AMPA Annual Practicum – March 14, 2005

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


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


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


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


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.


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)


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


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


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





Creation


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?





Creation


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





Creation


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





Creation


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





Creation


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





Creation


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


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


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


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


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


Hard CostsHard Costs

DTD authoring DTD maintenance Staffing Software Training Transition of composition

tools or vendors


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


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


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


“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


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


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


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


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


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)


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!


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

Documents

AMPA Annual Practicum – March 14, 2005