Many publishers want to monetise their books and reference content by making these materials available online. And a common strategy to drive sales is to combine book and journal content within a single platform; synergies between different types of content should drive discovery and increase usage.
Some publishers choose to adapt an existing off-the-shelf journals platform to meet their needs for consolidation. However there can be technical problems inherent in this approach. Continue reading →
Report from the Semantico Online Publishing Symposium on Mobile and Cross-platform Delivery
The inaugural Semantico Symposium was held recently in London to discuss implications of the shift to mobile for publishers and information providers. An invited audience of publishing industry leaders debated the issues under Chatham House rules, covering the following three themes:
Written and delivered in partnership with Andrea Powell from CABI, this presentation is a case study of lessons drawn from the CAB Direct project, and highlights issues which are relevant across the board for publishers delivering online content. This includes looking at how to maximise value in the design of taxonomies and coding systems, how designing and improving user experience on the product side can lead to more stringent data quality requirements and some design strategies to minimise ongoing operational costs when designing data transfer workflows between systems. We also look at innovation in the design of machine level API interfaces.
You can watch the full presentation (45 mins) given to the STM E-Production Seminar on 3rd December in Kensington London. Please note that the video will be displayed in a new window.
More on this excellent seminar can be found at The International Association of Scientific Technical and Medical Publishers website.
Video by River Valley TV.
Search Engine Optimisation is a crucial part of any web strategy. Optimisation techniques involve helping search engines to accurately read and index the information on your site and deliver it to potential users through search results. The best techniques do this while with no impact on the user’s experience of the site. Here’s a review of the first steps on any SEO journey.
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What exactly do we mean by ‘accessibility’? It’s not easy to define, since the term can cover many areas and aspects of a resource or product. But when it comes to web sites, “web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the web”. (definition courtesy of the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative). Simple as that. So then why is it so difficult, seemingly, for developers to create a web site that can be accessed by everyone, regardless of whether they have a disability or not?
To be fair, it’s not always the developer’s fault. There are times when their hands are tied, even though they may have the best intentions at heart, by budget constraints – or by a customer who is not willing to pay a little extra money for features that will make their website more accessible. There is also the lack of tools in their working environment which would enable them to fully test a web site (the cost of these tools is not inconsiderable). The aforementioned problems and hindrances can all add up to the development of a product that does not meet accessibility standards. Continue reading →
Many publishers want to monetise their books and reference content by making these materials available online. And a common strategy to drive sales is to combine book and journal content within a single platform; synergies between different types of content should drive discovery and increase usage.
Some publishers choose to adapt an existing off-the-shelf journals platform to meet their needs for consolidation. However there can be technical problems inherent in this approach. Continue reading 
What exactly do we mean by ‘accessibility’? It’s not easy to define, since the term can cover many areas and aspects of a resource or product. But when it comes to web sites, “web accessibility means that people with disabilities can use the web”. (definition courtesy of the