Book
People is published by Chappell Thorne
16 Chilham Way, Bromley, Kent BR2 7PR
Telephone: 020 8462 5000 • Fax: 020 8462 9993
ISDN: 020 8462 8076
Email: bookpeople@chappell-thorne.com
Sub
Editor: Paula Arkell
Production: Liz Bingold
Advertising Sales: Jenny Kearl
© 2002 by Chappell Thorne. All rights reserved. No part of
this publication may be reproduced, stored in any retrieval system,
or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written
permission of the publisher.
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PHOTOCOPYING
LICENCE DISPUTE ENDS
The
dispute about the Higher Education photocopying licence between
the Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) and Universities UK is over.
The amount to be contributed to Universities UK’s costs by
CLA has been agreed. All the parties will now work together to
ensure that the Higher Education sector is familiar with the terms
of the new licence and how the changes will benefit users.
The licence will be backdated to commence from 1 August 2001 and
runs until 31 July 2006. The licence fee is £4.00 per Full
Time Equivalent (FTE).
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BSG
WINS EXTENZA CONTRACT
Business Systems Group (BSG) has been awarded the contract
to build a ground-breaking service for Royal Swets & Zeitlinger’s
new digital publishing company, Extenza e-Publishing Services.
Extenza provides a comprehensively accountable, cost-effective
and outsourced digital publishing service for academic and professional
publishers and an efficient and accessible online service for
researchers and librarians.
Extenza offers a premium online service to subscribers of academic
and professional journals in addition to a payby- view service
for the lower volume demand. It will enable publishers to concentrate
on their core publishing concerns, by providing an extension to
their offering with secure and comprehensive real-time online
access, allowing for flexible pricing, usage monitoring and added
value service.
‘BSG was approached by Extenza when the concept was at its
earliest stage of development. Their consultants have challenged
conventional thinking within the publishing sector and have offered
a low-cost, no-pain, outsourcing partnership for the provision
of digital publications online,’ said Ruth Jones, general
manager of Extenza.
‘Publishers invariably understand the need to provide a workable,
digital offering to academic and professional audiences if they
wish to remain competitive. Our partnership with BSG will take
away the pain of providing new e-Publishing channels, while ensuring
that publishers retain complete control,’ she adds. Extenza
e-Publishing Services is scheduled to launch formally at the Frankfurt
Book Fair in October.
Contact: BSG at www.extenza-eps.com or email Michael.Collins@bsg.co.uk
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XML
– GET CONVERTED!
Nick
Reed, Director of Product Strategy, Easypress Technologies, talks
about the benefits of XML and advises on how to achieve the ideal
conversion process XML is being adopted by publishers because
of its strengths in enabling cross-media publishing and interoperability
between multiple systems.
As an open standard for structured data, it offers many benefits
to publishers over the traditional, proprietary technologies that
have been used for storing and transferring data.
However, most publishers use QuarkXPress for their page layout,
and QuarkXPress does not natively support structured XML data.
This has caused considerable difficulty and expense for publishers
needing to convert between ‘unstructured’ QuarkXPress
and 'structured' XML. Hence it is important for publishers to
implement this conversion as efficiently as possible.
What constitutes a successful XML conversion process? Typically,
time and cost are key factors, but also ease of use, practicality,
low impact on existing workflows and flexibility are important
ingredients to a successful solution. Publishers must define their
own criteria for success, based on its available resources and
staff.
The type of software tools that are appropriate will be dictated
by how XML is introduced to the publishing workflow. Will authors
create content in XML format ‘at source’; will XML be
created as the print pages are built; or will XML be created from
the finished Quark documents as a ‘post-production’
technology?
The first case can be called a ‘full XML workflow’,
which requires XML authoring tools, an XML repository of some
kind (this could be just a file system) and XML import and export
tools for QuarkXPress.
The second and third cases require tools to create XML from within
QuarkXPress, either as a manual or automated process.
There are multiple tools for each category, each of which has
its own strengths and weaknesses and, again, the right tools can
only be found by matching those strengths and weaknesses against
the requirements of the business. Those business requirements
are derived from the analysis that needs to be done to define
the success criteria.
It sounds straightforward, but it is surprising how rarely this
process is followed rigorously.
So far, the discussion has centred on software tools. But the
most important factor in managing a successful XML conversion
process is people. The people involved need to buy into the process;
this means explaining why change is taking place and spelling
out the benefits to the business. In many cases, the nature of
the work done by production staff will change. Ensuring the printed
page looks right is no longer enough. Production staff are likely
to be structuring content, not just styling it.
A common problem that must be addressed early on is that of turf
wars breaking out between print and online departments. Often,
the Quark conversion issue is pushed backwards and forwards between
the two departments. As long as the process is seen purely as
a cost, without recognising the benefits arising from the efficient
use of XML, buy-in from either department will be difficult. Any
implementation of a conversion process requires a Project Owner
who is sufficiently senior to provide strong leadership, and who
must include both print and online teams.
Risk needs to be managed. Pick a simple publication to start with
and run some tests. (Hint: don’t do anything near press day
– the pressure of deadlines will not inspire goodwill) If
successful, proceed to a more complex publication. If not, go
back and assess what went wrong.
By phasing deployment, risk is managed by ensuring small, successful
steps are taken rather than large, unsuccessful ones.
Ultimately, XML can deliver significant business benefits for
publishers – and that means higher revenues and lower costs.
Getting the XML conversion process right can make the difference
between a new business proposal being profitable or unprofitable.
Get it wrong, and you are saddled with a slow, expensive, demoralising
process. Get it right, and a new whole sector of profitable revenues
opens up.This article is based on a presentation given at the
Pira Conference 'Redefining the Publishing Process' in May 2002.
Nick Reed can be contacted at email: nick.reed@easyrpess.com
Web: www.easypress.com
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NEW
DIRECTOR FOR FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
The Frankfurt Book Fair has a new director. Volker Neumann,
aged 59 who was until end-June 2002 managing director of the Random
House publishing group. He will take up his new position on 2
September, 2002.
Owing
to differences in opinion on the cooperation between the Supervisory
Board and the management, in early July the Supervisory Board
of Ausstellungs-und Messe GmbH which own the Frankfurt Book Fair
dismissed the two directors, Lorenzo Rudolf and Joachim Kehl.
Until Volker Neumann takes office, Dr. Harald Heker, managing
director of Boersenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels, will be acting
Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair in addition to his other duties.
It has also been announced that with immediate effect, exhibitors
can enter their Book Fair events in the online Calendar of Events
directly. At www.frankfurt-book-fair.com/calendar, exhibitors
can input the relevant data and also update this information constantly.
As of mid-August, visitors to the website will also be able to
access the Calendar of Events. The printed version will be appearing
at the end of September and will be handed out at the Book Fair.
Alongside the Frankfurt Catalogue, Frankfurt Book Fair's Calendar
of Events is a valuable source of information for all visitors,
exhibitors. It includes all the exhibitors' Frankfurt Book Fair-related
activities such as readings, award ceremonies and exhibitions
and events in and around Frankfurt. Last year's figure for Book
Fair-related events was a staggering 2,600.
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BIBLIOGRAPHIC
DATA PARTNERSHIP
Whitaker
Information Services, a unit of the VNU Media Measurement and
Information Group, has announced a bibliographic data partnership
with the Ingram Book Group.
The data partnership will enable Whitaker’s customers to
access Ingram’s high-quality US book information on international
versions of Whitaker’s bibliographic products, and Ingram’s
customers to access Whitaker’s UK database on Ingram’s
products.
Contact at Whitaker: Paul Pounsford, managing director, Whitaker
Information Services, 01252 742500
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A
GUIDE TO STANDARDS
Amid
the controversy surrounding Sector Skills Councils for the publishing
industry, The Publishing Training Centre, under the auspices of
the Publishing NTO, is continuing to help make the National Occupational
Standards in Publishing more accessible to publishers.
The latest project involves producing a user guide to the standards.
This should not only make it easier for supporters of the standards
to go about the business of implementing them, but should also
help to convert even the most ardent sceptic. The new guide will
include a successful case-study plus advice on how the standards
can be introduced.
Members of the publishing community are helping to contribute
to the guide via two workshops, the first of which took part in
May. The second is due to take place on 28 August, soon after
which the final version of the user guide will be made available.
To find out more, email marketing@bookhouse.co.uk.
The Occupational Standards themselves are accessible free of charge
at www.train4publishing.co.uk.
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NEW
DIRECTIONS MAPPED OUT AT PIRA
The 4th Annual Conference and Exhibition ‘Prepress Strategies
and Technologies’ takes place on Thursday 26 and Friday 27
September at the Selfridge Thistle Hotel in London.
Prepress has experienced radical change over the last few years
as a result of developments in digital technology, tighter budgets,
reduced lead times and growth in competition. This conference
presents a broad range of perspectives on the future of prepress.
Topics specifically covered include PDF workflows and standards,
preflighting, integrating prepress and MIS and the use of JDF,
digital, soft and remote proofing, accuracy for contract proofing,
CTP workflow and the future of CTP.
There are 23 contributors to the two-day event from companies
recognised as leaders in the industry. They include RR Donnelley,
Polestar Imaging, TFG, Pindar, Roularta Media Group, Caspian Publishers,
Creo, Vio, CPI, Nature Publishing and Mirror Group Newspapers.
The emphasis is on case studies, and these range from Caspian
Publishers describing their first steps in installing a new workflow,
RealTimeImage discussing their use of remote proofing, to Harper
Collins presenting their experiences in implementing CTP. An end-user’s
perspective on soft and hard proofing for contract accuracy will
be given by Mirror Group Newspapers.
A workshop on colour management takes place on Wednesday 25 September
between 14.00-16.00. Led by Pira consultants Marcus Scott Taggart
and Kelvin Tritton, the focus of the event is achieving accuracy
and overcoming technical difficulties in this area.
An exhibition is running alongside the conference, allowing delegates
the opportunity to see some of the technology and software discussed
at the conference.
See centre pages of the August hard copy of Book People for
the full conference programme, with a registration form on page
10.
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IAPE
CONFERENCE
In
a continued effort to improve publishing education, academics
from around the world met at the London Institute on 15 July to
share their views and experiences as teachers of higher education
publishing courses. The International Association for Publishing
Education conference (IAPE) 2002 brought together over 30 academics.
Eleven speakers delivered papers on their publishing education
research and teaching methods. Areas covered included the integration
of Personal and Professional Development (PPD) into publishing
courses, the latest intellectual property issues, the role of
a post-graduate dissertation, and the application of reflective
practice in publishing education.
In her keynote address, the president of the IAPE from Arizona
State University, Beth Luey, spoke of the challenges ahead to
prepare students for an industry that is rapidly changing with
the introduction of new technologies. She stressed the need to
equip students with knowledge that will serve them well, and emphasised
the value of instilling students with a sense of publishing history.
Dr Joan Burks (LCP), who is chair of the UK Association for Publishing
Education, discussed her research into publishing courses in the
UK and the US. She is investigating how educators can realistically
serve the requirements of an evolving publishing industry within
universities institutions that are increasingly driven by education
imperatives with an environment of accountability.
Dr Burks closed the day’s discussions with a call for all
publishing educators to engage in research. There is a need to
build a body of theoretical knowledge to underpin publishing education,
she said.
For further information, Tel: 01483 776938. E-mail j.burks@cp.linst.ac.uk
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BOL.COM
IN TALKS WITH AMAZON
German
media group Bertelsmann is looking to sell or shut its online
book business Bol.com and pull the plug on music service, Napster,
in a clampdown on lossmaking ventures.
Bertelsmann has held talks with online companies, including US
retailer Amazon, about Bol.com as it looks to scale back online
operations including Napster after the ousting of high-flying
CEO Thomas Middelhoff. Bertelsmann's new chief executive, Gunter
Thielen, has been reviewing the group's sprawling online businesses
that were so heavily championed by Middelhoff, in a bid to concentrate
on profitable operations. Bertelsmann's owners installed Thielen
last month as they sought to steer the group on a more conservative
path after Middelhoff's aggressive expansion aimed at propelling
the group into the ranks of global giants such as AOL Time Warner.
The court ruling in the US on 3 September, which blocked the transfer
of Napster to Bertelsmann, will no doubt suit the Thielen approach.
Bertelsmann's DirectGroup division, which houses the ecommerce
businesses, confirmed it was considering strategic options of
non-core operations but declined to comment specifically on Bol.com
or Napster.
DirectGroup stomached some $125m in internet start-up losses in
the second half of last year. As losses continued, Thielen replaced
the head of the division, Klaus Eierhoff, with Bertelsmann's former
chief operating officer, Ewald Walgenbach. Other operations under
Walgenbach's spotlight include online bookseller Barnes &
Noble.com. The future of Bertelsmann's music operation BeMusic
has also come under the spotlight.
It is not the first time Bol.com has been under review. Last year,
Bertelsmann closed a number of its loss-making operations, but
the online book retailer has still struggled to make a mark.
The writing has also been on the wall for Napster since Middelhoff's
sudden departure, sources say. The former chief executive had
been one of the few supporters within the group of the US Web
service that once had 60m followers. Middelhoff had wanted to
relaunch Napster as a legitimate online music subscription service
and agreed to buy its assets out of bankruptcy.
Elsewhere in the Bertelsmann empire, the group is also looking
to sell its publishing arm BertelsmannSpringer and is currently
in talks with potential buyers, say those familiar with the situation.
Bertelsmann is expected to focus instead on core assets including
television, book publishing and music. The group owns pan-European
broadcaster RTL Group and leading book publisher Random House.
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FULL,
BI-DIRECTIONAL XML SUPPORT FOR QUARK
Easypress Technologies announced the newest member of
its Atomik family of products, Atomik Roundtrip 1.0 - the first
software to provide full, bi-directional XML support for QuarkXPress
versions 4 and 5. Currently in beta, Easypress Technologies
is showing Atomik Roundtrip 1.0 at this week’s Seybold conference
and exhibition in San Francisco with the final release expected
to ship in October.
‘Publishers have been asking for full XML support within
QuarkXPress for many years, in order to efficiently publish content
to print and digital media,’ said Nick Reed, Easypress Technologies
director of product strategy. ‘The time is right for Atomik
Roundtrip to realise the potential of XML for publishers, enabling
all content to be authored and stored in XML and published to
any media including print.’ eXtensible Markup Language (XML)
has established itself as the standard format for holding structured
content. All the major software vendors including Microsoft, IBM
and Oracle, are placing XML at the centre of their plans.
QuarkXPress is the world’s leading page layout tool with
over two million users worldwide. By providing full XML support
for QuarkXPress, Atomik Roundtrip is combining leading technologies
to create a new breed of publishing tool.
Roundtripping
Atomik Roundtrip will enable users to import XML into QuarkXPress
and faithfully re-export it. With a single click, users can update
the QuarkXPress document if the source XML document(s) change
and update the source XML document(s) if the QuarkXPress document
changes. This ensures consistency across all media, efficient
reuse of content and rapid updates of timely information. XML
content can be added to QuarkXPress documents through a simple
drag and drop process, or by using the Atomik Roundtrip Placeholder
technology to import individual XML elements or collections of
XML elements into predefined templates. It is claimed no other
product provides the level of support for ‘roundtripping’
XML in QuarkXPress promised by Atomik Roundtrip 1.0.
‘The fact that there is demand in the market for a tool
such as Atomik Roundtrip is undeniable,’ said Mike Evans,
Easypress Technologies managing director. ‘We’ve already
taken advance orders for Atomik Roundtrip in both the United States
and Europe, illustrating the important role it could play in accelerating
XML adoption in the industry.’
Pricing and availability
Atomik Roundtrip is currently in early beta, with a public beta
program to follow. Product is expected to ship at the beginning
of October 2002. Atomik Roundtrip 1.0 will be available direct
from Easypress Technologies and Atomik resellers and system integrators
worldwide. The suggested retail price for a single user licence
of Atomik Roundtrip 1.0 will be £3,495, $4,495 or 5,662
Euro depending on the country of purchase. The suggested retail
price for a 10-user licence of Atomik Roundtrip 1.0 will be £9,950,
$13,500 or 16,119 Euro depending on the country of purchase. Further
multiple user pricing is available upon request. Easypress Technologies,
Tel +44 (0)20 7704 0285
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RIGHTS
AND LICENSING AT FRANKFURT
This
year's seminar for international rights and licensing managers
will show how previously neglected language regions can become
of greater interest for the international publishing industry.
Ready for take-off! Potential languages for income growth and
added value for authors’ kicks off the 16th Rights Directors
Meeting at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2002.
As well as the question of which languages are to be counted among
the ‘potential languages’, delegates will discuss
the relevant legal and contractual aspects of selling translation
rights on markets that are still underdeveloped. This change of
approach - away from the ‘Top Five Languages’ - can
facilitate access to a wider range of readers for authors and
at the same time, broaden the income base for many publishing
companies. Particular attention will be paid to Russia and Eastern
Europe, China, South Korea and Brazil.
Organised every year by the Frankfurt Book Fair to coincide with
the fair, this seminar offers international contacts to the relevant
experts and information in condensed form.
Date and venue: Tuesday, 8 October 2002, 14.00 to 17.00; Frankfurt
Book Fair, Hall 4.c., Alliance/Entente conference room. Conferees:
rights and licensing managers, literary agents and other publishing
and agency professionals with an interest in international publishing.
Contact and information: Baerbel Becker, Marketing & Sales,
Frankfurt Book Fair, tel. +49 (0) 69 2102-258, E-mail: mailto:rightsmeeting@book-fair.com
Information from the Frankfurt Book Fair is also available at:
http://www.frankfurt-book-fair.com
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INDEXERS
NEW ADDRESS
The
Society of Indexers has moved to a new address in Sheffield. Contact
details are:
Society of Indexers
Blades Enterprise Centre
John Street
Sheffield
S2 4SU
Tel: 0114 292 2350
Fax: 0114 292 2351
Email: admin@indexers.org.uk
Website: www.indexers.org.uk
Head/Society of Indexers annual conference
The Society's annual conference, held in the attractive surroundings
of the University of Gloucestershire in Cheltenham, on 16-18 July,
was a great success. Topics discussed included the future of publishing,
the impact of technology on indexing, work-related health issues,
training in indexing and publishing in XML format. Workshop and
group discussion sessions were held.
Awards
The Society recognised the achievements and dedication of two
of its members: Drusilla Calvert received the Levin Award for
services to the Society of Indexers and the Carey Award was presented
to Pat Booth for her services to indexing.
Betty Moys - In Memoriam
At the conference a presentation ceremony was held in honour of
Betty Moys, who died earlier this year. Betty's cousin, Sir Leslie
Sharp, presented her medals to the Society of Indexers and the
British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL). Barbara
Tearle, President of BIALL, received Betty's MBE, awarded for
her services to classification and indexing, on behalf of BIALL.
Doreen Blake, President of the Society of Indexers, received Betty's
Wheatley Medal on behalf of SI. Betty was awarded her Wheatley
Medal in 1991 for her index to the British Tax Encyclopaedia,
published by Sweet and Maxwell. Jules Winterton, from the Institute
of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), where Betty's medals will be
displayed, recalled that it was her work with IALS that began
Betty's association with legal indexing and classification. There
was a display of material from the Society's archives, celebrating
Betty's life.
Officers appointed
At the Society's agm, also held during the conference, Doreen
Blake and Connie Tyler retired from their posts of President and
Chairman respectively. Maureen McGlashan was elected as the new
President, and Michele Clarke as the new Chairman. Ann Kingdom
(Secretary) and Frank Merrett (Treasurer) continue to serve in
their current posts.
Training
course
The Society has produced the third edition of its distance learning
course, Training in Indexing, available in printed or electronic
format.
The course, first published in 1988, has been fully revised and
updated to incorporate the latest developments in indexing principles
and practice. As well as book indexing it covers periodical indexing,
team and cumulative indexing, thesaurus construction, and indexing
audio-visual materials and databases. This edition moves confidently
into the 21st century with new sections on web indexing, embedded
indexing and indexing software.
The course consists of four core units aimed at giving trainees
a thorough grounding in the principles of indexing. Each unit
contains a self-administered test (with answers) by which trainees
can check their progress. The printed edition has a user-friendly
layout and includes many examples and tips for the trainee indexer
and revision notes to ensure that steady progress is maintained.
The electronic version, closely based on the printed version,
breaks new ground in using the most up-to-date computer-based
training techniques to provide a flexible and enjoyable learning
experience. Self-assessment mini-exercises throughout each unit
ensure that the trainee has learned and understood what has been
covered so far. There are hyperlinks to, for example, the glossary,
the reading list and other relevant sections, plus bookmarking
and search facilities.
Unit A is now available in printed format and CD-Rom, and Unit
B is available in printed format with the CD-Rom to follow shortly.
Units C and D will be available later in 2002. For further information
log on to (www.indexers.org.uk) or contact the Society at the
address above.
Society of Indexers - forthcoming events
20 November 2002, 10.30am - 1.00pm: Workshop. Pre-Registration
(for experienced indexers). London.
20 November 2002, 2.00pm - 4.30pm: Workshop. Peer Review (for
experienced indexers). London.
27-29 June 2003: Annual Conference - `A Scots Quair'. Strathclyde
University, Glasgow.
Further details are available on website, or from the Society:
Society of Indexers
Blades Enterprise Centre
John Street
Sheffield
S2 4SU
Tel: 0114 292 2350
Email: admin@indexers.org.uk
www.indexers.org.uk
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