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Leading content providers and tool vendors collaborate on technology demo to exchange standard XML metadata: solving business problems and exploiting cross-media opportunities.

BOSTON (Seybold, Feb. 9, 2000) - Members of the Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard Metadata (PRISM) Working Group, who represent leading content providers and software tool vendors alike, are giving Seybold attendees a glimpse into the future. Their technology demonstration is the highlight of the IDEAlliance booth (#230), itself a focus of XML activity this week.

"What we're showing you is a vision of a PRISM-enabled world," explained PRISM founder Linda Burman, "We're demonstrating how metadata can be used effectively to solve business problems and contribute to the bottom line. If everyone uses the same vocabulary, processes can become predictable and therefore, automated. Once that happens, only exceptions will require the labor-intensive attention that almost every task requires today."

What is metadata and why does it matter? Metadata is information about information. It includes things like rights and permissions, subject classifications, information about components' relationships to each other, creation and publication dates, and so on. A PRISM-driven standard metadata vocabulary could have an impact on many business processes, making it possible for publishers and other companies to:

• Repurpose information efficiently - standardizing searches, categorization, extraction and personalization
• Improve search precision for querying and data mining - resulting better data for "what ifs," and new product development
• Automate localization of information
• Improve post processing for syndications, aggregation and archiving
• Facilitate management of rights and permissions

The PRISM Working Group includes senior developers, standards leaders and strategists tasked with planning the future for major publishers. The current Working Group member companies are Adobe Systems, Artesia Technologies, Cahners Business Information, Conde Nast Publications, Getty Images, iCopyright.com, International Data Group (IDG/ITworld), KPMG, MarketSoft, Metacode Technologies, Quark Inc. sothebys.com, ShiftKey, Time Inc, Vignette Corp. and Wavo. Members of the IPTC2000 NewsML Metadata SubCommittee are also working with the PRISM WG members.

Publishing industry leaders are finding the potential of a fully realized PRISM standard highly compelling.

"Quark is very focused on enabling media-independent publishing, and PRISM promises to be an important part of our efforts," said Mark Lemmons, vice president of strategic development at Quark, Inc. "PRISM provides a way for Quark to work with leading-edge publishers and other tools vendors to solve problems that can't be addressed by any single company. It's very exciting."

"PRISM opens the door on a world where publishers and their constituencies speak with a single voice and shared vocabulary," said Sebastian Holst, vice president of marketing for Artesia Technologies, "creating a connected economy for publishers where process and people connect to create new information-based products brought to market in a fraction of the time. We are extremely pleased to be a part of this important work."

IDEAlliance is a vendor-neutral organization supporting the development of industry information standards. The formation of IDEAlliance is the latest step in the Graphic Communications Association's (GCA) more than 30-year history of fostering the development of various structured information standards. For more information on IDEAlliance or PRISM, visit booth 230 here at Seybold, our web site at www.idealliance.org, or contact IDEAlliance Chief Information Officer Pete Janhunen at 703/519-8190 or pjanhunen@idealliance.org.

Other PRISM Working Group Members see a standard metadata vocabulary as the key to e-commerce in the publishing industry

"Cahners feels that standardized metadata will enable us to create an efficient and effective content management service that better supports Web initiatives both internally and externally. Standardized metadata also would allow us to work with other publishers who have adopted these same standards."

Charles Lillis, Vice president of Licensing and Brand Development, Cahners Electronic Media Group

"Users want easy access to content, regardless of where or how the content is held, and creators and publishers want to provide such access within an orderly framework. PRISM's standard metadata vocabulary will support the smooth interaction of the various elements of the emerging information infrastructure, from content creation and delivery to tracking rights and offering automated copyright clearances."

Glenn Ochsenreiter, VP of Industry Relations & Marketing for iCopyright.com

"PRISM is about connecting businesses through a common language. This provides a basis for Distributed Information Management, which simplifies the exchange, management and transformation of digital information between business partners. A standard language is required to provide each partner with an understanding of what they are sending or receiving and how it fits into their critical business processes."

Adam Souzis, Co-Founder and Chief Strategist, ShiftKey.com

"PRISM provides a necessary component of an overall solution to manage publishing information in a multi-vendor world. Together with other e-business standards such as ICE (Information & Content Exchange), PRISM is a practical solution to real business challenges."

Brad Husick, VP Standards & Evangelism, Vignette Corporation

"At WAVO Corporation, we focus on delivering news, information and content in the most timely and efficient manner possible to the end user. We see PRISM as an essential part of the effort to create a broader market for our rich media delivery service."

Deren Hansen, Director of News Technologies, WAVO Corporation