DocBook, Publishing Tools of the Trade

DocBook came into being in 1991 through the efforts of HaL Computer Systems and O’Reilly & Associates. They created a model, a schema, based on SGML and XML to define the structure of a document. Originally intended for technical books, DocBook has become one of the prevalent tools in the publishing industry. Why?

First, DocBook is not a definition of how the book looks; it is a definition of the structure of the book. Instead of saying that a paragraph is displayed with Times New Roman type at 12 points, with 6 points before, DocBook marks the text as a paragraph. Later a style sheet can be applied to the document which says that any paragraph is represented by Times New Roman, 12 point type, with 6 points before. This is not so important if the book is only published in one format, ever. But, if the book is published in different formats, for example, as a printed book and as a eBook, the same DocBook file, with two different style sheets, can perform the two different tasks. This is a tremendous savings.

I know I’m coming at this from a technical writer’s point of view. Using something akin to programming is not scary in the technical writing world. For traditional publishers this might be a little daunting at first. The payoff, however, is tremendous.

I heard a great Tools of Change panel discussion (2009) with members from Blurb, Greenleaf Book Group, Thomas Nelson, Lulu.com, and O’Reilly Media about the future of publishing. Phrases like, “nothing but NET”, and “we’re on the cusp”, [we have to] “get it out to the world” point to a revolution in publishing. It doesn’t take much to note the number of publishing houses that are folding or are undergoing immense transformations to stay in business. The publishing industry is no longer about books. It is about information.

DocBook is one example of how information can be stored, retrieved, and disseminated to the public. It has the advantage of being Open Source. Open Source is self-regulating and constantly moving forward to meet the needs of its community. DocBook is well-established. It has almost 20 years of experience under its belt. And because it has so much history, it is comprehensive.

Are the drawbacks? Yes. Using DocBooks is not “what-you-see-is-what-you-get” (WYSIWYG). For an author that is a daunting prospect. To take an author’s manuscript and port it into DocBooks does take time; it is not instantaneous. Designers, book layout artists, anyone involved in traditional book publishing may have difficulty at first adjusting to tags, elements, and style sheets.

Are there any WYSIWYG front-ends to DocBooks? Yes. oXygen is one. As time goes on more will emerge.