Those were the central questions in a conference session held Monday during Seybold Seminars Boston 99, the electronic publishing trade show that runs this week in Beantown. However, integrating the two poses many challenges. For example, all media-independent publishing systems use a database to store media assets destined for print and online publication.
Some organizations face the prospect of integrating disparate print publishing workflows.
For example, Tishler noted that Houghton-Mifflin's eight divisions each have unique publishing systems. Hannon said that media-independent publishing systems must often integrate information from departments that previously had little to do with publishing. All three speakers agreed that implementing a media-independent publishing system requires a major commitment from the entire organization, along with input from a variety of players, including designers, editors, production staff, financial specialists, and IT professionals. Creative Input One challenge for designers working with media-independent publishing systems will be maintaining creativity. To maximize efficiency, these systems require that data be highly structured, but there's a danger that this will lead to designs that look as if they came off an assembly line.