Parallel Publishing with Quark

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Parallel Publishing with Quark
Ian Bartlett and Jeremy Speller UCL
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Presentation Content

• What we publish and how
• What we wish to achieve with LinkUP
• Requirements
• Pilot project and Developments
• Problems and Issues
• Demonstrations

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What we publish and how
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How We publish

• Five staff (currently six for Prospectus
  redesign)
• Printed publications take lead still very
  important but website rapidly taking over,
  especially for international markets
• Copy sourced from departmental staff across UCL
• Audited, proofed and typeset by SRPW staff
• Content manually converted to web. Ensures
  consistency, accuracy but is slow
• Involves lots of hand-editing and copy/paste

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What we wish to achieve with LinkUP

• Single data source for print and web
• Consistency of data across print and web
• Consistency of data across information providers
• Minimise, or reduce, updating work for central
  and departmental staff as web expands in
  importance
• Use CMS to provide update interface reducing
  paperwork

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Requirements for LinkUP/PP

• Works with QuarkXpress
• Server mounted database with ODBC access. Have
  used MySQL and Oracle
• Well-structured data need to analyse and
  standardise content
• Simpler the content, better it works. Reduce the
  use of special characters where possible
• Ideally tie development into redesign/revision of
  a publication

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Pilot Project and Development

• Began pilot of Study Abroad Guide, hoping to
  publish in July 2006.
• Staffing issues, data structure issues
  published web version only, but did use database.
  
• Surprise benefit of delay SITS/IPP purchased for
  enquiries/online prospectus.
• Can use SITS data tables for parallel publishing
  (uses Oracle)
• Now looking at revised SAG in full, with update
  interface for July 2007.
• UG Prospectus to follow Feb 2008 in line with
  SITS
• View current online Study Abroad Guide

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Problems and Issues

• Data Structure SAG inconsistent, needs attention
  
• Writing for print and web overcome with careful
  data structure (revision of publication)
• Need to manage shift from paper to print focus
  needs careful handling and thought about process
• Versioning do not want to write to live
  database and need audit/proof/final versions
• LinkUP not supported by UCL, so reliant on MC
  Research
• Tied into QuarkXpress
• Issue with ODBC on Macs not yet resolved
• Special Characters problematic can strip them
  out

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LinkUP Demonstration 1

• Fully marked-up QuarkXpress document
• Uses key fields in relational database to link
  tables
• Requires strict hierarchy
• Three levels in SAG Department, Level (Year) and
  Module (L1 L2 L3)
• All tied together by LinkUP Record Number
  generated automatically as mark-up takes place
• Need to tell LinkUP relationship between tables

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LinkUP Demonstration 2

• Unmarked QuarkXpress document
• Switch on LinkUP
• Three stages to creating database-linked Quark
  document
• Create datasources in LinkUP
• Establish relationship between tables
• Mark-up copy
• Use LinkUP Record Number to identify records
• Use key fields to tie levels in each record
  together can be hidden.
• Configure field behaviours

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LinkUP Demonstration 3

• Marked QuarkXpress document export
• Small change to a couple of fields live data
• Ensure record is configured for export
• Click export and confirm
• Data writes into database
• View update online

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LinkUP Demonstration 4

• Amend database and write back to Quark file
• Enter Oracle tables (via Access linked table)
• Amend and save
• Import into Quark by clicking import and
  confirm
• Can do this through CMS interface may actually
  do it through SITS as this is being rolled out
  anyway and dept staff should be used to it.

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Summary

• Works pretty well does what it says
• Data structure is absolute key
• Process evaluation extremely important
• Not certain of preferred way of working yet
• Print-databaseweb
• Database-printweb
• Web-databaseprint
• Any Questions