Alexandria, VA, (October 27, 2003) - Publishers, aggregators, syndicators and other content companies are now ready to exchange content for secondary licensing using a standardized XML format - the newly released PRISM specification, the PRISM Aggregator DTD (Document Type Definition) Version 1.0. Time Inc., a founding member of the PRISM (Publishing Requirements for Industry Standard Metadata) Working Group involved in development of the new DTD, is working with its aggregator partners, including PRISM members LexisNexis and ProQuest, to put the new format into production by the end of this year. "Time Inc. recognizes the importance of the IDEAlliance PRISM standard for the publishing industry. The Aggregator DTD provides a consistent format for content that will make our delivery of information much more effective," said Anne Considine, Associate Director, E-Content Management Group for Time Inc. "With the release of the PRISM Aggregator DTD specification, we can start testing XML-based content feeds with our aggregator partners. We expect to go live with PRISM over the next several months." The new PRISM Aggregator DTD was developed by members of PRISM, an IDEAlliance Working Group, in close cooperation with publishers and content aggregators. The new DTD is a use case of the PRISM specification offering a standard format for publishers to mark up and transmit magazine and journal content to aggregators and to push data to their internal web sites. "The PRISM Aggregator DTD provides Hearst with an excellent opportunity to automate and simplify its distribution of electronic content to its various partners," said Amre Youssef, Director of Publishing Technology for Hearst Publishing. "This step is helping to extend our capabilities in XML-based communications." "LexisNexis welcomes the release of the PRISM Aggregator DTD as the standard for exchanging magazine and journal content. The benefits of the standard to the publishing community are obvious. We intend to work immediately in partnership with publishers who provide us with PRISM content to make sure that we can take full advantage of the standard's benefits," said Chet Ensign, Senior Director of Architecture and Development Services for LexisNexis. By providing the industry with a standardized vocabulary and rules for defining content electronically, the PRISM Aggregator DTD enables aggregators to lower their costs of bringing new sources of information online. It also enables them to publish the content online more quickly, making it more valuable both to them and to the owners of that content. "Having a single format increases efficiencies in content processing and speeds the integration of new content and new business partners into our production acquisition workflow," said Joe McConnell, previous Director, Manufacturing Systems Development, ProQuest Company. "We anticipate that using the PRISM Aggregator DTD will streamline the production of XML-based content for our content management workflow and in distribution to our aggregator partners," said Sue Ballantine, Director of Content Management, Platts, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. "We'll be testing the new format throughout the month of September and plan to roll it out to our aggregator partners at the beginning of October." The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. is an early adopter of the PRISM specification and has been using PRISM metadata in production for almost two years. To demonstrate these roll-outs, IDEAlliance will host a seminar in the spring of 2004 to demonstrate the DTD in production. Members of the publishing community will be invited. For more information, visit the PRISM web site at www.prismstandard.org.