If you’ve ever searched for a private secondary school or college for yourself or your children, chances are you’ve referred to an educational directory published by Peterson’s, a division of Thomson Learning. Founded in 1966, Peterson’s, based in Princeton, NJ, is the nation’s leading provider of educational information. Peterson’s is renowned for its online services, software, reference guides, and books. Within the hundreds of thousands of pages of its many market-leading directories is a wealth of information on private secondary schools, undergraduate and graduate programs at colleges and universities, professional degree programs, study abroad and distance learning programs, and more.

Peterson’s growth has been shaped by the fact that it is an information services company, creating new standards for data collection and presentation and organizing its reference materials to provide new understanding for its users. As an example, Peterson’s best-selling annual Four-Year Colleges guide lists current and accurate data profiles on 2,000 accredited colleges within its nearly 3,200 pages, and also includes in-depth information provided by the colleges themselves. This format forms the foundation of the majority of Peterson’s other reference guides, the largest of which is the company’s flagship six-volume directory to graduate school programs, ranging from 1,000 to 2,400 pages each.

When you’re dealing with data of that magnitude, having a smooth production flow is paramount. Document Management Solutions, Inc. (DMSi) was recently instrumental in helping Peterson's improve its production flow so they could produce their directories more efficiently.

 Pagination Errors Delay Production

All of Peterson's educational information is stored and updated on its mainframe database and is then typeset using a high-powered publishing system called Xyvision Production Publisher (XPP). During the editorial process, Peterson’s produces a 2-page “reprint” of a client institution's in-depth description as the first product in a series that also includes online as well as the book’s inclusion product. Each reprint exists as a tagged ASCII file that is stored on the network accessed and manipulated for use in multiple products.

In the past Peterson’s IT department wrote a program that combined all of the 2-page reprint files into one large inclusion file that was composed and paginated with XPP. This process could create issues . . . graphics might inadvertently appear on the wrong page or tagging instructions might not convert as intended. Peterson’s production staff then manually reviewed each page and fixed any errors, adding several hours to the production process. It is vital that the merged inclusion file match the original reprint product.

 Call in the Experts

Gary Rozmierski, Peterson’s Director of Composition Services, felt that if they could merge the composed 2-page reprint files that were in XPP format, rather than having to reconvert the ASCII text files from the network, they could reduce errors and increase production efficiency. Rozmierski called DMSi, recognized experts in solving

XPP publishing problems, to provide a solution. When asked why he chose DMSi over other system integrators, Rozmierski replied, “There are few system integrators with the depth of experience with the XPP system and a reputation for excellence that approach DMSi.”

Within five days, DMSi’s expert consultants gathered requirements, wrote a functional spec, and built a custom XPP tool, dubbed the Merged Inclusion Generator, or MIG Tool. The MIG tool merges existing XPP files onto one file, based on a pre-defined build list. It also checks for errors and produces an activity log, enabling Peterson’s staff to quickly find any errors without having to look at every page in a 2000-page directory.

“Since DMSi installed the MIG process tool we have been creating the inclusion sections of our books virtually error-free and in record time (saving 7 or more hours in the composition department alone),” said Rozmierski. “The error checks throughout the process and the log activity file allow us to quickly and easily identify errors. We no longer need to look at every page on screen to verify if it composed correctly.”

 DMSi Delivers Success

In production for a few months, DMSi’s MIG Tool continues to function as advertised. “I would recommend DMSi’s integration skill to other XPP users without hesitation,” said Rozmierski. “Their responsiveness, accessibility, knowledge, quality, and experience are the criteria which measure success. DMSi delivers success.”

 About Peterson’s

Founded in 1966, Peterson’s, a division of Thomson Learning, is the most trusted source of advice and comprehensive information about education and career opportunities. The world’s leading provider of online services in support of lifelong education access and career choice, Peterson’s is also renowned for its reference guides, books, and software. The Education SupersiteSM at www.petersons.com is the most heavily traveled educational resource on the Internet, serving hundreds of thousands of unique visitors every month. The Web site has searchable databases and interactive tools to help users learn about and contact U.S.-accredited academic institutions and summer programs. CollegeQuestSM (www.CollegeQuest.com), Peterson’s site for college-bound students and their families, provides a complete solution for each step of the college decision process, from finding and applying to colleges to searching for financial aid and scholarships. Peterson’s, in association with Educational Testing Service, also offers GradAdvantageSM (www.gradadvantage.org), a Web site featuring online graduate school applications. Peterson’s products and services attract an audience of over 45 million education consumers annually.

Thomson Learning is one of the world’s largest providers of information and materials for learning. Whether it is in the traditional academic setting, the corporate training room, the career school, or the virtual classroom, Thomson Learning provides online services and print and multimedia products.

Headquartered in Stamford, CT, with offices worldwide, Thomson Learning is a division of The Thomson Corporation (TTC). TTC is one of the world’s leading information companies, with 40,000 employees worldwide and revenues of more than $6 billion. TTC’s common shares are traded on the Toronto, Montreal, and London stock exchanges.