Update from the Co-Chairs

In the first two months since the launch of the Digital Publishing Interest Group, we have already identified approx. 36 Use Cases. They include narratives for pagination, annotation, the representation of mathematical and scientific content in reflowable MathML, and accessibility scenarios for personalized learning materials to specific conditions like Dyslexia. Robert Sanderson provided a suite of Use Cases for the basic model for commenting, annotating, tagging with persistent layout, and with that we have a full spectrum of social reading examples. New use cases are added weekly, so please check in regularly with our Directory on the DigiPUb wiki.

Having real-world examples from users is critical in identifying the technical requirements and the Working Groups that will provide the specification for a seamless, portable, and enjoyable reading or learning experience. User experience will no doubt provide more information as our last weekly meeting explored internationalization, second screen / multi-screen, and the convergence of journals, books, and testing. Use Cases for these are hotly anticipated.

Meanwhile, two Task Force developments are underway. Dave Cramer, Hachette Livre, kindly agreed to lead the Pagination team and Suzanne Taylor, Pearson Education will lead Accessibility. Both of these bring attention to the evolving expectations of the digital narrative as we discover different “rules” for the various kinds of publishing, e.g. STEM, Professional, Education – Testing.

Thanks to the participants of the group for their generosity. If we deliver these open specifications, we will surely have the potential to significantly impact and change the way we deliver and consume information. With the recent announcement from Digital Book World magazine of a $13 e-reader called Beagle, the idea of an eventual free e-reader can't be far off. Smart phones are also beginning to use better e-ink to display text and with 87% of the population owning one, their reach can’t be underestimated

On behalf of my Co-Chair Markus Gylling, we thank you and look forward to keeping you updated with our progress.