We have thousands of PDF documents; some very old and new ones being generated every day. Unfortunately, on websites, mobile devices and screen viewers, PDF is not ideal. We need a way to keep documents in sync across all platforms, and for the platforms to be able to access current data. We have it with our new Factsheet Generator. Rather than creating a document and saving it to PDF, users create documents in our web-based tool. It is then entered into our repository, where it becomes a mobile-friendly, 508 compliant web page; indexed and available via a Google search. It can also be instantly posted to one or more WordPress sites - not just a link, but all the text, tables and images. Furthermore, since the data and formatting are stored separately, a print-ready document can be created from the same input. In one step, the document is on the web, mobile and the bookshelf. We are currently transitioning our 600+ page Master Gardener Manual to the new format. Instead of printing the entire expensive book every 15 years, new sections are added and updated in real time. And users can save time and resources by printing just the sections that they need.

1. HARNESSING THE !
DOCUMENT HYDRA

2. HARNESSING THE !
DOCUMENT HYDRA
Rob Ladd!
Application Development Specialist!
NC State University!
College of Agriculture & Life Sciences!
Extension InformationTechnology!
rob_ladd@ncsu.edu

3. HARNESSING THE !
DOCUMENT HYDRA
• The Problem!
• The State of Document Storage at NC State!
• The Historical Workflow!
• Why the workflow wasn’t working!
• The 3 Phases of an Iterative Solution!
• Phase I -The Resource Repository!
• Phase II -The FactSheet Generator!
• Phase III - Industry Standard Print Integration!
• Phase IV -The Future!
• Questions

4. THE PROBLEM
• NC State’s web presence has historically been
decentralized!
• Each department may have several websites,
for which they are responsible!
• That means different technologies, formats and
storage locations

5. NUMBERED PUBLICATIONS
FACT SHEETS
THE PROBLEM
• Result: thousands of documents!
• In this case, our documents fall roughly into
two classes:

6. Formal, reviewed publications
Informal documents!
Often (but not always) HTML web pages
NUMBERED PUBLICATIONS
FACT SHEETS
THE PROBLEM

7. • ManyVersions!
• Many Formats!
• No Tracking!
• No Formal Review!
• No Idea What’s Out There
THOUSANDS OF DOCUMENTS
THE PROBLEM

8. CREATE
• Write document in Word and either:!
• Convert to PDF (Either by creator, or by sending
to Comm Services)!
• Save as html!
• Upload a copy somewhere
WORKFLOW

9. EDIT
• Find Word .doc!
• Make changes!
• Convert to PDF (Either by creator, or by sending to Comm Services)!
• Find / replace the old version you uploaded!
• Find / replace all the links to that document!
• ???!
• Notify everyone in the world that the document has changed!
• Authors retire, revisions stop, documents get lost
WORKFLOW

10. • 1000s of documents!
• ManyVersions!
• Many Formats!
• No Tracking!
• No Formal Review!
• No Idea What’s Out There
THE PROBLEM
AND
Workflow is awful

11. DOCUMENTS NEED TO
• Be available for review!
• Have original source available for editing!
• Expire after 5 years!
• Have authors retain control!
• Have a streamlined create / edit workflow!
• Persist (still be findable after edits, etc.)

12. PHASE I - RESOURCE REPOSITORY
• Gather all the docs in one place!
• Store documents with source!
• Links never expire or get stale!
• Allow review and reporting!
• Expire documents that are out of
date

13. RESOURCE REPOSITORY | PUBLICVIEW

14. RESOURCE REPOSITORY | PUBLICVIEW

15. RESOURCE REPOSITORY | EDITORVIEW

16. RESOURCE REPOSITORY | EDITORVIEW

17. RESOURCE REPOSITORY | EDITORVIEW

18. RESOURCE REPOSITORY | EDITORVIEW

19. • Write document in Word!
• Convert to PDF (Either by creator, or by sending
to Comm Services) !
• Enter into Resource Repository!
• Link generated that can now be shared
CREATE
NEW WORKFLOW (PHASE I)

20. NEW WORKFLOW (PHASE I)
• Download original from Resource Repository!
• Edit document in Word!
• Convert to PDF (Either by creator, or by sending
to Comm Services) !
• Save into Resource Repository!
• Link stays the same
EDIT

21. • All links to document still work!
• Document can be reviewed before publishing!
• Document expires after 5 years!
• Original is easy to find
NEW WORKFLOW (PHASE I)

22. Some problems are solved,!
But some remain…
PHASE I - RESOURCE REPOSITORY

23. THE PROBLEMS WITH PDF
• not mobile friendly
• not automatically ADA compliant
• not editable
• not trackable with analytics
• nobody reads them
• nobody does
http://www.nngroup.com/articles/pdf-unfit-for-human-consumption/

24. THE PROBLEMS WITH PDF
• nobody reads them
According to a May 2014 report by the
World Bank, of the thousands of PDF
documents on their website between 2008
to 2012, nearly one third had never been
downloaded, not even once!!
Another 40 percent of their reports had
been downloaded fewer than 100 times.
http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2014/05/19456376/world-bank-
reports-widely-read-world-bank-reports-widely-read

25. 1. Once we’ve taken our info and put it into a
PDF, it’s dead*.
2. If we need the info in another application, we
have to recreate it.
3. It isn’t indexed or searched.
4. We can't tell who reads it, oh wait…
5. Nobody reads it.
THE PROBLEMS WITH PDF
* “Dead” means static, non-dynamic. The information just sits on the page or screen and gets old.

26. We need a way for users to create a !
document once, and have it become: !
• a printable document!
• a web page (ADA accessible and mobile-friendly)!
• searched and indexed by Google, Bing, etc.!
• able to be shared across multiple platforms!
• The Document of Record *
THE SOLUTION TO PDF

27. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | EDITORVIEW

28. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | EDITORVIEW

32. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | PUBLICVIEW

33. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | PUBLICVIEW

37. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | MOBILE

38. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | MOBILE

41. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | PRINT

42. FACTSHEET GENERATOR | PRINT

43. • The Document of Record!
• THIS is the original.We all know where it is, when it was last
updated, by whom. !
• If we need to update or fix a typo, we can do it INSTANTLY!
• If we need to REMOVE a document, we can do it, instantly!
• We can easily track who is reading, how much time they’re
spending and how they’re finding our publications!
• The documents are indexed; they show up when people
search on a topic, worldwide!
• Our workflow is now 2 steps! !
• Type and Save
PHASE II - FACTSHEET GENERATOR

44. • This is possible because we are no longer
treating the documents as just documents.!
• We’re treating them as data!
• Data are dynamic!
• That means, we get a free bonus!
PHASE II - FACTSHEET GENERATOR

45. FACTSHEETS BECOME REUSABLE
All the data entered into the FactSheet
Generator are accessible via our FactSheet API*.
That means a website or RSS reader or mobile
application can get the data using a simple web
query.
* API = application programming interface

46. FACTSHEETS BECOME REUSABLE
• Strawberry Key demo!
• WP Demo!
• PDIC Demo

47. STRAWBERRY DIAGNOSTIC KEY

48. STRAWBERRY DIAGNOSTIC KEY

49. STRAWBERRY DIAGNOSTIC KEY

50. STRAWBERRY KEY | ADD / EDIT

51. All you have to do
is choose the fact
sheet here.
STRAWBERRY KEY | ADD / EDIT

54. WORDPRESS INTEGRATION

55. WORDPRESS INTEGRATION

60. WordPress “Short Code”

69. PHASE III - PRINT

70. THERE ARE SOME DOCUMENTS THAT
SIMPLY WANT TO BE PRINTED
• But we also want them to exist on the web, so we need a
web version!
• Instead of two versions, lets take the data from the
publication, and use them to:!
• create a mobile-friendly, ADA compliant web page!
• create a print document
PHASE III - PRINT

71. ADOBE INDESIGN
• Your institution is likely already using it!
• Allows importing XML to create documents!
• set up format of your printed document!
• import the data as XML!
• Good News: Our fact sheet data can easily be sent
around as XML (remember the API?)
PHASE III - PRINT

72. ADOBE INDESIGN
PHASE III - PRINT

73. ADOBE INDESIGN
PHASE III - PRINT
xml

74. ADOBE INDESIGN
PHASE III - PRINT
xml

75. ADOBE INDESIGN
PHASE III - PRINT
xml

76. ADOBE INDESIGN
PHASE III - PRINT
xml

77. • Tighter integration!
• Fewer forms to fill out!
• Large-scale documents!
• Master Gardener manual!
• Ag-Chem manual!
• Education and training
PHASE IV - FUTURE

78. OUR HERO
✓ Monster slain
✓ Damsel de-stressed
✓ Kingdom saved

79. ?
Rob Ladd!
rob_ladd@ncsu.edu