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Case Studies

Delivering customer success since 1981

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Technologies Used

  • Pattern detection software

  • Automated QC software

  • XML

 

Project highlights

  • 100 years of content online

  • 3-year project completed in 2.5 years

  • Complex content with extensive math, images, tables

“To innovate, dig into your past. When organizations look into their past, they often find great value and opportunity in their content and in their own ’big data.’ The impact of these assets can be large. Aside from helping breathe new life and income into libraries and museums, whose value often lies in historic archives, it’s also of great value to leading edge technology organizations looking to the future.”

 

-Mark Gross, President, DCL

Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA)

Repository Digitization to Support Downstream Analytics

Keywords: MathML, XML, pattern detection

Background

Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA) is the world’s leading champion for optics and photonics, uniting and educating scientists, engineers, educators, technicians, and business leaders worldwide. Through publications, events and services, Optica advances the science of light by addressing the ongoing need for shared knowledge and innovation.

 

Optica had an authoritative library of specialized scientific content, spanning 100 years, that required digitization and structure to support downstream analytics and increase usage outside of its core audience. Some of this content had not been available in years.

 

Solution

DCL developed and configured a series of toolsets to analyze, extract, and convert each source content type as well as QC software to validate results. The source material was complex, with extensive math, tables, and images, in multiple source formats. The required output was structured and built into a cohesive database, which now facilitates new approaches to disseminating and creating future products. 

 

DCL adopted an agile approach with progressive elaboration – an ideal approach given the size, breadth, and variations of the collection. 

 

Result

DCL completed a 3-year project in 2.5 years, closely collaborating with Optica to deliver ahead of schedule and on budget. Optica now has an extensive repository of searchable content for historical archives, new product creation, and downstream analytics.

About Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA)
Optica Publishing Group is a division of Optica, the society advancing optics and photonics worldwide.  It publishes the largest collection of peer-reviewed content in optics and photonics, including 18 prestigious journals, the society’s flagship member magazine, and papers from more than 835 conferences, including 6,500+ associated videos. With over 400,000 journal articles, conference papers and videos to search, discover and access, Optica Publishing Group represents the full range of research in the field from around the globe.

About Optica
Optica (formerly OSA) is dedicated to promoting the generation, application, archiving and dissemination of knowledge in optics and photonics worldwide. Founded in 1916, it is the leading organization for scientists, engineers, business professionals, students and others interested in the science of light. Optica’s renowned publications, meetings, online resources and in-person activities fuel discoveries, shape real-life applications and accelerate scientific, technical and educational achievement. Learn more at http://www.optica.org.

Related white paper

OSA_White_Paper

NLM Conversion

Keywords: NLM, conversion, agile development, quality assurance

When faced with the challenge of converting eight highly technical journals spanning 95 years, how do you divide responsibility between the content owner and the conversion vendor? This paper demonstrates how an agile approach to content conversion with close collaboration between the publisher and the conversion vendor allowed Optica Publishing Group (formerly OSA) and DCL to navigate between the two extremes and create a high-quality digital archive that will serve Optica’s strategic aims for developing innovative products and services. 

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