September 1, 2010
Screenshot from Semantico's Dictionarium app
Semantico’s Dictionarium app is available for download from the app store now (short link at http://bit.ly/dictionarium)
We’re really pleased with how quickly we managed to get this live in the app store. The app was approved on first submission – a testament to our internal QA.
Creating a dictionary has given us the perfect opportunity to refine a number of important concepts we use when developing mobile apps.
Throughout the design process we’ve taken care to optimise the display for both the iPhone and the new iPad devices. Delivering an app for both devices is not only essential for publishers, who don’t want to develop the same content twice, but also for end users who don’t want the complication of downloading different apps in order to access the same content.
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August 26, 2010
The COUNTER project recently announced that vendors wishing to remain compliant to the code of practice for books and reference works must now undergo a mandatory annual audit. Previously an audit was only required after the first year of delivering the usage reports.
This will be good news for those librarians who are concerned that the figures publishers provide after the first year of compliance might be inaccurate. An annual audit should ensure that no software errors suddenly appear.
However this will be bad news for those wanting to see costs kept down in a sector which is already hugely challenged by budget cuts. Publishers must bear the extra costs of the annual audit, and it’s hard to imagine that these will not be passed on to libraries in some way.
The audit must be carried out by a professional organisation recognised by the COUNTER project. This includes ABC Electronic in the UK, who offer a fixed price for this service. I contacted ABC Electronic to find out their prices but I did not recieve a reply.
It’s hard to imagine a worse time for this change. Although the financial impact will be fairly small, costs and budgets are being squeezed from all sides at the moment. Lets hope there are no more changes like this in the pipeline.
Update: After I published this ABC Electronic saw this blog post and called me to apologise for not replying to my email enquiry, and I subsequently received pricing details for the COUNTER compliance auditing service they provide.
August 25, 2010
The Semantic Web has taken significant steps towards reality in recent months, with the powerful triumvirate of Google, Facebook and Twitter moving to integrate elements of semantic technology into their operations.
All of a sudden, a development that for too long appeared to be stalled by the chicken-and-egg problem of how website owners could be induced to tag their metadata looks to be in imminent danger of going seriously mainstream.
Marketers, it seems likely, rather than academics, will lead the charge to the VW campers from here on in. And in all probability, publishers and information providers who aren’t already waxing their boards in preparation for this particular wave of technologic change could risk being left behind as it steadily takes on tsunami proportions and thunders beachwards.
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July 29, 2010
Report from the Semantico Online Publishing Symposium on Mobile and Cross-platform Delivery – Part Three
Publishers know they have to innovate to survive in the jungle of online publishing, with the big beasts of technology such as Amazon, Google and Apple all too willing and able, it seems, to disintermediate traditional publishers out of existence.
But two conflicting models of innovation seem to present themselves. One is open, data-driven and responsive, the other more ‘walled garden’ and perhaps even hieratic in character. How should publishers decide which to follow? view this post »
July 28, 2010
Making information searchable has never really been the point. Instead, our goal as online publishing specialists is to make our client’s information findable! After all it isn’t really the users’ fault if they can’t find relevant results. Even if they’re not using quite the right search terms or operators, it is our job to deliver them the most pertinent information in the right order, maximising the possibility that they will find the information they need.
Search should be clairvoyant: like a magical librarian who somehow correctly guesses what it was you were looking for; offering it up within a fraction of a second, along with a wealth of additional filtering options and navigational possibilities.
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Richard Padley
Managing Director,
Semantico