Introducing StartwithXML
StartwithXML Forum, New York, February 13, 2008
Michael Healy, ExecuEve Director, Book Industry Study Group

BISG and XML
 BISG has a mission to promote efficiency in the
workings of the U.S. book industry
 Standards are central to that mission
 Many of our standards have been XML‐based
 Product informaEon standards (ONIX)
 E‐commerce standards (XBITS)

What is XML?
 eXtensible Markup Language
 What’s a Markup Language?
 Mechanism for idenEfying structures in a document
 Not just tradiEonal textual documents
 XML defines a standard way to mark up a
document – approved by W3C
 XML, HTML, SGML and related acronyms ….

Some key XML terms
 Schema
 Describes a type of XML document
 Defines the constraints on the content and structure
of that type of XML document
 Presents a high‐level view of the XML document
 Validates that the document conforms to the
schema’s requirements
 Several languages are available in which to express
schemas

Some key XML terms
 DTD – Document Type DefiniEon
 One type of XML schema language
 Defines the “building blocks” used in an XML
document – e.g. the elements, aaributes, enEEes
and notaEons
 Validates the XML document, i.e. it confirms that
the document follows the rules defined in the DTD

Some key XML terms
 Style sheet
 Describes how an XML document is rendered for
presentaEon and viewing
 PresentaEon or viewing may be screen‐based or
print‐based
 Different style sheets will be needed for different
renderings

When today ends
 What support will the industry need to exploit
the benefits of a StartwithXML workflow?
 Are new standards required?
 Are new educaEon and informaEon resources
required?
 BISG is ready and willing to help

Thank you.
Michael Healy
michael@bisg.org
646 336 7141