What are you reading?
Red House: Being a Mostly Accurate Account of New England’s Oldest Continuously Lived-in House —by Sarah Messer

Your thoughts?
It’s an interesting combination of the history of one area of New England (near where I grew up) framed in relation to a single house, the family who built and occupied it for over 300 years, and another family who moved in and discovered the house’s history while living in and restoring it. The mix of historical recreation and modern family drama kept me intrigued.

Print or Digital?
Print. I like to have a book to read at bedtime to help wind down at the end of the day.

by Tom Beyer, Director of Publishing at iFactory

One of the consequences of putting content online is that it allows publishers to explode the notion of the book as a container. In many ways this seems like a great thing – you can combine content in different ways and even allow your users to pick and choose the content they are interested in. But of course this flexibility does have some restrictions – there are implications that need to be considered to assure you have the right work flows and systems in place to handle the new level of complexity in metadata and user transaction data. Nothing comes without a cost and in this case the cost is the added complexity of more closely managing your content.

The first thing you must ask yourself is if your content lends itself to being chopped up at a finer level of detail than the original book. If the content is highly narrative with a strong story line or argument then it is probably not appropriate for any sort of chunking – fiction and certain kinds of monographs are clear examples of this – no one wants just a few chapters from the middle of Bleak House or Infinite Jest.

But assuming that some sort of disaggregation does make sense for your content, the following describes just a few of the issues that need to be considered as your content moves online and you consider how you want to present it to your users.

Metadata

The most important thing to consider ahead of time is the metadata that needs to be created to allow your content to be disaggregated. If content is being combined into different collections, then there needs to be some mechanism for associating each item of content with the appropriate collection(s). These collections can be based on subject, time, theme – anything that makes sense for your list – the choice is up to you. But there needs to be a mechanism for tagging the data with the appropriate information and communicating that information to your online platform.

Taxonomies are increasingly used to help users find the content they are looking for. Often, publishers already have some of this information at the book level. To make the most of moving the content online this information really needs to be created at the chunk or chapter level. Often this means rethinking the taxonomy – does it need to be more detailed? Is there an industry standard taxonomy that you can use? If so, does your content map link to it or are there big holes where you don’t have relevant content?

One way to think of this is that all of the metadata you currently create and maintain at the book level needs to be maintained at the chunk (often chapter or entry) level. Depending on the kind of books you are entering into the system, this may be an increase in magnitude of the metadata that you manage. Is your system and business process equipped to handle this level of data?

Business Models

How do you intend to monetize the content? If the content is being packaged as part of a database that you plan to sell as a subscription service to librarians, be aware that the subscription model is receiving some increased resistance from libraries in the US. Also, subscription services demand a certain level of content updates to make them viable. Are you prepared to frequently update the system with new content?

One alternative to subscriptions is perpetual access. In this model libraries pay a higher initial fee to ‘own’ the content. This is usually a modest annual fee for the hosting costs of the platform that is providing the content. If this is offered in conjunction with the subscription model then there is usually the need to provide top ups so that perpetual access customers can gain access to the new content that is added to the database over time.

A third model – PDA [Patron Driven Access] pioneered by EBL – is proving increasingly popular with a number of the eBook aggregators providing it. You should consider whether PDA is something you want to consider for your content.

In all of these cases, you need to have internal systems to support selling content in these different ways. Is your current inventory and billing system up to the challenge?

Discoverability

It is vitally important to consider discoverability and SEO in conjunction with your online content. There has been an increasing trend to provide some portion of the content outside the access controlled firewall. Often quick search and the search results page are freely available if not some portion of the content itself. What happens when an unauthenticated user clicks on a result?

Ideally, the platform should at least show metadata about the content and potentially an abstract that entices the user to purchase or subscribe to the content. This means that the publisher needs to provide abstracts for each chunk or chapter of content – sometimes this is simple because the content comes with an abstract (most journal articles, for instance) – but if that’s the not the case,  the publisher must either invest the time to create them or develop an automated solution.

Custom Collections & Custom Publishing

Should you decide to allow your users to select the content for their own custom collections, or to allow for custom eBook or custom POD books you will need to provide even more metadata to the online system. Pricing and authorial information will need to be provided at the chunk level which users can then select. This is critical so that the resulting custom eBook and POD books can be priced appropriately and your authors can be properly compensated. This means you need to get reports which indicate exactly what chunks of content were used and in what quantities, so you can then keep track of these figures for your own internal purposes. Your contracts with your authors then need to spell out how they are compensated when only a portion of their work is used in a custom publication.

Another important aspect to consider are the business rules surrounding how the content can be packaged. Is there a maximum amount of content that users can choose for a custom publication? A maximum amount from any single publication? A maximum total number of publications that can be picked from? Are there certain combinations that shouldn’t be allowed for whatever reason? If you decide to allow users to upload their own content is there a maximum percentage that they can put into a custom publication? Also, do you have any restrictions about where you can sell your content – can you sell worldwide? If so, do you need to control that in your online system? What about a currencies options? Tax and shipping costs for POD publications may also need to be considered.

PubFactory

Disaggregation and custom publishing are major components of our PubFactory online platform. We provide the tools to allow publishers to disaggregate their content but ultimately our publishers are on the hook to provide us with the necessary data to make the system work. Of course, we are happy to provide advice to publishers considering what and how to move their content online. Give us a call!

This week: Jesse Grant, iFactory Engineer

What are you reading?
The Confusion—the second book in the Boroque Cycle trilogy. It’s classic Neal Stephenson all the way.

Your thoughts?
I’ve been a huge fan of [Stephenson's] for awhile and I love the way he blends together pedantic lessons on history and science, with totally exciting and enthralling storytelling.

Print or Digital?
Digital. Amazon Kindle app on my Android phone.

American Library Association Conference June 2010: recurring conversation topics

With libraries undergoing an almost universal experience—migrating from print to electronic collections, while experiencing budget constraints— talk at this summer’s annual American Library Association (ALA) conference orbited around several common topics and one primary question:

How do we meet the library patron/customer/user where they are?

In conversations with librarians, publishers, technologists, and e-book aggregators, the iFactory team was impressed by the shared goal to provide content and research tools that are topically relevant, oriented to the user experience, and make research more efficient.   From these conversations, the iFactory team picked up on some obvious trends that are relevant to the PubFactory platform and our publishing partners.

• Mixed content – Most library users don’t know or care about the difference between reference works, monographs, and journals. They simply want to search and find the content they need to address their research questions. Publishers and librarians are actively considering the reality of integrating journal and reference content on common platforms. This benefits users by limiting access control hurdles, making reference content more discoverable, and providing contextually relevant article-to-article links that allow users to continue their research. As librarian Sue Polanka recorded in her summary from ALA, linking journal and reference content provides some measure of solution to the number one publishing challenge—discoverability.
• Platform interlinking – Just like the mixed content platforms, users want content to be linked between platforms so the can simply jump from resource to resource in pursuit of their relevant topics. Credo Reference and ebrary created some ripples at ALA with the announcement that Credo’s Topic Pages will include ebrary content.
• Free content – More than ever, online publishers are discussing free content strategies as a way to drive discoverability of library resources. With most library users beginning their research with a Google search, having free content that links authenticated users straight into subscription resources is an important strategy for publishers. The release of the Oxford Dictionaries Online free site is an example of how PubFactory supports this strategy for Oxford University Press.
• Mobile devices – The consensus is that the ubiquity of mobile devices on campus will influence scholarly research and reference, but how? Check out this presentation on mobile trends by digital publishing consultant Alix Vance from earlier in June.
• PDA is hot* – Patron Driven Access is the rage among the e-book aggregators. While EBL has pioneered this model, ebrary and Netlibrary have recently expanded their offerings to include demand driven accounts. With patron driven access, users and their research needs drive library collection development. As Cindi Trainor of Eastern Kentucky University said about PDA, “You ask for it, we get it for you.” For an interesting case study, check out this University of Texas, Austin review of their pilot PDA program that opened the entire EBL’s catalogue to the library.

*NOT this kind of PDA!

Implications and questions for PubFactory and our publishing partners

A few weeks following ALA, the iFactory team is asking how these trends impact PubFactory. What do we need to be working on to address the needs of our publishing partners and their end users?

The iFactory team built PubFactory to provide an out-of-the-box platform solution for publishers that can integrate mixed content in a seamless user experience. With libraries and users demanding integrated content, the next step for PubFactory is to continue to work with publishing partners to link relevant article level content together. The goal, here, is to answer the user question: Where do I go next after reading this article?

Following this same user question, what can PubFactory do to facilitate authenticated linking between our various publishing partner’s products? How can PubFactory support linking to eBook aggregator and other non-PubFactory platforms?

The importance of a free content strategy will further the role of PubFactory as platform that supports institutional access while simultaneous allowing a flexible firewall and search engine optimization that helps to ensure publisher resources will be discoverable for library users.

How will publisher platforms influence the way students and scholars conduct research on their mobile devices? How does a library patron’s mobile experience sync with a Web-based resource experience?

With the eBook aggregators forging a PDA business model, will publishers be offering demand driven access to their entire digital catalogue?

Following this summer’s ALA, the PubFactory team and our publishing partners will be spending more time putting ourselves in the shoes of the end user.

Take a look!

A salesman’s perspective on what makes a great trade show booth

I have been selling professional services for almost 18 years, and in that time I have attended many trade shows. In the last few years I have been selling PubFactory, iFactory’s electronic publishing platform solution; and my trade show attendance has increased exponentially. Regardless of where I go, the type of show or the time of the year, I see the same mistakes being committed in both the set-up and manning of trade show booths.  So, to help our current clients, friends and associates, I have assembled a list of do’s and don’ts for your booth…

1)

DO…
Have a warm and inviting booth where people can see and sample your product easily—and without crowding one another. If you have digital products, have multiple computers to run the software so that it can be interacted with and sampled by your visitors.

DON’T…
Have your collateral set up in the back of your booth with your round table and chairs in front, thus forcing your prospective customers to climb over you, your table, and your bag in order to see what you have to offer. Nothing turns people off more than their inability to see, touch and interact with your product.

2)

DO…
Staff your booth with pleasant folks who know the audience and, more importantly, know the product. They should be eager to talk to people and interested in discussing the different products in as much detail as the customer wants. Yes, people get tired, so reward your staff with a few days off afterwards to rest.

DON’T…
Staff your booth with people who sit in the corner and text or talk on their phone all day. Booth costs thousands of dollars, so why would you waste your time being there if your representative is not engaged? This is the biggest issue I see, and I see it more than 50% of the time.

3)

DO…
Have a second person to man the booth if you are setting up appointments as well as holding meetings. Nothing attracts a crowd more than seeing a group of people gathered at a booth; and nothing is worse than having those people walk away because all of your company representatives are busy. People don’t come back; it just doesn’t happen.

DON’T…
Set appointments and meetings in your booth if you are not prepared to have additional ones scheduled by this second person. If you are holding meetings then you should have a schedule available and people should know when you are free.

4)

DO…
Business at the conference; but never forget you are there to engage with people you don’t know, and to discuss business opportunities that you don’t yet know about. Confused? See #3, above.

DON’T…
Lock down your day with appointments you can have at other times; i.e. over the phone, after hours or through client visits.

And for all you managers out there,

DO…
Set realistic goals for your booth staff in terms of leads, opportunities and sales – depending on the business you do. Track the number of leads from show-show, year-to-year. You should know the value of a trade show before you agree to do it, and you should have a reasonably accurate estimate of the results of the show.

DON’T…
Assume that if you give out a handout and a business card that people will call you. Unless you are selling amazing and one-of-a-kind products, people will forget about you. Plus, who goes through their collection of brochures and cards and actually goes the next step and makes contact with you? Very unlikely.

That’s it. Do these few simple things and your trade show efforts will be well rewarded with more business from new and existing clients.

While the interest in soccer at iFactory is somewhat expected—we have folks here that have been playing all their lives—it goes without saying that the World Cup has become increasingly popular on television and computer screens across America. Why the sudden surge in interest?

Major marketing dollars.

Back in 2009, ESPN teased us with ads and essentially promised incomparable coverage of the 2010 World Cup through the “biggest marketing campaign ever.” Deliver they did, since the numbers say it all—“Saturday’s US-England game was the most widely-watched opening round World Cup  broadcast ever,” according to Time.com. But while ESPN is playing a huge role in sparking interest in the Cup, the sports network’s marketing efforts are not the single reason for America’s newfound love. The fans, existing and new, have always been there, but now there are new means to connect with them.

Social media.

Online buzz for the World Cup surpassed the metrics of any other major sporting event. A broader outreach through familiar online communities is another means to connect with existing fans, and engage new ones.

But marketing efforts and networking aside—America loves sports.

In a time of so much uncertainty, when all we often hear of are worldly disasters and economic strife, we take solace in entertainment and friendly competition…even when your office is plastered in the colors of an opposing team.

What about you—have you always watched the World Cup? Is there a World Cup-related website or application you’ve found to be particularly interesting and cool?

It’s not like I come from a generation of quill pens and ink wells—I’m a tried and true Gen Xer who can’t live without my computer/s or my BlackBerry. Yet, when it comes to note-taking and scheduling, give me a Mead and a Bic Fine Point, please.

Perhaps it’s a control issue. Knowing that I’m not going to mysteriously lose my notes due to the blue screen of death (BSOD) or the flashing question mark is indeed settling. Sure, my dog could tear the paper to shreds or I could mistakenly spill coffee all over it, but I’d still be able to salvage my precious scrawls.

I’m not asking for acceptance—not at all. I proudly walk into the conference room laden with laptops and plop my notebook (the spiral-bound kind) on the table. My friends now expect that when asked my weekend plans, I’ll fish my DailyPlanner out of my bag and leave the BlackBerry alongside my house keys.

I suppose I just wonder how many folks out there function similarly to me.

Here’s your chance to come clean. When did you toss your spiral-bound in the trash–or are you still tucking it under your pillow at night?

Oxford Dictionaries Online is Oxford’s innovative modern English dictionary and language reference service. Featuring smart-linked, fully searchable content from Oxford’s largest modern English dictionaries and thesauruses, ODO provides comprehensive coverage of British, US, and World English with more than 350,000 definitions and 600,000 synonyms and antonyms.

PubFactory’s customizable features include a ‘My Oxford Dictionary’ feature for creating your own profile and saving entries and searches, an innovative alpha word wheel for browsing, and a user-friendly advanced search.

“We are delighted to have worked with iFactory in developing Oxford Dictionaries Online,” said Judy Pearsall, Head of Dictionaries, Oxford University Press. “This was a large custom-built project with complex data needs, and iFactory excelled in building an enticing and intuitive interface with underlying data sophistication and robust technology. Overall we’re pleased that it’s been such a good match of design, data skills, and rich content.”

The selection of PubFactory for Oxford Dictionaries Online continues a long-standing relationship between iFactory and OUP.

Read the full release

Visit Oxford Dictionaries Online

My love affair with project management was something of an evolution, and it was a fit that I have grown into. It’s definitely not a job that a 5 year old envisions, but somehow it fits with many of the things I have valued since I was not much older than that.

I am a self-proclaimed jock. I’ve played team sports since I was 5, refereed since I was 11 and coached since I was 12. I believe in all of the lessons we learn about from our coaches, teammates, or classic sports films. I not only believe in these lessons, I’ve carried them with me throughout my career.

First—and most obviously—I believe in teamwork. I believe that 99% of the time, a good team can solve problems better than the individual. Teams generate not only more ideas but also many different ones. There are creative thinkers, logical thinkers, analytical thinkers and dreamers. And most groups have at least one devil’s advocate to uncover possible problems with proposed solutions. No single person can possibly break down a problem from all angles—but a team can. Project management is all about working within the constructs of a team—and I love that. You can’t be a good project manager unless you are a good team player. You can’t be a great project manager unless you are also a great team leader.

This brings me into my second point—a good team needs a good leader, and oftentimes there is actually more than one. On a successful team you have the captain, the coach, and at least one other player that can spark a team’s intensity when they need it most. I’ve played all of those roles on different teams, and they all come with different responsibilities. Being the project manager is most like being the coach—you need to encourage someone else to step up as the captain. Your captain could be a tech lead, a designer, anyone that people trust and want to work with.  The captain’s job is to lead by doing whereas my job is to lead by inspiring. I can pull the team together and guide them by being a strategist, organizer, and manager. But I am not the one playing the game and therefore I only have a certain amount of impact on the outcome. The players need a leader that will take the ball when the game is down to the wire and orchestrate that last minute play. As a project manager and coach I want to help them find that leader, and then give that leader the tools that she/he needs to sink that final shot or score that final goal. And it’s not just about molding the captain, but everyone else as well. On a good team everyone understands their roles and are proud of the parts they play in the game—whether it’s being the star, the 6th man off the bench, or the practice player.

A team understands selflessness, and a good coach embodies that selflessness. The best coaches do what they do for the love of the game. A good coach will design the play for the final shot in their playbook, and
then sit in… the shadows? That’s right—the coach doesn’t usually get credit for that last second shot. After all, the coach might teach the strategies but they cannot implement them. And a good coach understands,
recognizes and embraces the concept of selflessness. The coach’s job is to make glory accessible for their team, and then to step back and enjoy that glory from a bit of a distance. This isn’t always easy, but there is a
certain wonderment in watching someone else succeed and knowing that you helped them get there. For me, there is nothing quite as satisfying. I basked in the glory back in my day, and it was a great feeling. But it doesn’t compare to watching a player that I’ve coached bask in their own glory—that, to me, is true success.

And that is why I do what I do. No project is perfect, but it is my job to help my team work through the imperfections. We won’t win every game—but a champion learns from their losses and uses it to shape their game plans in the future. Our game plan is to win. When we do, my favorite part is watching my team soak in their success.