SGML
The Billion Dollar Secret
Published on 9. January 1997
Book
Paperback/Softback
240 pages
978-0-13-226705-2 (ISBN)
Description
Helps corporations use SGML to create and exchange information in ways that are dramatically more cost-effective -- and offer significant new business opportunities.KEY TOPICS:Introduces new ways to think about documents -- and how SGML uses this new paradigm to reduce costs and present new opportunities. Shows the limitations of word processors and desktop publishing systems, and how SGML helps overcome them. Presents detailed case studies at Sybase, Grolier, United Technologies' Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, and Mobil Corporation, as well as the SGML implementation used by the semiconductor industry's Pinnacles Initiative. Presents the lessons that can be learned from these case studies, and shows where to go from here. MARKET:For document managers, project leaders, CIOs, directors of MIS, and anyone responsible for managing large amounts of information within an organization.
More details
Content
Figures.
Foreword.
Introduction: A Book For Executives.
Why 'the Billion Dollar Secret'? How the Book Is Organized. Acknowledgments.
1. The Cottage Industry.
Right Under Your Nose. Document-Based Information. Is Crucial to Your Company. The Productivity Dilemma with Documents. Writing Document-Based Information: The New Cottage Industry. Computers Can Perform Miracles. When They Have the Right Data. Today's 'Documents' Are Not 'Data'. From Documents to Information: Enter SGML, the Standard Generalized Markup Language.
2. Building Cutting-Edge Information.
Products from Documents. Why It Doesn't Work Today. Taking On a Business Challenge. Electronic Documents. The Publishing Panacea? The Lessons of the Prototype. TIMS Gets Real. Getting to the Source of the Matter. The Trouble with Text. The 101st-Page Paradox. What Went Wrong?
3. Grolier, Incorporated.
The Original Database: Grolier, Incorporated. The Business Challenge. Publishing the 'Original Database'. More Than a Hardware Problem. Understanding the Process and Defining the Objectives. Why SGML? Taking the Objectives to the Manufacturers. Converting 27,000 Pages to SGML. Implementing the System. The Payoff.
4. Sybase, Incorporated.
The Saga of Sybooks: Sybase, Incorporated. The Business Challenge. A Corporate Commitment to Standards. Changing the Way Information Is Delivered. A Rainbow of Online Publishing Solutions. The Solution Is in the Data. Building a New System. Step One: Seed the Field. Getting the Word Processor under Control. A New Product: SyBooks- Interactive. Documentation for Sybase Products. Step Two: Build the Environment. Understanding and Supporting. Writers' Issues. The New System. The Payoffs.
5. United Technologies.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Building Blocks to Better Information: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Twelve Weeks in the Life of a Typical Project. Looking for Solutions in All the Wrong Places. Fundamental Problems with the Process. Getting the Spin on the Right Solution. Selling It Upstairs. Picking the Solution. Why SGML? The Fine Details: How It Works. Reengineering the Organization. Supporting the Experts with Technology. Enhancing the Information's Value with Attributes. Impact on the Organization. The Payoffs. The Electronic Products of the Future- Today. Computer-Based Training Programs. Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals. Expert Diagnostic Systems. Drawing Some Conclusions.
6 Mobil Corporation.
Getting A Grip On 'Gold-Plating': Mobil Corporation. The Business Challenge. Before Technology Comes the Problem. Selling the System. Why SGML? Building EDEP, an Information- Engineering Tool. EDEP in Action. More Than Just a Reference Book. Developing a Bid Document. How SGML Makes EDEP Possible. The Payoff.
7. The Semiconductor Industry.
Tackling the Information Explosion at Hitachi, Intel, National Semiconductor, Philips. Semiconductors, and Texas Instruments. The Business Challenge. The Trouble's in the Tools. The Beginnings of a Solution. Why SGML? The Pinnacles Initiative: Inventing a Revolution. Analyzing the Process of Producing Information. Lessons from the Masters. The Authoring Process Turns Out to Be a Mess. Turning Documents into Databases. The Benefits.
8. SGML Initiatives in Other Industries.
The SEC's EDGAR.
9. Lessons for Your Future:
Learning from the Case Studies. What Do the Case Studies Have in Common? All Were Championed by People Who Could See 'the Big Picture'. All Were Initiated by People Who Were Experts on Their Information. All Looked Past the Software and Focused on the Value of the Information Itself. Is This Really a Billion Dollar Secret? Is SGML Right for Your Organization? Do You Work with Key Documents? Are You Managing Your Information Content, or Its Publication? Are You Ready to Protect the Value of Your Information?
Afterword:
Finding Out More about SGML. Sources of Information on the Internet. Organizations Involved with SGML.
Index
Foreword.
Introduction: A Book For Executives.
Why 'the Billion Dollar Secret'? How the Book Is Organized. Acknowledgments.
1. The Cottage Industry.
Right Under Your Nose. Document-Based Information. Is Crucial to Your Company. The Productivity Dilemma with Documents. Writing Document-Based Information: The New Cottage Industry. Computers Can Perform Miracles. When They Have the Right Data. Today's 'Documents' Are Not 'Data'. From Documents to Information: Enter SGML, the Standard Generalized Markup Language.
2. Building Cutting-Edge Information.
Products from Documents. Why It Doesn't Work Today. Taking On a Business Challenge. Electronic Documents. The Publishing Panacea? The Lessons of the Prototype. TIMS Gets Real. Getting to the Source of the Matter. The Trouble with Text. The 101st-Page Paradox. What Went Wrong?
3. Grolier, Incorporated.
The Original Database: Grolier, Incorporated. The Business Challenge. Publishing the 'Original Database'. More Than a Hardware Problem. Understanding the Process and Defining the Objectives. Why SGML? Taking the Objectives to the Manufacturers. Converting 27,000 Pages to SGML. Implementing the System. The Payoff.
4. Sybase, Incorporated.
The Saga of Sybooks: Sybase, Incorporated. The Business Challenge. A Corporate Commitment to Standards. Changing the Way Information Is Delivered. A Rainbow of Online Publishing Solutions. The Solution Is in the Data. Building a New System. Step One: Seed the Field. Getting the Word Processor under Control. A New Product: SyBooks- Interactive. Documentation for Sybase Products. Step Two: Build the Environment. Understanding and Supporting. Writers' Issues. The New System. The Payoffs.
5. United Technologies.
Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Building Blocks to Better Information: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation. Twelve Weeks in the Life of a Typical Project. Looking for Solutions in All the Wrong Places. Fundamental Problems with the Process. Getting the Spin on the Right Solution. Selling It Upstairs. Picking the Solution. Why SGML? The Fine Details: How It Works. Reengineering the Organization. Supporting the Experts with Technology. Enhancing the Information's Value with Attributes. Impact on the Organization. The Payoffs. The Electronic Products of the Future- Today. Computer-Based Training Programs. Interactive Electronic Technical Manuals. Expert Diagnostic Systems. Drawing Some Conclusions.
6 Mobil Corporation.
Getting A Grip On 'Gold-Plating': Mobil Corporation. The Business Challenge. Before Technology Comes the Problem. Selling the System. Why SGML? Building EDEP, an Information- Engineering Tool. EDEP in Action. More Than Just a Reference Book. Developing a Bid Document. How SGML Makes EDEP Possible. The Payoff.
7. The Semiconductor Industry.
Tackling the Information Explosion at Hitachi, Intel, National Semiconductor, Philips. Semiconductors, and Texas Instruments. The Business Challenge. The Trouble's in the Tools. The Beginnings of a Solution. Why SGML? The Pinnacles Initiative: Inventing a Revolution. Analyzing the Process of Producing Information. Lessons from the Masters. The Authoring Process Turns Out to Be a Mess. Turning Documents into Databases. The Benefits.
8. SGML Initiatives in Other Industries.
The SEC's EDGAR.
9. Lessons for Your Future:
Learning from the Case Studies. What Do the Case Studies Have in Common? All Were Championed by People Who Could See 'the Big Picture'. All Were Initiated by People Who Were Experts on Their Information. All Looked Past the Software and Focused on the Value of the Information Itself. Is This Really a Billion Dollar Secret? Is SGML Right for Your Organization? Do You Work with Key Documents? Are You Managing Your Information Content, or Its Publication? Are You Ready to Protect the Value of Your Information?
Afterword:
Finding Out More about SGML. Sources of Information on the Internet. Organizations Involved with SGML.
Index