Workflow Committee Charter (2023)

Current State

Both within segments and across the supply chains, workflows in place to deliver information, physical products, and digital products are not well understood, and success is not clearly defined. Cross-segment workflows are often siloed, impeding communications, and existing workflows may not deliver on their requirements. The impact of remote and hybrid work has increased the importance of effective workflows. The platforms and tools used to support both in-person and remote work have also prompted consideration of the privacy and ethics concerns associated with their use. Legal requirements, including those of the European Accessibility Act, increasingly rely on workflows that address diversity, inclusion, and accessibility for anyone who is print-disabled.

Objectives

  • Promote BISG examples of effective workflows, within and across segments
  • Discuss, identify, and document best practices and identify approaches to selecting tools and resources required to improve approaches already in place. The value of working with libraries to manage disconnects between metadata and physical objects is an opportunity to explore
  • Maintain workflow-related guides and best practices to ensure that BISG resources address current and anticipated industry opportunities and challenges
  • Build awareness of opportunities to use workflows to address issues that affect support for diversity, inclusion, and accessibility

Stakeholder Impact/Benefits

Both within and across industry segments, existing workflows have been developed as responses to prevailing conditions, with little access to best practice or alternative resources. The workflow committee’s efforts can help close an information gap, fostering best practice and growing awareness of available tools and how they might be used. In turn, this can:

  • Lower costs and improve time to market
  • Improve product quality and functionality, including accessibility and inclusivity
  • Ensure a more equitable work environment

Deliverables

In 2023 the Workflow Committee will:

  • Expand participation in the workflow committee, with a focus on under-represented segments (libraries, manufacturing, distribution, retail, industry partners; reach out to early-career and under-represented members of BISG organizations) 
  • Publish an updated Field Guide to Fixed-Layout eBooks
  • Publish a BISG white paper on Selecting Workflow Tools and Resources
  • Apply work done by BIC to create and publish a Best Practices Guide for Audiobooks
  • Continue short webinar series, 2023 topics to include: What Indexers Wish Publishers Knew; Tools & resources white paper; potentially to be combined with Fixed-Layout release;  Preserving Access to Legacy or Backlist Content/Keeping up with EPUB 3; How publishers are trying to make workflows include DEI OR Building accessibility into earlier parts of workflow; and managing the emerging data stack in book publishing.

Blockers

Subject-matter knowledge about audiobooks is not readily available, making assessment of various solutions dependent on direct access to members who have created and managed them. To address this potential shortfall, the committee anticipates hiring an external resource to draft a document, circulate it among committee members and knowledgeable subject matter experts, and respond to comments and direction from those audiences.