Content is on the move! The web has been unleashed from the desktop browser, and content is spilling out onto a host of devices and consumption contexts. However, we’re not always preparing our content to embrace this brave new world effectively. As with all things, a little structure is necessary to make the best of things.
After HighEdWeb 2011, we called out a couple of sessions that talked about the importance of treating content as data. “As content creators, it is our responsibility to make sure our content is available in a computer-readable format, to facilitate re-use and sharing,” we wrote at the time.
In a must-read post on A List Apart, Sara Wachter-Boettcher crystallizes the case for preparing “future-ready content,” laying out how we need to get purposeful, get micro, get meaningful, get organized and get structured. By giving our content structure, we can better understand it and equip it to succeed in the big, wide, ever-changing world.
Update: Wachter-Boettcher just published a follow-up post on responsive-ready content.
Future-ready content isn’t about becoming an XML expert or assuming microdata will solve your problems. It’s about seeing structures through the lens of meaning and storytelling, and building relationships across disciplines so that our databases reflect this richness and complexity.
Source: Future-Ready Content by Sara Wachter-Boettcher, A List Apart, Feb. 28, 2012
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