Content Management Bible

Rating:
Summary: A simply outstanding reference work
Review: As a "tecchie" in our IT department, I often have a difficult time articulating *why* we need a (or any) Content Management Systems *at all*.

This book provides 1000 pages of rationale for even the most inquisitive (and often adamant) management folk. And it does so in a very well-organized fashion *without* getting bogged down in "techspeak".

The authors are to be congratulated for a fine piece of writing that is very useful in planning, justfication, and implementation of enterprise-wide Content Management Systems.

I'd recommend it to *anyone* who is looking for a coherent detailed picture of Content Management concepts.

Rating:
Summary: A simply outstanding reference work
Review: As a "tecchie" in our IT department, I often have a difficult time articulating *why* we need a (or any) Content Management Systems *at all*.

This book provides 1000 pages of rationale for even the most inquisitive (and often adamant) management folk. And it does so in a very well-organized fashion *without* getting bogged down in "techspeak".

The authors are to be congratulated for a fine piece of writing that is very useful in planning, justfication, and implementation of enterprise-wide Content Management Systems.

I'd recommend it to *anyone* who is looking for a coherent detailed picture of Content Management concepts.

Rating:
Summary: Well-written and easy to read
Review: As a favor to another professor, Bob Boiko once taught a couple of sessions of a class I took at the University of Washington's iSchool. I was very impressed by his laid-back manner and his skill at making difficult concepts easy to understand.

I picked up a copy of CMB a couple of weeks ago and I'm currently a little more than halfway through it. Frankly, it may be the best computer book I've ever read. It's long, but the pages fly by. Everything is easy to understand. As a programmer who once built a small content management system, I thought I understood the basic concepts well. But Boiko's book has given me a whole new perspective on the subject. My company's next CMS will be significantly better thanks to him.

I heartily recommend this text to anyone interested in buying or building a content management system. It is one of the few books of the "Bible" series that truly lives up to its name.

Rating:
Summary: The most complete and authoritative reference book about CMS
Review: As a Project Manager with a mandate to come up with a Content Management System for my organization, over the course of the past three months I've found the CMS Bible by Boiko simply essential, as most of the other 'bible' tech books I've read have been. He provides a very robust framework that you can follow in your project, if you have the time to read through its almost 1000 pages.

First, he delves into a very thorough discussion about the more 'phylosophical' topics of content (what it is, what is data, what is metadata, etc.) and content management at large. If you haven't gotten your feet wet with a CMS project before, the first 10 chapters (175 pages) will get you soaked with the type of dilemmas you are bound to face when you work on a CMS.

Then, he provides what could be considered a "recipe" to put together a CMS successfully (though no two CMS projects are ever alike, but a lot of them have similar characteristics). There are a number of chapters and sections specifically devoted to the steps required to ensure a successful outsourcing of the project, but the framework he provides is not limited to it: you can perfectly apply it to an in-house implementation. Also, he tends to paint the largest possible picture (with all staff possible, etc.) but you can very easily scale it down to the size and shape of your organization.

In general, his framework goes back once and again to the concept of the "Wheel of Content Management" where he connects the spikes that allow the 'wheel' to move: goals and requirements, audiences, publications, authors, acquisition sources, workflow and staff and access structures, all revolving around the central content component classes with metadata as the outside of the wheel, serving as a container for it all.

He doesn't wrap up the book without devoting enough space to XML and its close cousin, the DTD. He even provides a small VB app to convert Word content to XML, and that's still "only" on page 788. If you haven't noticed by now, this book is MASSIVE, and if there's any issue with it, that would be it: the fact that you will need to devote a long time to processing it. But all in all, the book with its companion web site is an invaluable tool for all Project Managers who have in their hands the responsibility of giving birth to a CMS for their organizations.

Rating:
Summary: Should be given six stars
Review: Content management is a major task in my job - we integrate 2 ERP systems, web servers, 2 document management systems.... and there are plenty of places we could improve.

This book was a godsend. Almost every page has something that's relevant. Almost every page, I find myself thinking "I know exactly what you mean", or "Hey, we could really use that idea".

But despite all the useful information, it remains very generalised and extremely readable. Unlike many books of this kind, it doesn't dwell on specific products (or even programming languages) that will likely be out of date in twelve months. The focus is very much on concepts and best practices that will stand the reader in good stead for a long time.

I would go so far as to say this is the most helpful IT book I have bought in the past 12 months. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An encyclopedic treatise on Content Management.
Review: Even the smallest Web site requires some form of content management. File system directories and informal sharing across publications are sufficient for small sites. But as the size and level of activities grow, informal content management begins to cost too much and take too long. At that point, a Content Management System may become necessary to help organize and automate the process. The decision to automate is normally based on 4 criteria: content size, change frequency, number and diversity of contributors and, the number of publications (channels). A Web Publishing project where content is distributed over more than 1000 pages will likely requires an automated Content Management System (CMS). The process of implementing a CMS is a major project in itself. So, depending on your work environment you may not need to concern yourself with a CMS at this point. Should the need exist, then this book will provide all the required information and more. It is meant for people tasked with designing and implementing CMS, and some filtering will need to be done by the reader interested in only specific aspects of Content Management. A well structured and easy to read work of encyclopedic proportion. This book is best kept as a reference and used when needed.
Jean C. Ducharme, PMP


Rating:
Summary: Essential reading for CMS projects
Review: This book should live on the desk of any developer or manager involved in a content management project - whether just on the web or across multiple publication platforms.

It is remarkable enough that Bob Boiko has so clearly laid out a comprehensive and logical framework for such large scale endeavours. What is even more remarkable is that he has done so in what really amounts to a knowledge vacuum. Although there are many professionals working in this emerging field, there has been very little in the way of codified knowledge for people to draw on - until now.

But what is most remarkable is that the Content Management Bible communicates such big ideas so clearly, and with such panache. If it weren't for the sheer volume of the book, I'd be happy to give it to executive management to read - they could learn a lot from it.

I'm managing a major CMS, and we're using the approach set out in the Content Management Bible. This book will live on my desk for the duration of my project - and there will be copies on the desks of each of the developers too.

Rating:
Summary: Buy it!
Review: This is an excellent book. If you have anything to do with managing digital media, in particular if you are facing the enormous demands of managing content for a large web site, then this book will prove very valuable. I think the cover, and size of book, makes it appear a little too technical but I actually it is Project Managers, Producers, Marketing Managers, Editorial and Content teams, Analysts and the like who will benefit most.

It's certainly not a dummies guide and it's not the strategic musings of the latest e-guru: it is practical, applicable, sensible, informative, authoritative, realistic and, despite the 900+ pages, eminently readable. A great balance of process and practice. And, as you would expect, well organised and cross-referenced.

Content management is a BIG topic and if you haven't come up against it yet, you will. Without it, all those buzz words like 'eCRM', 'community' and 'personalisation' just aren't possible. Content management addresses big, and growing, problems as well as opening up exciting new opportunities for multi-platform, personalised publishing. This big book is the best thing I've yet read to help you on your way.

Ashley Friedlein
CEO, e-consultancy
Author, "Web Project Management: Delivering Successful Commercial Web Sites"

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful surprise
Review: When I buy technical books I hope for something that is logically laid out, to the point and understandable. I don't want to be insulted with geek humor. I don't want to be buried in jargon. And I certainly don't want to have the author use terms that won't be defined for a couple of chapters yet. I consider it a plus if I don't count my time in pots of coffee per chapter, just to keep my attention focused.

Considering the tedious nature of most writing in the information technology field, having such minimal expectations met is enough for me to rate a book highly. When the rare gem of a book such as Boiko's "Content Management Bible" comes along I no longer have enough stars to offer. On a scale of one to five, this book is at least an eight. The writing is not only competent but actually a pleasure to read. Boiko doesn't just convey information in a straight forward, easily comprehended manner, he makes the field of content management interesting.

This is not a cookbook of recipies or technology specific fixes but an incredible overview of the field, its problems, pitfalls and gotchas as well as its wisdom and growing edges. It is a high level treatment that empowers the mind set to start thinking of specific solutions. I got this book thinking it was just another dry set of instructions but found it inspires me to think more deeply and creativily in my work.

Boike makes excellent use of (cheesy but effective) illustrations and flow charts as well as offering an excellent and logical progression of information. If you need to manage content for a single medium or across multiple media you will be better prepared by digesting this book.

Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive and repetitive
Review: While this book certainly offers valuable information it's repetitive to the point of being laughable.
A diligent editor with a pair of scissors could have improved the book vastly.
The constant cross referring is also pretty annoying - with a good index who needs it.
The illustrations are not just cheesy as stated by another reviewer - they are plain silly.
I'm easily bored - thus I hate books that spend page and page again on telling me what I will learn reading the coming pages - get to the point for crying out loud.
It seems that the book is written solely for web project managers in very, very, very large companies. In fact I doubt that any company would be able to afford a process so painstakingly slow as proposed in the book when choosing or developing a cms. If anyone would be foolish enough to do it they would find out that when they finally after 3 years of hard labour implement the system it's been surpassed a thousand times by new products.
Why then give generous 3 stars? Because the book did make me think. While I often disagree with Boiko at least I was forced to rethink a lot of concepts.
There's plenty of room for improvement for the second edition.