Glossary
Access control Secures content and identifies who can read, create, modify, and delete content.
Adaptive content Adaptive content is format-free, device-independent, scalable, and filterable content that is transformable for display in different environments and on different devices in an automated or dynamic fashion.
Adobe Digital Editions Adobe’s proprietary eReader and eBook management software. It’s an application that runs on Windows, Macintosh systems, and Linux. It’s designed to enable the user to download, manage, and read eBooks. It supports PDF, EPUB, and Adobe Flash-based content. Fonts can be made larger or smaller and the text reflows to fit the screen.
Approvers Approvers provide the final sign-off for content before it is “posted” or published. Approvers can also be reviewers, and while their permissions are similar to the reviewers’ permissions, approvers have the final authority to determine if the content is ready to go to the public.
Authoring tool A tool that enables authors (content creators) to create content.
Authors Anyone involved with creating content of any type (for example, text or graphics).
Automated reuse The process by which the system decides how to reuse content based on information product models, metadata, and business rules. See also reuse and reusable content.
Basic eBook A basic eBook includes text, images, and table of contents, but no additional functionality.
Building block approach Allows you to identify a core of information that is applicable for all information products or customers, and then builds on it to customize information for different uses and customers.
Bursting The process of breaking content into component parts before storing the content in a content management system.
Categorization metadata Organizes content into logical categories (groupings) that aid in the retrieval of content. Categorization is used by content users to retrieve content.
Change management The process of communicating and managing change throughout the organization.
Check in The act of putting content previously checked out of a content management system back into the content management system. Content is versioned when it is checked back in.
Check out The act of signing out content from the content management system. When content is checked out, no one else can modify that content because it is locked.
CCMS See component content management system.
CMS See content management system.
Collaborative authoring Ensures that the content components, such as product descriptions, are consistent and can be reused wherever they’re required—in a printed brochure, on the Web, on a mobile device. To ensure content elements will meet all needs, everyone involved in creating content must work together to figure out exactly what their needs are and make decisions about how such elements are to be reused, structured, and written.
Component A discrete piece of content that is about a specific subject, has an identifiable purpose, and can stand alone. Components can be reused multiple times in multiple information products.
Component-based reuse The process by which components of content are reused. See also reuse and reusable content.
Component content management system Manages content at a granular (component) level of content, rather than at the page or document level. Each component represents a single topic, concept, or asset (such as an image or table). Components are assembled into multiple content assemblies (information products) and can be viewed as components or as traditional pages or documents. Each component has its own lifecycle (owner, version, approval, use) and can be tracked individually or as part of an assembly. See also content management system.
Component metadata Provides the ability to find components of information so they can be reused in different content assemblies or for different purposes.
Component model Describes the structure of specific types of content, for example, a recipe, a value proposition, or an overview. Component models can be used over and over again with different content. The structure remains the same; only the content changes.
Conditional reuse The process by which authors provide variants for reusable content in a single component, with the variations identified by conditional tags or metadata. Often called “filtered” content because the content is filtered in or out depending on where and for whom the content is being published. See also reuse and reusable content.
Content audit An accounting of the information in your organization. Requires analyzing representative materials and looking for similar or identical information.
Content inventory A content inventory is a complete list of all the content you plan to manage. For example, a content inventory could apply to the contents of a website, a suite of books, or learning materials.
Content lifecycle The various phases that content moves through, such as creation, review, management, and delivery.
Content management system Software or a suite of applications that help an organization to store and manage their organizational content. Includes access control, version control, and workflow.
Content modeling The process of determining the structure and granularity of your content.
Content models Define the structure of information products and their constituent content components.
Content reuse Content reuse is the process of reusing specific pieces of content. Reusable content is written as components or elements. See also reuse and reusable content.
Content silo trap A situation created by authors working in isolation from other authors within the organization. Walls are erected among content areas and even within content areas, which leads to content being created, and recreated, and recreated, often with changes or differences in each iteration.
Content structure The content structure consists of models that represent the desired structure for both your information products and your topics.
Controlled vocabulary A list of metadata terms in which each concept or subject has a specific term to be used. A controlled vocabulary reconciles all the various possible words that can be used to identify content and differentiates among all the possible meanings that can be attached to content.
Core information In a building block approach, information that is applicable for all uses. See also building block approach.
CRM See customer relationship management system.
Crosswalk See metadata crosswalk.
Customer relationship management system A system to collect and integrate customer information. Can be integrated with other management systems.
DAISY, DAISY consortium See Digital Accessible Information System.
Darwin Information Typing Architecture Known now by the acronym DITA, this is an open content standard that defines a common structure for content that promotes the consistent creation, sharing, and reuse of content. DITA is an XML-based architecture for creating and delivering content as components, typically as discrete, typed topics.
Derivative reuse Reuse with change. The derivative component is a “child” of the “parent” (source) component. When the source component changes, the owner of the derivative is notified so the author of the derivative component can review the changes to the source component and determine if any changes need to be made to the derivative. This ensures that content remains as similar as possible. See also reuse and reusable content.
Descriptive metadata Used to help customers find information—books in libraries, PDF files on a company fileserver, or content on the Web. Sometimes called publications metadata.
Digital Accessible Information System Known by the acronym DAISY, it’s a multimedia publishing system designed to enable the creation of publications for use by those unable to read print. The goal is to provide audio publications that are as easy and efficient for the listener to use as a traditional publication is for a sighted person. DAISY is managed by the DAISY Consortium, which is being incorporated into the International Digital Publishing Forum.
Digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is a term used to describe a form of digital lock that is used to restrict access to content. It’s designed to allow the creator (or publisher or copyright holder) of digital content to determine where and how that content can be accessed. It can be used to restrict content to a particular user, device, location, or system. The usual goal is to ensure that only the person who purchased the content has access to it.
DITA See Darwin Information Typing Architecture.
DMS See document management system.
Document management system A traditional system that manages documents, for example, correspondence, reports, and publications, for an enterprise. It can usually deliver content in the original source format, convert to other formats, and produce PDF versions of content. See also enterprise content management system.
Document type definition A document type definition (DTD) is the form of document definition used to support and effectively describe XML file structures, providing the vocabulary and allowable structure of the elements in an XML document.
DRM See digital rights management.
DTD See document type definition.
Dublin Core The Dublin Core Metadata Initiative promotes the widespread adoption of interoperable metadata standards. The Dublin Core Metadata Element Set defines 15 elements of semantic metadata (Contributor, Coverage, Creator, Date, Description, Format, Identifier, Language, Publisher, Relation, Rights, Source, Subject, Title, and Type).
Dynamic content Content that is assembled to meet customers’ specific needs, providing them with exactly what they are looking for, when they are looking for it, and in the format they are looking for.
eBook An electronic book. It may be a digitized form of a printed book or be electronic only. In general, it’s an electronic representation of a printed book. eBooks, as opposed to enhanced eBooks or eBook apps, typically consist of text and graphics. They can be displayed on eReaders, tablets, personal computers, and mobile phones.
eBook app An eBook application is a method of delivering an interactive and media-rich experience to the reader.
ECMS See enterprise content management system.
Ecosystem An ecosystem describes the “self-contained” nature of a publisher’s offerings. iTunes (and iBooks) from Apple, and the Kindle and Kindle Store are probably the best known such ecosystems.
Editors Editors review and make changes to content; the scope of their changes depends on their role as either substantive or copy editors. Editors can also be reviewers, but unlike reviewers, their permissions allow them to modify the content.
E Ink (e-Ink, e-ink, eInk) E Ink™ is a proprietary form of electronic paper manufactured by E Ink Corporation, founded in 1997 and based on research started at the MIT Media Lab. This “paper” is used as the screen on most eReaders (such as the Kindle) with grayscale (black and white) screens.
Element The smallest part of a model that can be semantically defined but not broken out into a separate component.
Element metadata Identifies content at the element level. Element metadata is used by content authors to identify content for reuse.
Enhanced eBook An eBook that has been “enhanced” with audio, video, 3D, or certain interactive features like JavaScript.
Enterprise content management system A hybrid system designed by vendors to manage web content lifecycles as well as document management lifecycles. An enterprise content management system (ECMS) often includes records management functionality.
EPUB EPUB, short for electronic publication, is an open standard for electronic books from the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). This standard is used by the majority of eReaders.
eReader eReaders are thin, light (usually single-purpose) devices. They last a long time between charges and they have screens that are very easy to read in bright light (especially sunlight), but because they are not backlit, they are much less readable in dim light. eReaders typically use E Ink software for screen display of eBooks.
Extensible markup language Extensible markup language (XML) is a markup language for documents containing structured information. A metalanguage, XML contains a set of rules that expand the amount and kinds of information that can be provided about the data held in documents. XML is a subset or restricted form of SGML. A goal of XML is to enable content to be served, received, and processed on the Web in the way that is not possible with HTML. XML has been designed for ease of implementation and for interoperability.
Extensible metadata platform Extensible metadata platform (XMP) is a metadata framework (a method of labeling content) created by Adobe. XMP provides a method for combining metadata from “documents” and all their associated components. The metadata for each component is preserved within the container content assembly.
Extensible stylesheet language Extensible stylesheet language (XSL) is a language used to create stylesheets for XML. An XML document must be formatted before it can be read, and the formatting is usually accomplished with stylesheets. Stylesheets consist of formatting rules for how particular XML tags affect the display of the content on multiple devices.
Extensible stylesheet language transformation Extensible style language transformation (XSLT) is a language for transforming XML to other formats such as InDesign, Word, or HTML.
Fallback mechanism A mechanism provided in EPUB that allows an eBook to display an alternate if the primary content cannot be displayed. For example, if a video cannot be displayed on a particular device, EPUB can fall back (alternatively display) to a static image.
Flowcharts A means of depicting a process from beginning to end, using flowcharting symbols to indicate the type of tasks in the process.
Fragment-based reuse The process by which a piece of a component, such as a paragraph, sentence, or bullet, is reused. See also reuse and reusable content.
Generated text Text that is not supplied by authors but is generated or mandated by the structure. Examples are the numbers in a numbered list, numbers in headings, numbers in numbered tables or figures. Standard titles are often created using generated text.
Governance The process of managing change. Involves steering or directing the content, the people who create it, and the systems that support it through both the day-to-day and long-term content lifecycles.
Granularity Granularity refers to the smallest reusable element of information. See also physical granularity.
HTML See hypertext markup language.
Hypertext Markup Language Created in the early 90s by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN (the European Laboratory for Particle Physics) as a way for scientists to share information. Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) is the best known application of SGML for the Web.
Identical reuse Content is reused without change. See also reuse and reusable content.
IDPF Acronym for the international digital publishing forum.
In-depth analysis Part of a content audit; involves further examination of common information found in the top-level analysis to see how or if it can be reused. See also content audit and top-level analysis.
Information product An assembly of content components, for example, a press release, an executive profile, a brochure, or an instructional course.
Information product model A hierarchical ordering of components. The IPM can be used over and over again with slight variations for different content.
Information typing Information typing is the analyzing you do to identify the type of information a piece of content represents, for example, an introduction, summary, glossary term, or quiz.
Intelligent content Content that is structurally rich and semantically categorized, and is therefore automatically discoverable, reusable, reconfigurable, and adaptable.
International Digital Publishing Forum The International Digital Publishing Forum is charged with creating, managing, and maintaining the EPUB set of standards.
IPM See Information product model.
LCMS See learning content management system.
Learning content management system Designed to assist in the creation, management, and delivery of learning materials. It supports the complete process of content authoring, content management, reuse, workflow and delivery.
Learning management system A learning management system (LMS) facilitates and manages delivery of content for eLearning materials to students. The focus of an LMS is registration, course tracking, and student evaluation.
Linear flowchart A means of depicting a process from beginning to end, often using flowcharting symbols to indicate the type of tasks in the process.
LMS See learning management system.
Locked reuse Reusable content that cannot be changed except by an authorized author.
Mandatory elements Elements are specified in an information model as either mandatory or optional; mandatory elements are those that must be included for an information product to be considered complete. See also optional elements.
Manual reuse The process by which authors manually find a content component, retrieve it, and reuse it by pointing to the source content. See also reuse and reusable content.
Markup language A mechanism to identify structures in a document.
Metadata Data that describes other data. Metadata is often referred to as an attribute. Metadata is the encoded knowledge of your organization. Metadata are descriptive terms attached to an object (element) that allow for additional information about the element and accurate indexing and querying of the element. XML elements are indexed by metadata that is described in the DTD or in the XML document itself, enabling other applications to interact with it.
Metadata crosswalk Maps the structure and the semantics of one set of metadata to the structure and semantics of another set of metadata. Usually a table is used to map one set of metadata to the other.
Metric Measurement of a particular characteristic of a task (for example, duration, effort, quality, cost, value delivered, or customer satisfaction).
Mobipocket Mobipocket is the eBook format used to create Kindle-based eBooks. Mobipocket was created in 2000 and it quickly spread throughout the personal digital assistant (PDA) market, where it achieved broad acceptance. Mobipocket was purchased by Amazon.com in 2005 and has become the underlying software for the Kindle.
Modular content See reusable content.
Modular stylesheet A stylesheet that is built in layers; allows layers that are common across multiple stylesheets to be shared.
Module A collection of content or data that implements one idea or concept.
National Library of Medicine The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is a DTD developed by the US National Library of Medicine to structure information for publication in scientific and medical journals and other publications. It is fast becoming the de facto XML standard for those journals.
NLM See National Library of Medicine.
OASIS Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards. This not-for-profit consortium drives the development, convergence, and adoption of open standards for global information.
Optional elements Not required, but recommended elements. See also mandatory elements.
PCCM See publishing-oriented component content management system.
PDF See portable document format.
Persona A profile of a typical user represented with a description of a “real” individual.
Personalization Delivery of personalized content (content that specifically meets the customer’s needs). Uses dynamic content to automatically assemble appropriate content. Learns from user actions on content and requests for content, and predicts users’ content requirements.
Physical granularity The physical chunk of information stored in the CMS.
Players Everyone involved in the content lifecycle, for example, customers, authors, reviewers, and publication staff.
Portable document format A cross-platform file format developed by Adobe Systems, Inc. Portable document format (PDF) documents are created using Adobe Acrobat software and the PostScript language.
Portal A special web page that organizes access to all online resources about a topic, providing a one-stop shop of sorts.
PostScript A page description language from Adobe Systems, Inc., PostScript translates the text and graphic images that appear on the computer screen into instructions for the printer. PostScript must be used with a printer that can interpret it.
Process Part of workflow; the flow of tasks, as performed by the various players, showing the interactions and interdependencies among players. See also workflow and task.
Publishing The process of rendering, or outputting, files from the CMS into the required output format (for example, PDF or HTML).
Publishing-oriented component content management system A publishing-oriented component content management system (PCCMS) is a CMS designed to meet the needs of the publishing industry. Content is managed as native XML and content is managed as components. See also content management system.
RDF See resource description framework.
Reflow The automatic reformatting of text and images in an electronic document to fill the virtual page on an eReader when the orientation of the reader is changed (from vertical to horizontal, for example) or when the font or font size is changed. Like water that flows freely, the content will spread out and flow from page to page, leaving no wasted space.
Resource description framework The resource description framework (RDF) was developed by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C). Unlike Dublin Core, RDF is a framework for describing and interchanging metadata; it doesn’t actually define metadata. Because it uses XML, RDF imposes a specific structure that explicitly defines semantics, ensuring consistent encoding, exchange, and machine-readable processing of standardized metadata.
Reusable content Self-contained components of content that can be used more than once in combination with other components.
Reusable learning object A reusable learning object (RLO) is a component of reusable content intended for learning materials.
Reuse The practice of using existing components of content to develop new content. See also reusable content.
Reuse map Identifies which elements are reusable, where they are reusable, and how they should be reused, for example, identically, or derivatively.
Reuse strategy Defines the way content will be reused (manual versus automated), the types of reuse (identical, section, component, conditional, fragment, or variable), the level of granularity, and the reuse governance strategy.
Reviewers Reviewers check content for such things as accuracy, completeness, and appropriateness. Reviewers are usually limited to making comments about the content without changing it.
Rich text format A method of formatting text designed by Microsoft and intended as a universal standard for exchanging documents between different programs. Special symbols indicate such characteristics as bold, italic, the formatting of paragraphs, and so on. Microsoft Word files can be saved in rich text format.
RLO See reusable learning object.
Roles Part of workflow; the people who do the tasks, identified by their roles. See also workflow and task.
Schema A defined structure for a document or type of document. Sometimes used synonymously with document type definition (DTD).
SCORM See shareable content object reference model.
Section-based reuse The process by which an entire section or grouping of components can be reused at once. See also reuse and reusable content.
Semantic information A part of an information model; uniquely identifies the content of that element, making it easy for authors to identify exactly what content they should include. Semantic information also enables the identification and reuse of specific content.
SGML See standard generalized markup language.
Shareable content object reference model SCORM is a model for sharing learning objects; developed by the Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) network to provide a standard for reusing learning objects.
Standard A rule, principle, or measure established as a model or example by authority, custom, or general consent. In the computer industry, standards are rules that encourage open systems and provide the basis for portability, interoperability, and manageability.
Standard generalized markup language Commonly referred to as SGML. “A language for document representation that formalizes markup and frees it of system and processing dependencies” (ISO 8879 4.305). SGML is the parent language of XML.
Static content Information created in a specific way for a specific purpose; this information remains the same until the author deliberately changes it.
Structural reuse The process of reusing common content structures across a variety of information products. Structural reuse is defined in content models. Structural reuse facilitates content reuse. See also reuse and reusable content.
Structure The hierarchical order in which content occurs in an information product (for example, web page, brochure, or article) or component.
Structured content Content in which the organizational hierarchy of information has been identified in a systematic, consistent manner.
Structured writing The practice of writing content following structured writing guidelines, so information can be effectively reused and still fit the “style” of each document. Authors write to meet the structure of the content models, using element definitions to guide them in creating elements consistently.
Stylesheet Structured, controlled content needs to be formatted before it can be read; this formatting is usually accomplished with the use of stylesheets. Stylesheets consist of formatting rules for how particular semantic tags affect the display of a document on a computer screen or a printed page. See also XSL stylesheet and modular stylesheet.
Swimlane diagrams Show processes in “lanes” (like the lanes you swim laps in) to depict tasks that occur concurrently, illustrating who does what, and when. Used to design workflow. See also workflow.
Tablet A tablet is a multifunctional device. Tablets run applications and allow the reading of eBooks. They can handle everything from Basic eBooks to enhanced eBooks to eBook apps. A tablet can also be used to browse the Web, run nonbook applications, and play video and audio.
Task A unit of work within a workflow. Workflows comprise multiple tasks which can be executed serially, in parallel, or on a conditional basis. See also workflow.
Taxonomy A hierarchical representation of metadata. The top level is the category, and each subsequent level provides a refinement (detail) of the top-level term.
TCMS See transactional content management system.
TEI See text encoding initiative.
Text encoding initiative A rich and complex tag set managed by the Text Encoding Initiative Consortium that develops and maintains a standard for the representation of texts in digital form.
TMS See translation memory system.
Top-level analysis Part of a content audit; involves scanning representative information products to find common information. See also content audit and in-depth analysis.
Transactional content management system A CMS that has been designed to manage eCommerce transactions. Usually provides full web content management system (WCMS) capability. See also content management system and web content management system.
Translation memory system A system that uses pattern matching to match content that’s already been translated.
Unified content strategy A repeatable method of identifying all content requirements up front, creating consistently structured content for reuse, managing that content in a definitive source, and assembling content on demand to meet customers’ needs. A unified content strategy makes it possible to design modular reusable content that can be efficiently “manufactured” into a variety of information products for multiple devices.
Valid In the context of XML, valid refers to information elements in a document that are allowable, based on the structure defined by the DTD.
Variable Values that can be assigned names and used by referencing the name. Variables are an excellent mechanism for reusing small elements of content (like product names) that are used in large numbers of places and that are subject to frequent or last-minute change.
Variable-based reuse The process by which reusable components can be used where a variable is set up to have a different value in different situations. See also reuse and reusable content.
Version control Ensures that each time content is checked in, another version (copy) is created and is assigned a new version number. The version number is incremented to indicate its difference from the previous copy.
W3C See World Wide Web Consortium.
WCMS See web content management system.
Web content management system Assists an organization in automating various aspects of web content creation, content management, and delivery. Delivery to the Web is its primary format, but many WCMS systems also deliver to mobile. See content management system.
Workflow Defines how people and tasks interact to create, update, manage, and deliver content. Workflow helps organizations perform tasks in an efficient and repeatable manner.
World Wide Web Consortium An international community comprising member organizations, full-time staff, and the public, whose mission is to lead the Web to its full potential. It develops open standards to ensure the long-term growth of the Web.
XML See extensible markup language.
XML first The point at which content is converted into XML in the workflow to allow production of content for multiple platforms and easy reuse. Sometimes known as XML early.
XMP See extensible metadata platform.
XSL See extensible style language.
XSL stylesheet A stylesheet written using XSL. See extensible stylesheet language.