Software features (SIPP)

The SIPP product suite

SIPP supplies all the functionality needed to build platform based websites, including site construction, management and delivery services.

The SIPP API Toolkit provides a mechanism to build powerful online enterprise platforms with functionality far beyond that found in existing web publishing. It encapsulates the ability to generate new content delivery services with minimal development requirements.

Core SIPP features

Easy data input

Usual input types for the system are XML to widely-used DTD standards such as TEI P4 or DocBook, and PDF files plus metadata. SIPP's extensible design directly supports data coded to any DTD (and indeed non-XML input types) via a flexible server side plug-in system.

SIPP offers support for many different content types, including journal issues or articles, entire monographs or chapters, textbooks and supporting materials, reference works, primary source materials, conference reports, or directory datasets. Content managed by SIPP is grouped into logical data packages for ease of content management.

Products

Granular content, for example individual titles, articles or entries, can be grouped together to form products. Unlike many of the existing online publishing solutions, the platform supports an unlimited number of product offerings, and products can be created dynamically via the integration between SIPP and SAMS.

Searching

A full range of standard searching options are supported all of which can be tailored and optimised using the SIPP template system. Any combination of full text and metadata searching is supported, including drill-down options to refine search results, for example by publication type or taxonomy.

Browsing content

Within SIPP the term browsing refers to the ability to navigate via a list or lists of headings to content pages. In most cases the list is either ordered by A-Z or by a classification scheme.

The destination point of any search or browsing activity is a content page. This presents a view of the key unit of content from a given title. The content is placed within the framework of appropriate navigation, contextual information and supporting functionality.

Classification and thesaurus support

The publishing platform supports a number of implicit and explicit classification approaches all of which can be used to enable platform functionality. Explicit classification is supported through the use of the XFML standard, and implicit approaches include embdded Dublin Core markup and the custom metadata supported by individual DTDs such as TEI or DocBook header data.

Images and other non-textual data

Image content is fully supported by the publishing platform. Images included in a data package when a title is loaded via the staging server will be available throughout the platform.

Other non-textual content can be included in a similar way, including sound and multimedia files such as 3D images, statistical datasets and external links.

Publisher-editable templates

A sophisticated template system is provided enables the publisher to completely customise the system's content delivery functionality. These can also be used to manage supporting information such as news and commentary and also for creating non content products such as conference and event tickets.

The SIPP control panel

This system allows the publisher to load, test and trial new and changed content to non-public copies of the platform, and to control related public sites to allow them to serve new or changed content as required. As a web-based application is allows integration with the publisher's other information systems, including content management and editorial systems.

Access control

The SIPP publishing platform communicates with the SAMS access management system via a fully documented open API. When the two are used together, publishers benefit from superior access control and the ability to set up, change and refine products dynamically.