In the first part of this post we discussed making the decision to build your website as an independent software application tailored right to your needs, or buying an off-the-shelf version. The next choice you’ll have to make is between two broad categories of applications that will deliver the user experience you have in mind: Web content management systems (WCMS) and portal frameworks. While people tend to use words “website,” “CMS,” and “portal” almost interchangeably, these are actually very different beasts. Read further >

I believe it was Niels Bohr who said, “Prediction is very difficult, especially if it’s about the future.” That quote could have easily come from wisecracking baseball legend Yogi Berra, who replied “Do you mean now?” when asked for the time. Read further >

I have been attending CPA partner meetings all week and one of the main topics was how to become more efficient. Partners from digital offices reported an increased realization and a move from charging (billing) by “time” to “Fixed” and “Value Billing.” Read further >

So, you have been charged with building a new website for your company. It has to present all this nice content that you create, integrate some other content from the Internet, and maybe also add some e-shopping or social networking features. You did some thinking and came up with initial requirements for your soon-to-be-marvelous.com product. Then you talked to your technology partner, either your IT colleagues or supplier, asking them for an offer. Read further >

For the major part of my professional life I have always answered the question “So, what business are you in?” without a quiver of a doubt: “I’m in professional publishing.” But today, it’s proving more complicated to answer the same question, as the term “publishing” clearly falls short in describing the industry in which we work. We are now even moving beyond “information retrieval,” into a variety of solutions that under a common denominator could be labeled “knowledge support” solutions. Read further >

This past Wednesday, September 16, I participated as a speaker in NAPCO’s Publishing Business Virtual Conference & Expo. NAPCO, by the way, stands for “North American Publishing Company.” You can register for on-demand access to the video and audio from the entire expo (until December 20, 2010). You can use the agenda to determine which sessions you would like to attend. Read further >

“Getting information off the Internet is like taking a drink from a fire hydrant.” – Mitch Kapor

I remember all the speculation in the 1960s and 1970s about the world in the year 2000. I remember predictions of flying cars, colonies on Mars, and drive-through automated supermarkets. Dick Tracy had a phone in his watch. Arthur C. Clarke’s 2001, A Space Odyssey, had us routinely traveling to the moon, and occasionally to Jupiter. Computers were gigantic all-knowing, all-seeing machines that made us smarter, more comfortable, and more affluent.

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While I was preparing for a business trip, I couldn’t help myself but think about a world without print, more specifically without printed books. Not a coincidence since I was about to attend the annual Wolters Kluwer eBook Summit. Read further >

Rich media or multimedia is a recent phenomenon in the digital sense, but its roots stem back to the ancient campfires where our ancestors used sound and visual elements to share information, ideas and stories. In the past 25 years I’ve witnessed some major developments and advances I’d like to share. Read further >

I must confess that I am a voracious reader. I regularly read e-mails and e-newsletters on my BlackBerry, as do many other smart phone users. I recently started reading books on the device – something I never expected to do – and I was pleasantly surprised by the experience. While waiting for a delayed flight, I discovered that I didn’t have any traditional reading material with me and I didn’t want to buy any. I had heard about Kobo e-book reader for mobile devices and I thought this would be a good time to try it. Read further >