Chapter 1
Everything you know about publishing is wrong

Time to publish
It used to be that within the organization information was like gold. It was hoarded (and still is!). It represented power and influence. If you wanted it you had to make a major effort to get it. But that entire dynamic has changed, driven by an information-hungry society and powered by the Internet.

Now, information has become like milk. You need to distribute it quickly or it becomes worthless. What you know right now is not nearly as important as your ability to learn more. Your ability to communicate what you know is as important as what you know. In an age of stability, those who know inherit the earth. In an age of change, those who know how to know inherit it!

A defining characteristic of business over the last thirty years has been the focus on reducing the time-to-market for a product or service. In 1970, for example, it took ten years to develop a new car. By 2000, it took less than five. If a computer printer develops a fault, the quicker content is placed on a website describing how to fix that fault the better. Publishing that content six weeks after that fault has been isolated delivers far less value than publishing it immediately.

A primary reason the Internet was invented was to get quality content published faster. “The importance of improving decision-making processes,” J.C.R. Licklider and Robert Taylor wrote in 1968, “not only in government, but throughout business and the professions, is so great as to warrant every effort.” Those organizations who will succeed in the future will be those who can get the right content to the right person before their competitor does.

Global Sources, a company that publishes business-to-business content that helps Asian producers sell internationally, has found that the Web greatly reduces time-to-publish. According to Andrew Tanzer, writing for Forbes, it can take over two months for a print advertisement produced in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province, to reach an importer in New York. Today, Global Sources, using staff armed with digital cameras, laptops and modems, can have product information in front of a potential buyer within two hours instead of two months.

The Web has significantly reduced time-to-publish within the academic world. Tauber (1996) found that with appropriate content management systems in place, the time it takes an article to get published could be reduced by about two-thirds. While the Web gives the potential to publish faster, the reality for many websites is very different. We have come across the websites of major financial institutions who publish their Tuesday morning notes on the Web on a Friday. It is not uncommon to read about a major development in the papers, and to go to that organization’s website and find nothing on it.

What this means is that just because the Web allows you to publish faster doesn’t mean you will. Unless you have the appropriate commitment to the Web as a proper publishing medium, and unless you implement proper Web publishing systems and processes, your content is likely to be published faster by print than online, even though the later offers a faster time-to-publish potential.


Next: Part 7: The organization as university
Previous: Part 5: Just what is publishing?

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• Augustana College, United States
• Drury University, United States
• Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland
• Indiana University, United States
• Monash University, Australia
• University of Applied Sciences, Germany
• University of Regina, Canada
• University of Teesside, UK

"The term "bible" is now highly over-used in reference to tech books – but if it weren't, that's how I would categorize Content Critical."
Rowan Wilson, Knowledge Management Review

"Content Critical is the best non-technical book on the subject of web content that I have come across to date … For those interested in the ‘change management’ dimension of content and knowledge management, Content Critical may well become the standard text."
Andy Harrison, Content Management Focus magazine

"Content Critical is highly recommended. It belongs in every design library. It should be on the reading list of every course in Web design. Any Web designer who plans to be in business five years from now should read this book."
Ken Friedman, Design Research News

"Content Critical is amply provided with reality checks, examples, and practical ideas and suggestions … The authors have succeeded in writing a book that will appeal to both beginners and experts."
Geert Jan Kraan, Net Professional magazine, Holland

"Content Critical offers a multitude of useful tips, tactics and strategies for creating and managing your website … makes the subject as easily understandable as it is disorganized in reality."
Robin Sherman, American Society of Business Publication Editors

"Content Critical is an excellent book for academics and practitioners alike … It should be read by anyone involved in Website content management, of course, but it should also be required reading for those with responsibilities including internal or external communication (and what academic or executive does not?)"
Colin Jevons, Journal of Consumer Marketing, Australia

 

It is not uncommon to read about a major development in the papers, and to go to that organization’s website and find nothing on it.