Tutorial:Digitizing Your Backlist

Dr. David Durand & Rebecca Goldthwaite

O’Reilly Tools of Change for Publishing ConferenceJune 18, 2007

Rebecca GoldthwaiteThomson Learning

Rebecca Goldthwaite

• Director, Strategic Partner Management-Production

• Background• Project Manager, TL backlist initiative• Production Technology Analyst• Production automation initiatives &

workflow specialist• Semantic Web initiatives• Production Editor• Web developer & graphic designer

Why Digitize Your Backlist?Rebecca Goldthwaite

Why Digitize Your Backlist?

• Agility• Media-neutral content• Produce any type of product from one

content base

Why Digitize Your Backlist?

• Meet accessibility requirements [NIMAS and others]• National Instructional Materials

Accessibility Standard• http://nimas.cast.org/about/resources/creating_ni

mas.html• used to create:

• Braille• large print• HTML• DAISY talking books using human voice or text-to-

speech• audio files derived from text-to-speech

transformations• and more

Why Digitize Your Backlist?

• Repurpose content• Long Tail publishing strategies

Why Digitize Your Backlist?

• Repurpose content cont…• eBooks• Online products• Custom textbooks• Revisions/editorial needs• New revenue sources

The Backlist Project TeamRebecca Goldthwaite

The Backlist Project Team

1. Functional Areas2. Staffing3. Project Management4. Vendors

Project Team: Functional Areas

1. Identify functional areas to include

TrainingGroup

ProductionTechnology

Rights &Permissions

VendorManagement

ContentServices

Production

Editorial

ProjectManagement

Project Team: Staffing

2. Determine size of team required

TL Total: 22In addition to editorial & rights and permissions representatives

TrainingGroup

0

ProductionTechnology

3Rights &

Permissionsvarious

reps

VendorManagement

1

ContentServices

6+

Production

11TPPs

Editorialreps from

all lists

ProjectManagement

1

Project Team: Project Management

3. Identify your project management needs• Internal vs. external• Individual vs. team

Project Team: Vendors

4. Choose your vendor[s] wisely• Onshore vs. offshore• Experience• Training requirements• How many?

• Schedule• Consistency/quality• Tracking

Backlist Project ManagementRebecca Goldthwaite

Backlist Project Management

1. Training2. Quality Assurance3. Schedule4. Budgets5. Tracking & Reporting6. Obstacles

Project Management: Training

1. Identify training needs• Internal• Vendor• Project mgmt team• Documentation• Query/response plan

Project Management: QA

2. How will you check the quality of the conversion?• QA tool decisions• Distributing files for QA• Internal QA vs. external QA

Project Management: Schedule

3. Build a realistic schedule• Vendor expectations• Content complexity• Internal resource bottlenecks• Technology & tool hurdles

Project Management: Budget

4. Determine the budget constraints of your project• Allocated $$$• Invoicing• Plan for the unforeseen

Project Management: Tracking & Reporting

5. Identify necessary tracking and reporting tools/templates

Project Management: Obstacles

6. Eliminate bottlenecks• Content availability• Content integrity• Complexity of content• Quality assurance• Staff workload• Pipeline reporting for trend analysis

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Cumulative Titles Ingested XPF Awaiting Source FilesComplete Titles Awaiting Conversion Source Files Awaiting XPFTitles Awaiting Approval Titles Awaiting IngestionTotal Titles

Lessons LearnedRebecca Goldthwaite

The Thomson Learning Backlist Project

• 1300+ titles• 187,000+ pages• Mixed content• Internal project management• 3 conversion vendors located in India• TL-supplied onsite training• Mix of internal and external QA

Lessons Learned

• Engage your team• Build relationships• Have a realistic, solid plan• Remain flexible• Manage your resources• Automate QA