Publishing With XML 2013

Taught by Tomos Hillman.

This class is and overview of publishing and the impact of technology on
publishing. I will argue that the effects of digitisation on publishing continue
the trend of abstraction, speed to market and reduction of overheads – and
discuss the effect on profit margins! I will also touch on other subjects,
including

• The strengths (and weaknesses) of using XML for single source publishing – multiple
  output
  formats, abstraction and re-use, standardisation of software processes, etc.
• Content considerations: document size vs. number of documents, homogeny of data (how
  much
  variety does your content have)? Options for data modelling. Adding value with metadata,
  linking, discoverability, medium specific content etc.
• Content Analysis and documentation
• Authoring – fundamental differences between linear word processing and hierarchical
  XML
  formats; hangovers from the print paradigm. Advantages and costs in pushing tasks
  upstream. Different methods for supporting XML authoring, including direct XML authorship,
  XML editor views (e.g. oxygen with templates), word templates, etc.
• Copy Editing and type codes – a discussion of a potential stage of copy-editing, mark-up
  and value add. Who does it, and how do we manage the process?
• XML Capture – discussion of automatic and manual methods of capture; working with
  Capturers
  and Keyers, common pitfalls, capture documentation. XML QA – validation, both grammatical
  and rule-based.
• Typesetting and design – if content is simple and consistent, it may be possible to
  automate typesetting; often this may not be the case! Amendment of XML for page breaks,
  etc.
• New editions and re-use of XML.

Taught by Norm Walsh.

Having XML documents, the raw materials of your publication process, is only
part of the story. Modern publishing environments demand reuse and repurposing
of content to maximize its value. That means you need not just XML, but also a
vision for how it can be combined and transformed to deliver new products.

This session will explore some of the fundamental technical pieces of that
vision including the ability to describe workflows that can combine and process
content and the challenges and opportunities afforded by the promise of reusable
documents.

We’ll go on to discuss some specific technical tools that you can use to manage
and develop an effective workflow system. This will include a review of the role
that schemas and validation play in assuring a correct production process as
well as introduce some possibly new tools including XML pipelines.

Taught by Alex Milowski.

Once you’ve have your documents in XML, ultimately you have to address producing
the formats people regularly consume. Print, e-books of various formats, and
HTML for the Web are all possible targets, but how do you get there from here?
This session will focus on understanding the ecosystem of tools, techniques, and
practical strategies that let you produce the various output formats.

Specifically, the focus will be on producing the following formats from the same
set of XML documents:

• PDF output for print
• ePub e-books
• XHTML for various target devices

The session will also focus on a few tools and their uses for successfully
producing various outputs while giving a general overview of the style and
rendering specifications needed to do so. There will also be focus paid to
demystifying the IDPF ePub 3.0 format and the array of possible tools for
producing e-books. The takeaway for attendees are a practical set of strategies
for producing multiple outputs of various formats and quality.

Taught by Adam Retter.

We will firstly consider several different approaches to Web Publishing from XML
documents, we will then examine in more detail the various options for building
entire Web APIs and Applications using just XML technologies.

This session highlights the advantages of using a pure document approach for
producing Web Services and Applications that enable us to publish and consume
XML on the Web.

The session takes a practical and technical approach, with frequent explanation
and discussion of technical architecture and code examples. We also look at
integration with non-XML systems and external Web Services, producing and
consuming non-XML content (e.g JSON, Images, and PDF), and capturing and editing
data using XForms.