
Control issues – anyone sensing a theme here?
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: CopyeditingXML’s Impact: Copyediting
Many publishers are outsourcing this phase now, and suppliers are getting much better
If your DTD is more structural than semantic, a lot of these tags can be input during the copyediting phase
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: CompositionXML’s Impact: Composition
Lagged farthest beyond in terms of ‘embracing’ XML because of the tools
Most batch-pagination tools and page layout tools now handle XML in pretty well – some still struggle with out
It’s easy to say “print is just one output,” but it has paid the bills for so long, many struggle with this one
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: Author ReviewXML’s Impact: Author Review
Most authors still review paper, but it’s what publishers do with those alterations that affects XML
Inserting alterations and re-flowing pages is still a ‘sea change’ to many organizations
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
XML’s Impact: Electronic Product CreationXML’s Impact: Electronic Product Creation
In general, XML makes this quicker, better, more cost-effective
If done correctly, avoid the conversion hop
Beware of “accounting” difficulties
Author (Content Creation)
Developmental Editing
Submission CopyeditingAuthor Review/Proofreading
CompositionElectronic Product
Creation
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
A few global statements…A few global statements…
At first, it costs more (more on financials later)
But long term, if done correctly, the benefits far outweigh the pain
Beware the “halfway” problem and communicate clearly both above and below
Financial Aspects of XMLFinancial Aspects of XML
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
A few warnings…A few warnings…
The first 2-3 versions after moving to XML will probably take more time and resources than they used to
There is no XML switch – there are migration considerations, and these have costs associated with them
There are no (true) general statements about XML’s financial impact
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
What that meansWhat that means
XML is not for everyone If you have a set of content that is
going to one output and you *know* it will never re-used, XML is not worth the investment if you’re not already there
XML is a tool to be used only if the tool benefits the organization The investment (in time and money)
put into this “tool” should be directly tied to the benefit the organization is deriving
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Financial Advantages (if you have it)Financial Advantages (if you have it)
Flexible publishing If you have XML, stylesheets drive
lots of flexibility The dream of author once, use
(and monetize) many can become a reality
Ability to add semantic intelligence
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Financial Disadvantages (if you don’t have it)Financial Disadvantages (if you don’t have it)
Each different output requires different $$$$
Future-proofing your content Can you really predict all data
outputs for the next 3-4 years? Inability to add intelligence and extend
electronic utility of your data Multiple output requirements make the
argument for media-neutral publishing exponentially stronger
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Hard CostsHard Costs
DTD authoring DTD maintenance Staffing Software Training Transition of composition
tools or vendors
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Soft costsSoft costs
Morale Staffing issues
Don’t expect double work from those in the trenches
Day-to-day work continues while gearing up new XML workflows
Always takes longer at first when switching to XML
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Making the ROI case for XMLMaking the ROI case for XML
Make sure the comparison is ‘apples to apples’
Often it takes adding up several pieces of work (content creation, conversion, multiple editions, multiple products) and then comparing them to XML
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
The ROI of fewer stepsThe ROI of fewer steps
Content Creation Storage
Output 1 (print)
Output 2 (electronic product)
Output 3 (another electronic product)
Content Creation Output 1 (print) ConversionOutput 2
(electronic product)
ConversionOutput 3 (another electronic product)
StorageOutput for next
edition
Traditional “Multiple Output” Content Flow
XML Content Flow
Best Practices in Moving to XML
Best Practices in Moving to XML
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
“How” to move authors/editors“How” to move authors/editors
A few years ago, all editing tools required users to “learn” XML, understand what they were doing with angle brackets
More and more, publishers can trade off ‘ease of use by non-XMLers’ with quality of XML
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Ease of use toolsEase of use tools
Tools evolving that don’t require much XML knowledge x40 from i4i eXtyles from Inera ConteX from LiveLinx WorxSE from HyperVision
But again, the tradeoff must be recognized – if you have control, tools such as XMetal give you better chance at quality XML
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
The dream production cycleThe dream production cycle
Manuscript Page Proof
CorrectXML file
AA’sValid archive
Conversioninto XML
Next edition?
Pages, web
Style sheet
Style sheet
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Who tags?Who tags?
Production has and always will drive *format* driven tagging <Head>, <Para>, <List>, etc.
Editorial, working with authors, should drive intelligent markup
The closer to the authors you can get, the better Please stop laughing
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Content
Format-leveltags using
structured tool
Assistancein defining
tag set,advocate for
market-drivenelectronic products
Recognition that “XML button” does not exist
The “roadmap”to intelligent
content. All partiesmust participate.
Turns MS overto production, leads definition
of tag set
DTD, template design,DTD maintenance
Not “tech support.” Calls for unique skill
set.
Assist Editorialin defining tag set
ApplicationSupport
Authors,Marketing,Customers
Editorial
Production
ElectronicPublishing
Top-levelmanagement
DTDs
XML Expertise
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Lessons LearnedLessons Learned
Management of expectations, both of upper management and of people “in the trenches”
Small, manageable, measurable goals are key to success
Close application support – not traditional IT tech support (combination of editorial and markup knowledge)
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
ConclusionsConclusions
Tools are getting better Because of rapid maturation of
tools, decisions must be constantly revisited Look at Word plug-ins
Keep in mind that XML is just one tool – albeit a valuable one – in a publisher’s toolbox
Plenty of help available It’s a marathon, not a sprint!
Jabin White – AMPA Practicum 2005 – XML: The Technical Foundation of Modern Publishing…
Thank youThank you
Questions?Contact info: Jabin White, Elsevier170 S. Independence Hall W., 300EPhiladelphia, PA [email protected]@jabin.com
Slides available at http://www.jabin.com/presentations.html