The document discusses best practices for "future proofing" new content. It emphasizes thoughtful chunking of content into meaningful and marketable pieces. It also stresses the importance of semantics, such as using consistent terminology, metadata, and standards to leverage collective experience. Design is discussed as being based on semantic distinctions to guide navigation and understanding. Workflow is addressed in terms of capturing and refining semantics at appropriate stages.

1. Get Agile. Get Efficient.
Best Practices for “Future Proofing” New Content
Bill Kasdorf
Vice President, Apex Content Solutions
General Editor, The Columbia Guide to Digital Publishing

2. You publish content, not books.
Content

3. Content
•What kind of content?
•What pieces are meaningful? and marketable?
•Who buys it? Why? (Then ask “how?”)
•What chunks could you sell? or reuse?
•What chunks will people want to point to?
•How does one chunk relate to other chunks . . .
across all the content you sell?
The Goal: THOUGHTFUL CHUNKING

4. Content The answers are
very different for:
• Novels
• What kind of content?Textbooks
•
• What pieces are meaningful? and marketable?
• Guidebooks
• Who buys it? Why? • Reference books
(Then ask “how?”)
• What chunks could •you sell? or reuse?
Manuals
• Cookbooks
• What chunks will people want to point to?
• How does one chunk relate to other chunks . . .
across all the content you sell?
The Goal: THOUGHTFUL CHUNKING

5. Design is not just decoration.
Design

6. Design
• Good typography is really implied “markup.”
• Typography distinguishes components.
• Layout is a navigation guide.
• Its language is a centuries-in-the-making
collection of book design conventions.
• Design is based on semantic distinctions:
What is this thing? How important is it?
How does it relate to the other things around it?

7. 1
Chapter Title
Chapter Author
Author Identification
Here’s some text at the beginning of this chapter. Let’s make one more
line’s worth.
Level One Subhead
Here’s some more text. This author’s a pretty nice girl, but she doesn’t
have a lot to say.
Level Two Subhead
The end.

8. CN 1
CT Chapter Title
CA Chapter Author
Author Identification
NI Here’s some text at the beginning of this chapter. Let’s make one more
line’s worth.
H1 Level One Subhead
NI Here’s some more text. This author’s a pretty nice girl, but she doesn’t
have a lot to say.
H2 Level Two Subhead “Editorial” markup . . .
IT The end.

9. 4 | C H A P T E R 5 | Drug Use and Abuse: General Issues
CONTEMPORARY ISSUE
U.S. SOCIETY treatment when it is unlikely they oth-
erwise would have done so.
AND DRUG USE
sThe right of the federal government
Currently political and social forces
and other public and private em-
are contributing to the increased de-
ployers to conduct urine screens.
mand for drug treatment, just as these
s Some proposed legal penalties re-
same forces pushed the growth of
treatment of heroin abuse. This recent lated to selling or using drugs–re-
trend reaffirms the importance of social and politi- quirement of life sentences to drug dealers who are
cal factors in how U.S. society deals with alcohol convinced twice of selling drugs to teenagers.
and other drugs use. s The uproar resulting from the revelation that
In 1986 the surge in demand for drug treat- David Ginsberg, a 1987 Supreme Court nominee,
ment, particularly in teh residential or inpatient set- smoked marijuana.
ting, arose from two major sources: crack and
AIDS. These worked in a political climate that was Currently political and social forces are contribut-
strongly in favor of eradicating drugs and drug ing to the increased demand for drug treatment,
abuse. just as these same forces pushed the growth of
As you saw in Chapter 6, crack is the highly ad- treatment of heroin abuse. This recent trend reaf-
dictive, cheaper form of cocaine. People start using firms the importance of social and political factors
it are quickly hooked on it, and in the mid-1980s in how U.S. society deals with alcohol and other
people who start using it are quickly hooked on it, drugs use. Currently political and social forces are
again the media addicts looking for needles. These contributing to the increased demand. Political and
worked in a political climate that was strongly in social forces are contributing to the increased de-
favor of eradicating drugs and drug abuse. These mand for drug treatment, just as these same forces
worked in a political climate that was strongly in pushed the growth of treatment of heroin abuse.
favor of eradicating drugs and drug abuse. Again, This recent trend reaffirms the importance of so-
the media attention to AIDS and the general public cial and political factors in how U.S. society deals
alarm and fears about AIDS sent addicts looking for with alcohol and other drugs use.
many puncture holes on their backsides that it was difficult to find a fresh spot to give
them a new shot. (Hecht, 1985, p. 270).
“I could have easily gotten It was not unusual in 1968 to see atheletes with their own medical kits, practically
stoned [before coming to a doctor’s bag in which they would have syringes and all their various drugs.
this interview]; it wouldn’t
have bothered me. It de- Side effects of anobolic steroids Then in 1977, two independent laboratories re-
pends on the situation. I ported the discovery of binding sites for benzodiazepines and it was subsequently
woldn’t like to smoke in shown that although specific to benzodiazephines, these receptors are part of
the middle of the day if I what is now called the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor.
have things to do. Or I
wouldn’t smoke in the 1. By origin–An example within this system is drugs that come from plants, such
middle of a class. Things as the opiates, which are derived from the opium poppy. The “pure” (nonsyn-
like that” thetic) opitates include compounds such as morphine.
DRILL S E R G E A N T, D E S C R I B I N G 2. By action, according to similarity of drug effects for example, marijuana and at-
SMOKING TO NEW RECRUITS
rophine both increase heart rate.
(Cited in Krogh, 1991, p. 74)
3. By theraputic use, or according t similiarity in how a drug is used t reat or mod-
ify something in the body.

10. Herbal products, hor mones, and dietary supplements | 5
TA B L E 1 6 - 2 Summary of five major categories of models of the causes
of substance-use disorders, and their implications for
treatment
Model Cause(s) Treatment
Moral The making of personal choices Punish legally or intervine
to use alcohol and drugs in a spiritually.
harmful way, when other
choices could have been made.
American Disease Substance-use disorders are Identify those with the
progressive, irreversible diseases disease, confront them to
that are the products of a mix abstain from drugs and
of physical and spiritual causes. alcohol.
Biological Genentic or physiological Advise people at risk for
processes. problems of their risk status.
Counsel those at risk to avoid
alcohol and drugs entirely.
Another exciting discovery has been the development of new drugs that are an- relapse
A term from physical disease,
tagonistic at the benzodiazepine receptor. Depression is one of the most common relapse means return to a previous
psychiatric disorders in the United States. Depression oftern is classified as one of state of illness from one of health.
two major types–endogenous and exogenous. Lithium is the major drug used in As applied to smoking, it means the
smoker resumes smoking after
treating the mood disorders of mania and manicdepressive illness. Lithium is the having abstained for some amount
only psychiatric drug that is an effective prophylaxis against disease recurrence.1 of time.
It is different to provide a complete definition of anxiety, given the wide array of
phenomena it encompasses. Then in 1977, two independent laboratories reported
the discovery of binding sites for benzodiazepines and it was subsequently shown
that although specific to benzodiazephines, these receptors are part of what is now
called the GABA-benzodiazepine receptor. The “pure” (nonsynthetic) opitates in-
clude compounds such as morphine. By action, according to similarity of drug ef-
fects for example, marijuana and atrophine both increase heart rate.
FIGURE 16-5 Selection of human brain showing inside of left
hemisphere
1
In addition, cress-tolerance occus between drugs. They also potentiate one another. In fact ben-
zodiazepines are commonly used to withdraw alcoholics from alcohol. Thus, substantial evidence
indicates a common mechanism of action for depresant drugs (Breese, Frye, Vogel, 1983).

11. 3. Press Page down to move forward one slide. Of course if you are
already on the last slide, this action has no effect.
4. Press Page up to move back one slide.
5. Press Enter to add a new line. Your cursor moves to another line or
bullet point, depending on the slide’s layout.
6. Press Tab or use the Demote button. This demotes the bullet and the
text that you type will be indented.
7. Press Shift+Tab or use the Promote button. This promotes the line
one level higher than the preceding line.
Result: You have just added text to your slide in the slide pane. Both the text
and any formatting that is present are visible. To correct any mistakes,
press the Backspace or Delete keys. Chapter 3, “Edit Text,” provides
more sophisticated ways to edit your text.
TIPS FROM A PRO: As you add text to your slides, try to use parallel construction.
For example, use a series of verb phrases or a list of nouns. Just don’t mix them
together. Look at the examples shown in Figure 2.4.
ADD TEXT IN NOTES PANE
CORE OBJECTIVE: Add speaker notes
How: Click in the notes pane to type comments. Notice that as you type previ-
ous lines of text are not visible. If you want to see a larger section of
your notes, just resize the pane.
Result: You now have notes at the bottom of your slide to help you remember
when you want to give the audience handouts, when to add that rele-
vant anecdote, or when to ask a question of the audience (Figure 2.5).
Your listeners cannot see them; they are only to help you. You learn how
to print your notes in Chapter 8, “Print and Deliver.”
Figure 2.4 Parallel grammar Figure 2.5 Normal view with notes in the notes
pane
74 Chapter 2 Work with Text

12. TIPS FROM A PRO: If you want to make the text in any of the panes appear larger,
use the Zoom button on the Standard toolbar. Click in the pane that you want to
enlarge, click the drop-down arrow next to the button, and select the desired per-
centage.
TASK 3 Add Speaker Notes
CORE OBJECTIVE: Add speaker notes
What: In Task 2 you learned how to enter notes in the notes pane, but
PowerPoint offers two additional methods for entering speaker notes.
Why: More options means greater flexibility. You aren’t limited to one view to
enter notes—add them in every view!
ENTER NOTES IN SLIDE SORTER VIEW
How: Here you don’t need to page from slide to slide; you can enter notes for
all your slides in one convenient location.
1. Use the mouse to select the slide.
2. Click the Speaker Notes button.
3. Enter your notes in the Speaker Notes dialog box, as shown in Fig-
ure 2.6.
4. Repeat steps 1-3 to type notes for additional slides.
Result: The notes appear in the space at the bottom of the slide just as those you
entered in the notes pane but you can’t see them unless you go to one of
the other PowerPoint views.
Figure 2.6
Entering speaker
notes in Slide Sorter
view
Task 3: Add Speaker Notes 75

13. Semantics supercharge your content.
Semantics

14. Semantics
• What are the pieces called?
• How do your users/customers describe them?
• Who knows best? Authors? Acq/devel editors?
Copyeditors? Mktg/sales? [All of the above!]
• There’s a place for both flexibility and rigor:
keywords, controlled vocabularies, taxonomies,
ontologies: make them fit your needs.

15. Example: Cookbook content
Could you tag this with
a standard model?
Sure.
Disaster d i r e c t i o n s :
1. Barrage optimistic homebuyer with too-good-to-be-true offers.
i n g r e d i e n t s : 2. Reward bankers based on making the deal, even if it’s a bad one.
1 Optimisitc homebuyer 3. Ignore homebuyer’s likely inability to pay.
3 Greedy bankers 4. Overvalue property.
2 Irresponsible rating agencies 5. Issue mortgage.
Unrealistic expectations 6. Simmer until it blows up in your face.

16. Example: Cookbook content
<recipe> <ingredients> <directions> But this
is more
useful.
Disaster d i r e c t i o n s :
1. Barrage optimistic homebuyer with too-good-to-be-true offers.
i n g r e d i e n t s : 2. Reward bankers based on making the deal, even if it’s a bad one.
1 Optimisitc homebuyer 3. Ignore homebuyer’s likely inability to pay.
3 Greedy bankers 4. Overvalue property.
2 Irresponsible rating agencies 5. Issue mortgage.
Unrealistic expectations 6. Simmer until it blows up in your face.
<qty> <ingredient> <sequence> <step>

17. This .jpg
image
from
Corbis is
loaded
with
keywords!

18. Don’t throw out useful stuff.
Workflow

19. Workflow
• Capture semantics at all stages.
• Refine semantics at the right stage
—e.g., PE or CE can make terms consistent.
• Designers & typesetters have to tag
every component that needs to be distinguished.
• Use consistent terminology throughout the
workflow—Word styles in copyediting, InDesign
styles for comp, class attributes in your HTML.

20. XML future-proofs your content.
XML

21. XML
• It’s a non-proprietary language designed for
people and computers to understand and use.
• XML can use any vocabulary at any stage
—for consistent markup and metadata.
• Optimize to fit the person, tools, & purpose
—doesn’t have to be the same form at all stages:
simple for copyediting, more detail for comp,
richer & more hierarchical for archive/interchange.

22. Standards leverage collective experience.
Standards

23. Standards
• You aren’t as unique as you think you are!
—Don’t reinvent wheels!
• Others have found the “gotchas.”
• Speak a common language with others like you.
• We’re at a major inflection point for standards:
—DocBook, TEI, & NLM now easier to implement
—EPUB 3.0, ONIX 3.0, DAISY 4, nextPub
—HTML5, CSS3, Microformats

24. Metadata is the essential lubricant.
Metadata

25. Metadata
• Metadata answers questions about your books:
—Product identification, subjects, authorship
—Descriptions, excerpts, prizes, reviews
—Status, rights, territories, sales restrictions
—Physical and technical details
• All of this is in ONIX 3.0.
• Can be in a database, in the book, or both.
• Expands and updates for the life of the book.

26. Don’t think you can buy the solution.
Work Smart

27. Work Smart
Common mistakes:
• Buying a CMS before figuring out your
semantics and workflow issues.
• Buying a lot of XML before figuring out your
semantics and workflow issues.
• Trying to use one XML model for everything.
• Losing content intelligence between silos.
• Thinking it’s just too hard. (It’s not!)

28. Work Smart Most of what I’ve recommended
can be done by your existing
staff and vendors with
Common mistakes: commonly available tools
& technologies:
• Buying a CMS before figuring out your
• Word, Excel, InDesign
semantics and workflow issues.
• Filemaker or Access
• Buying a lot of XML before figuring out your
• XML, oXygen, XSLT
semantics and workflow issues.
• Open Source or Vendor tools
• Trying to use one XML model for everything.
• STANDARDS!
• Losing content intelligence between silos.
• Thinking it’s just too hard. (It’s not!)

29. Thanks!
Bill Kasdorf
Vice President, Apex Content Solutions
bkasdorf@apexcovantage.com
+1 734 904 6252