New e-Book Standards Pushed

by Jim Milliot, PW Daily -- Publishers Weekly, 6/20/2006

In an effort to create a more seemless experience for both publishers and customers, many of the major software companies and device manufacturers in the e-book market are backing new common standards being drafted by the International Digital Publishing Forum. The new standards will address how e-books are produced and read.

At present, there is no common standard used by producers and manufacturers. As a result, customers can’t read a Palm e-book on a Microsoft Reader, noted Nick Bogaty, executive director of the IDPF. If companies adopt the new standards, not only will customers be able to read e-books on different devices, but e-books will be cheaper and easier to produce, which should lead to more titles being available, said Bogaty. “We’re looking to create the MP3 for e-books,” Bogaty said about the goal of attaining file flexibility.

Two working groups have been created to establish the new specifications. The two groups are the Unified OEBPS Container Format Working Group and the OEBPS Working Group

The Container Format working group is set to release a container format to allow publishers to release only a single standard file into their sales and distribution channels instead of the multiple proprietary files that they currently produce. The container format is expected to be submitted to the IDPF for approval in the next several weeks.A draft specification is publicly available here.

In the second specification, the OEBPS Working Group is developing the next generation of OEBPS to improve this XML-based standard as both a production and a final delivery format for digital publications.The effort will focus on detailed control of content rendering, navigation and accessibility, and alignment with other standards efforts. It could be ready by year end.

To view all the working specs and documents please click here.