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Installing iCopyright
A Non-Techie Discovers What It Takes
By JONATHAN KINGSEPP, Northbound Solutions, Inc.
March 15, 2006
Is it really possible to implement iCopyright within a single hour? I learned first hand that it is possible. And, even better, the install process is so straightforward that only limited knowledge of web development is required!
So, let’s take a look at what it takes to provide content users with an option to license and distribute published content.
Implementing the System – How it Works:
I found the first step to be the easiest. The process to initiate the install began by following a set-up wizard that succinctly captured Publisher information, such as name, location (address), contact information, phone number and payment information for reimbursed licensing fees.
During these first few steps, I also selected the manner in which iCopyright would identify and obtain content from our content management system or website. This was as easy as selecting “HTML Meta Tags” or “XML Tags”. Understanding the meaning of these terms was also clearly explained in the set-up process. Essentially, if a unique identifier is used to manage the publication content in the database publishing system, then the XML tags provide a very rich and comprehensive way of presenting this content to the user, upon request. Alternatively, if the content is managed using a standard template or templates, then the HTML Meta Tags are preferable.
Once I finished the first few steps of this process, it was time to configure the individual publications. This process involved a few steps that were remarkably consistent with the initial set up (consistency, of course, is always helpful!). Information about the Publication was very similar, but also included the specific logo (which can be different from the publisher), the contact and address information and the website.
Next, it was time to define the services. This was the most interesting step so far, as it provided an opportunity to select and prioritize the types of services for our users, including the different ways that users can license content, the reprint firms and service providers that can customize the licensed content and the fee structure for each service. All of these attributes are configurable for each publication. Since the iCopyright system provides over a dozen services (free, instant and custom), these options can be prioritized and categorized to improve the ease with which the user navigates through the options.
Once the services are defined, it was on to the tags. Depending upon the type of tags defined earlier in the set-up process for the publisher (i.e. Meta HTML vs. XML), this process will be slightly different. Essentially, however, the following steps are taken for either option.
First, generate the tags for the publication. This was a slick process that automatically generated the exact code required for my publication. You do this by pressing a link called “Generate tags for content”. The code is generated and displayed in an open box with explicit instructions on what to do next. It is now ready for me to copy and paste into the appropriate location within my content management system in order for the iCopyright system to work.
Next, I created Keywords and defined Categories that describe my content. I was careful to make sure these sections were thoroughly completed, because it is this information that improves the quality of search results for users that may be interested in my content.
So, thirty five minutes into the setup, my site was configured for the iCopyright system and I was ready to place the code into my content management system. This step was very straightforward for my implementation, as I simply copied the code generated by iCopyright into my template file for our content management system and deployed the change throughout all relevant pages to our website. This step only took about ten minutes to complete.
Now that I had all of our information configured in iCopyright and the tags properly inserted into the content management system, I was ready to put the application to the test. To accomplish this, I went back into iCopyright Conductor and selected “Publications” from the menu selection. After navigating back to the “Tags” section, I selected the option “Test metatags on an article”. Here, I was able to input an article identifier, which, in turn, provided the iCopyright system with the necessary information to retrieve the content from our database and present it back to me through the web interface, along with the list of service options I had configured during the initial setup process.
So, in about fifty minutes, I was able to fully configure the iCopyright system by performing the following steps:
- Walked through a wizard that captured important information about the publication
- Selected the types of tags that I wanted to use for my publications.
- Defined important information about each publication
- Selected and prioritized the Services offered to users of my content, including a review and adjustment of some pricing levels.
- Requested the iCopyright system to generate the code needed to communicate between the iCopyright system and our content management system
- Placed the code in our template within the content management system
- Obtained a valid identifier for a current article
- Checked whether it all worked by testing the meta tag from within Conductor using the valid identifier.
And, it all worked like a charm, in less than one hour!
What Does it All Mean?
Now that I went through this process, what does it mean for users of my data, for the publications and the publisher?
The user of the data can now select from a menu of options to obtain a legal license for distribution of the content. These options are based entirely on the publisher, including the order in which they are presented to the user and the pricing for each service.
For the publication, iCopyright empowers users to order and fulfill licenses on-line and real time. This dramatically streamlines the process of ordering reprints.
For the publishers, iCopyright drives additional revenue to the organization, stemming from licensing and ad revenue. Plus, the iCopyright system delivers useful data on clicks and consumption -- publishers can see which articles appeal to users and how they use the content.
Importantly, the suite of services offered through the iCopyright system drive additional users to publication websites, increase the legal distribution of content, and provide service providers with opportunities to cross-sell and up-sell the customer base. All while providing a positive experience for our customers. All this was implemented in less than an hour. Remarkable.
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