The American College of Physicians developed an overall content management strategy to make content ubiquitous, cohesively indexed, and deliverable through automated systems. They aimed to reduce costs, publish content in a timely manner to targeted audiences, and manage intellectual assets. Their strategy involved creating and managing content in XML format and delivering it through multiple channels. They implemented this strategy in stages from 2001-2005, converting existing content to XML, developing editorial workflows and tools, and moving content to a shared repository with version control and automated deployment. Key lessons included implementing XML gradually, justifying changes based on benefits, developing in-house capabilities, and training staff incrementally.

1. Content Management at the
American College of Physicians
Society for Scholarly Publishing Annual
Meeting
May 30, 2003

2. Content Management at the
American College of Physicians
1. How did we develop the overall strategy?
2. How will we measure results?
3. What is our basic design concept?
4. What are our timelines and objectives?
5. What tools and technologies are we using?
6. How have our workflows changed?
7. What lessons have we learned so far?

3. The Overall Strategy:
Content Ubiquity
Readily accessible to authorized ACP staff and
ultimately, under access control, to authors, peer
reviewers, and web end users.
Cohesively indexed and searchable in a variety of
methods so that interrelated subject matter is easy
to find regardless of its originating source.
Deliverable through automated systems that
support the ACP’s ability to publish the right
information in the right form at the right time to the
right audience.

4. Business Needs
• Cost reduction for content creation, management, and delivery
• Timeliness to market
• Ubiquity of content
• Disciplined management of intellectual assets
• Personalization of member information needs
• Targeting of partner needs
• Ability to provide multiple channels of distribution for content sales
• Increased portability and re-use of content
• Improved reliability and credibility of content
Content Infrastructure Strategy
Delivery of Content
Creation of Content (Multi Channel)
• Article solicitation Management of • Web sites
• Authoring-origination Content • Products
• Collaboration • Global/local access • Partners
• Peer review • Content security • PDAs
• Copy-editing • Version control • Print
• Revision • Access restrictions
• Retention • Inventory/reports
• Metadata/indexing
• Multiple file types
Enterprise-wide
IT Standards Existing technology
Enterprise-wide Business &
Corporate Processes strategies & platforms
Technical Resources • Data integrity
• Security • Database management systems
• Corporate strategic planning • Existing technical staff in
• Backup and recovery • Network operating systems
• Resulting goals & objectives IS, IT, & individual departments
• Disaster recovery • Applications development
• Capital & operating budgets • RFP/contract administration
• Availability & accessibility tools & platforms
• Finance & legal staffs
• Auditing • Content markup standards
• Documentation

5. Results Measurements
1. Shortened timeframes to bring new products
to market.
2. Increased ability to develop products
targeting specific niche markets.
3. Better ability to re-purpose already-
developed content for additional uses.
4. Quicker response to breaking news and
fast-track market needs.

6. Results Measurements
5. Better ability to meet the needs of licensees
of the ACP’s content and other partners.
6. Interlinking between ACP products of similar
subject matter.
7. More effective processes to update aging
content.
8. New processes to engage authors and peer
reviewers in collaboration over the Internet.

7. Content Development/Deployment
Conceptual Design
Content Creation Content Deployment
Electronic Products
• PIER
• acpjc.org
• annals.org
• MKSAP
• PIER • e-books
• Journal Club • e-commerce
• MKSAP
• Annals
• Others…
Content Repository
Business Partners
• Allscripts
• Ovid
• EBSCO
• Infotrieve
Standardized content Print Product
in prescribed formats • Annals of Internal Medicine Hybrid Products
Content distribution • MKSAP • Bioterrorism web site
• ACP Journal Club • Clinical decision support tools
Content revisions

8. Timeline: 2001-2003
1. Convert content of all revenue-producing
ACP publications to XML.
2. Allow product delivery deadlines to drive
progress.
3. Use existing staff, existing technology, and
existing budget.
4. Optimize staff organizational structure.

9. Timeline: 2001-2003
5. Develop a disciplined content structure.
6. Develop process-driven editorial workflows.
7. Remain flexible regarding specific editorial
and programming tools.

10. Timeline: 2003-2004
1. Move all appropriate product/publication
content to a shared repository.
2. Establish content access control, check-
in/check-out, and versioning.
3. Install automated workflow applications.
4. Develop metadata assignment systems and
editorial tools.

11. Timeline: 2003-2004
5. Implement automated deployment of
content.
6. Establish content update processes and
mechanisms.
7. Implement robust content querying for
editorial and product development staff.
8. Allow web end-users to create a
“personalized” home page containing links
to content specific to individual interests.

12. Timeline: 2004-2005
1. Progress towards a fully-featured, web-based
collaborative authoring system.
2. Implement a fully-featured, real-time (“dynamic
load”) delivery system.

13. CM Systems Architecture Functional Design
Content Creation Content Deployment
External Data Sources XML-to-HTML
Staging server:
• PIER
Conceptual Repository • acpjc.org
• annals.org
NLM MeSH,
Lexi-Comp Drug XML-to-print:
drug database, etc. information • Quark
Citation
Engine
database Lexical tools • XyVision
(Xindice) • PDF
• XSL:FO
Special Applications
Databases
PDA portal:
ACP-Originated Content
Applications
Deployment
• Palm
(File check-in/check-out) • Pocket PC
Ap Ed Primary Content Repository
pl ito • XML files
ic ri
Author- at al • Non-XML files
Internal staff io
submitted ns
XML prod. files Special XML files
content
to partners
Non-XML Administrative Repository
production files
(Word, HTML, .jpg,
.gif, .pdf, Quark, etc.)
Internal Staff XML-to-DHTML, txt
Administrative •CD-ROM
Files

14. Editorial and Conversion
Tools in Use (so far)
XML-to-HTML
and
Word-to-XML XML-to-Print
Editorial Tools Conversion Conversion
 Word  Logictran  XSLT
 XMetaL  Python  XSL:FO
 NotePad, Note  Search &
Tab, WordPad, Replace
etc.  Word macros
 XMetaL macros

15. Development and Infrastructure
Tools in Use (so far)
Other Special
Development Applications Main Content
Tools Databases Repository*
 Java  Xindice Either:
(XML database)  Documentum
 Tomcat (web
server)  Oracle or
 XyEnterprise
 Xerces (XML Content@
parser)
* under consideration;
 Ant (build tool) decision on or about
7/1/2003
 JSP, servlets

16. Old Workflow
Word
rtf
composition
print
SGML
public web

17. New Workflow
Word
XML
preview web
public web
composition
print

18. Lessons Learned (so far)
1. Implementing XML backwards up the workflow, step by
step, not all at once, causes the least disruption and the
most immediate benefits.
2. Justifying each change in terms of clear, specific, and
immediate benefits to productivity, quality, and
deliverability determines what step is next and reduces
the “fear factor.”
3. Developing programming capabilities within your staff
results in flexibility and reusability; outsource
programming only when absolutely necessary and then
transfer the technology to internal staff upon completion.

19. Lessons Learned (so far)
4. Planning, organizing, and documenting the new
production process are very necessary but also very
labor-intensive.
5. The new workflow significantly increases the number of
pre-composition steps, and the brunt of the labor falls to
the editorial staff, particularly editorial assistants.
6. Training editorial staff one at a time on just those tasks
they need to know to get their work done in the new
environment keeps the confusion and disruption to a
minimum.

20. Lessons Learned (so far)
7. Traditional skilled copy-editors fear that the new
environment will cost them productivity and quality; it is
difficult to overcome this skepticism and build their trust.
8. Developing, testing, and implementing a particular
process as a “pilot” project for just one product ease the
sharing of the new capability with other products
because it is already proven and routine.
9. Using project leaders with real-life “been to the
mountain” experience provides champions and
cheerleaders who can give encouragement, direction,
and reassurance to the staff.

21. Helpful resources
Web sites:
 www.econtentmag.com
 www.sys-con.com/xml/neww.cfm
 www.impressions.com
Consulting firms:
 Really Strategies, Inc. (www.reallysi.com)
 Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc. (www.amanda.com)