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The Evolution of Dorland’s
A Brief Study in Content Management
Presented by: Doug Anderson
Title: Chief Lexicographer
Date: May 11, 2005
Dorland’s in a Nutshell
The name Dorland’s has stood for
excellence in medical dictionaries for over a
hundred years. The Dorland’s offerings
have evolved from a pair of print works, one
large and one pocket-sized, to an entire line
of products, including dictionaries, a spell
checker, a set of word books for medical
transcriptionists, and related products,
available in a variety of formats.
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The Problem
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A large amount of data that had been
accumulating for many years
A proprietary mainframe database
No direct way to access the database
No way to reuse data
Venerable work methods
Need to control costs
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Old Days—Old Ways
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Database and Editorial System Separate
Proprietary Tagging
Lots of Data Entry
Lots of Paper
One Database, One Book
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The Old Way
Lexicographers
Typesetting
Cards Cards Cards Cards
Typesetting
Consultants
Consultant Galleys
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What’s Wrong With This Picture?
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Time-consuming
Labor-intensive
Piles of paper
Expensive
Inflexible
The main function of the database is to feed
the typesetting system
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Content Management I
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Relational Database
Everything in One Database—One
Database, Many Books
Direct Access to Data
Data Management Becomes Part of the
Editorial Process
SGML
Tremendous Savings in Time and Cost
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Content Management II
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Content Reuse—Store Once, Use Many
Times
Content Repurposing
More Flexible Editorial System
Enforcement of Consistent Content
Ability to Publish in Multiple Formats
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Vasont
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Content is Automatically Reused Across Products
The Same Piece of Text Can Be Used in Multiple
Ways in Different Products
Several Products Can Be Called Up
Simultaneously
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Editing Can Be Done in Edit Boxes or With an Editor
Cross-References Help Maintain Consistency
We Can Publish In Multiple Formats, Print or
Electronic
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How We Got Here
Enhancements to
Meet Identified Needs
Identification of
New Opportunities
Identification of
New Needs
The Virtuous Cycle of Expanding Opportunity
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Where Do We Go?
Considerations
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More Bang for the Buck
The Requirements of the Marketplace
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The Global Marketplace
Customization
The Demand for More Formats—Print, CD-ROM, WebBased, PDA, BlackBerry
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XML
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We No Longer Think in Terms of Print
Products Only
Products in Electronic Format Are
Increasingly Important
Licensing Customers Prefer XML
Even our Typesetting Vendors Like XML
So…
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XML
…of course
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Where Will It End?
?????????
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