The PRISM Aggregator
Message
Overview of PAM
The PRISM Aggregator Message is a standard format for
publishers to
use in transmitting XML content to aggregators
and syndicators.
The PRISM Specification defines a collection of metadata
elements for common publishing needs. But to apply them
in specific situations, such as for delivery of content
to web sites and secondary licensing partners, it is
necessary to define an XML format that combines PRISM
metadata with content markup to support those specific
processing objectives. The PRISM Aggregator Message is such a specific standard.
By enabling the delivery of detailed information in a
consistent format, the PRISM 2.0 DTD or PRISM 2.0 XSD
allows publishers and other content-related companies to
better communicate with a broader range of partners who
are just now standardizing on XML. Many major
publishers, other content rights holders, and developers
of software tools and information and retrieval systems
have indicated their plans to support this standard.
The Aggregator XML tag set has been designed to meet
the business requirements of the members of the Working
Group. After examining numerous samples from every publisher,
the group did an extensive review of all requirements
and how an aggregator tag set could address them. See
the press release for more details.
The Business Case for PAM
Following are some of the benefits of the Aggregator
Message. The Guide to the PRISM Aggregator Message explains
these benefits in more detail.
- The use of a single, industry-standard format for
extraction and acquisition reduces the errors and
costs of tracking and deploying multiple formats to
communicate with multiple business partners and makes
it possible to automate these processes.
- The value and accessibility of the content will
be increased because time to market is reduced by
the use of a single format for all organizations.
- The use of a common industry format reduces the
barrier to entry for all publishers and content aggregators.
This is especially valuable for smaller organizations.
- Aggregators manage content from a large numbers
of sources. By providing a common metadata standard,
PRISM helps everyone in the electronic content business
track, use and re-use their content.
- Providing content encoded in XML enhances the content’s
value because it makes it possible to re-purpose it.
For instance:
- Information marked up as tables is now accessible
as data.
- In-line XML markup lets you identify names,
key phrases and other important data elements
such as organizations. This ability greatly improves
search and display flexibility and increases the
possibilities for new products.
- Standardization of the use of special characters
gives you wider access to more scientific symbols
and foreign characters. Furthermore, they can
be handled automatically.
All of these capabilities combine to let you use your
content on a wider variety of output media and products,
getting more value from your information assets.
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