Open Ebook Forum Releases Updated Specification

Posted on August 23, 2001

The Open eBook Forum has released an updated version of the Open eBook Publication Structure Specification. Entitled `Publication Structure Specification 1.0.1,' the new industry standard for authoring reusable content for ebook devices and readers supercedes the 1.0 version of the OEB Specification. The Open eBook Forum (OeBF) is an international, non-profit trade and standards organization with a mission to promote the development of a thriving eBook market.

The OEB Publication Structure (OEBPS) is an XML-based specification for the content, structure, and presentation of electronic books. Developed and maintained by the Open eBook Forum, a group of over 85 leading organizations involved in electronic publishing, the standards body and trade association includes Gold Sponsorship from Microsoft Corporation, Adobe Systems and Intertrust Technologies.

``The OEB Specification provides a single common format for authors, editors, publishers, and content owners who want their titles to be readable by a variety of electronic publishing systems and reading devices,'' stated Bob Bruce, OeBF Executive Director. ``It has been widely adopted by many of the major ebook publishers and software manufacturers as the underlying interchange format supporting a variety of ebook reading devices,'' he added.

Version 1.0.1 of OEBPS, which is based on over a year of industry experience with 1.0, does not add additional features to the specification but only removes ambiguities and corrects errors. Version 2.0 of OEBPS, which will introduce new features and substantial enhancements -- particularly in the areas of presentation, linking and navigation, internationalization, and metadata -- is currently under development.

``Comprehensive specifications that achieve the goal of simultaneously supporting both interoperability and innovative functionality are absolutely critical if electronic publishing is going to deliver on its promises,'' said Allen Renear, Chair of the OeBF Publication Structure Working Group and Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. ``The OEB Publication Structure has solidly established itself in ebook publishing as precisely what is needed to build a thriving industry.''