Sebastopol, CA—The enormous success of the Kindle and the iPhone has undeniably fueled the XML revolution. Smart publishers are scrambling to make more of what they produce--books, magazines, newspapers, and more--readily available for reading on these popular devices. Indeed, without XML, delivering content across multiple channels, devices, and digital formats profitably would be impossible.
To help publishers adjust to today's publishing environment, make better use of innovative, up-to-the-minute resources, and profit from the many new markets for their content, O'Reilly Media has teamed up with Idea Logical Company to launch StartWithXML: Why and How.
"StartWithXML will address the serious organizational and cultural issues that are in many ways even more challenging than the technology itself," explained Andrew Savikas, Director of Publishing Technology for O'Reilly and Program Chair for the Tools of Change for Publishing Conference. "Even the most tech savvy authors and editors are used to working with a printed book as their main objective, and their habits and processes reflect that."
Added Savikas: "Yet to get the most from XML (Extensible Markup Language), it must be viewed as much more than just a publishing tool or technology. A true XML workflow means creating, designing, and producing content with multiple outputs in mind from the start, not merely as an afterthought to something printed."
Indeed, Idea Logical CEO Mike Shatzkin echoed Savikas views when he announced the project recently at the annual meeting of the Book Industry Study Group, which is also providing support. Shatzkin said, "The 'StartWithXML' project will explore all the issues of moving to a StartWithXML workflow through interviews and case studies with publishers and with the channel partners they will be working with to reach new readers in new ways. We'll be looking at what benefits can come to a publisher today from working this way, and what important steps to the future are enabled for those doing this and cut off from those who don't."
The StartWithXML project includes:
- An open online survey designed to capture the issues surrounding XML for publishers.
- A one-day forum scheduled for Jan. 13, 2009 at the McGraw-Hill Auditorium in New York. Through panels and presentations, participants will spend the morning understanding XML, and the afternoon learning to use it effectively.
- A research report covering background info, case studies, best practices, technology and vendor profiles, and interviews discussing the factors that make a "StartWithXML" workflow both useful and tricky.
- An ongoing online conversation, with a blog, an open comments area for folks to weigh in on the report's outline while it's in progress, and a general discussion forum (built out as a group within the new TOC Community).
Mike Shatzkin will be blogging on the StartWithXML website, alongside veteran consultants Brian O'Leary, Ted Hill, and Laura Dawson, who are all participating in the research behind the project.
For more information about StartWithXML, see:
www.startwithxml.com or
http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/09/startwithxml-why-and-how.html
For more information about Idea Logical, see:
http://www.idealog.com
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