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 NEWSSeybold: XML, Weblogs make mark on publishing industry By Matt Berger September 9, 2002 5:26 pm PT SAN FRANCISCO -- The publishing industry is in a state of flux as new technologies emerge for managing content and delivering it to end users, a panel of industry pundits said Monday at the opening of the Seybold publishing industry conference here.
The ability to gather information about customers and to monitor the context in which they are accessing content, along with new opportunities provided by the merging of electronic commerce with published materials, all are influencing how information is delivered, said Seybold, who spoke Monday at the opening of the conference here. "That shift has required a major absorption of new technology for many of us -- a new discipline for many of us," she said. Dozens of vendors will be on hand here to discuss new software products developed to address the growing market for Web-based publishing. Adobe Systems has sent some of its top executives to promote its publishing software while Documentum, Arbortext and others will show their latest offerings for content management. The introduction of XML (Extensible Markup Language) and Web services have created new opportunities for content producers, Seybold said. Published information no longer has to be static. By employing these new Web-based technologies, content producers can deliver information in a personalized way, depending on who is reading it and what type of device they are using. Tim Bray, one of the co-creators of XML, spoke Monday alongside Seybold. He discussed what he sees as other defining changes in the industry, such as improved graphical user interfaces, and stated in passing that as far as tagging data goes, "nobody is doing it" in the publishing business. Despite his doubts about XML's uptake, a number of industry players are latching onto the technology and the industry-specific "schemas" designed for tagging content, Seybold said. Reuters Group, for example, uses an XML schema known as NewsML to tag articles so that they can be more easily repurposed and better managed through the production process, she said. Another example is mechanic tools maker Snap-on, which built an online product catalog that offers information and e-commerce tools for its entire inventory of tools, Seybold said. The company tagged each product with an XML description so that partners can repurpose the information for use on their own Web sites, and so customers can gather relevant information related to each tool. Notable about the Kenosha, Wisconsin, company, Seybold said, is that it employs experienced auto mechanics to author the data in the XML tags. It is an example of how companies should "marry the subject-matter expert with the content producers" so that published information can grow in value. In addition to touting XML, Bray, now chief technology officer at Antarctica Systems, promoted Weblogs as a promising tool for publishers. Weblogs are Web sites that feature chronological entries by an author, or "blogger" (for Web logger), and typically reflect his or her personal view. Used as a marketing tool, a Weblog can provide an inventive way to reach customers and partners with engaging content, he said. Ray Ozzie, inventor of Lotus Notes, and Phillip Windley, chief information officer for the state of Utah, were among the notable bloggers Bray cited. "You might want to give serious consideration to humanly publicizing your organization," Bray said. "Presenting information in a human voice is the best way to get people to read what you publish." Matt Berger is a San Francisco-based correspondent for the IDG News Service, an InfoWorld affiliate. SPONSORED WHITE PAPERS 
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