Transition to Digital -- A Brief BIGNY Dialogue with Elsevier's Cynthia Clark

Cynthia Clark

We recently asked Cynthia Clark, Director of Digital Operations and Production at Elsevier, a few questions in advance of her appearance during the Book Industry Guild of New York's (BIGNY) Tuesday, March 8th panel discussion. The topic: "Publishing Technology Update: New Digital Directions."

BIGNY: Can you give some examples of re-purposing content in order to monetize it?

Clark: Enriching articles with semantic tagging allows for the collection of articles into discrete topic-based groupings that can cut across journals. These collections can be monetized as a separate digital subscription product. Or they can enrich the value of an existing journal.

BIGNY: How has data from your digital products affected new book or product creation?

Clark: We have seen the opportunity to pull together various products and integrate those to enrich the researcher’s experience: providing an interactive panel for each article that incorporates this information and provides related article and book content, citation information, grant and funding information, etc.

BIGNY: How has the digital workflow changed people’s jobs? (For example, do designers have to code? Do teams work more closely?)

Clark: There is greater collaboration among different product groups so those services can be leveraged to create new products or enhance existing ones. For example, we have over the past few years brought in experts in informatics and taxonomies to ensure that our proprietary taxonomy continues to grow and evolve to keep pace with changes in science, technology and medicine. And because we have included this semantic tagging across our platforms, we naturally see more cooperation and creative problem solving.

Visit the BIGNY website for more information and tickets for the March 8th "Publishing Technology Update: New Digital Directions" event.

BIGNYDigital -- More About Cynthia Clark

Cynthia Clark

Here's a brief bio of Cynthia Clark, one of the panelists at the Book Industry Guild of New York's (BIGNY) March 8, 2016 panel discussion on "Publishing Technology Update: New Digital Directions":

While Slavic languages were her first love, Cynthia Clark soon fell head over heels in love with the special language of book publishing and spent her early career shepherding manuscripts to their tangible printed book form. This satisfying experience evolved into a career in journal publishing, where Cynthia has witnessed first-hand the rapid and exciting changes of the digital era. And now, continuing this career at Elsevier in digital publishing, Cynthia gets to stay on the front lines and help steer the ship.

Originally from New Jersey, Cynthia now calls Park Slope, Brooklyn home, where she lives with her family and dog, Owen. With two adult sons, the family dynamic keeps changing as they come and go, figuring out their own next adventures in life.

First job: Working in a local bakery.

Interests: Her children and her dog, quilting, triathlon training, movies, books.

BIGNY -- March 2016 Event/"Publishing Technology Update: New Digital Directions"

Publishing Technology Update: New Digital Directions

Join the Book Industry Guild of New York on Tuesday, March 8th for an update on publishing technology and hear what new directions digital is taking in publishing. 

Speakers:

• Sue Carlson (VP, Director of Production & Design, WW Norton) – went from being a traditional typesetter to re-tool Norton’s workflow to produce over 1200 trade and educational ebooks/year
• Cynthia Clark (Director of Digital Operations and Products, Elsevier) – content innovation and enriching the reading experience of the full-text STM article
• Daniel Cohen (Digital Strategist, Galvanized) – worked with over 40 magazines on content workflows and digital products, helped create Galvanized's Apple Watch app
• Katherine McCahill (Senior Director, Digital Development, Penguin Random House) - works with Penguin Random House divisions to identify and develop mobile apps that provide a digital complement to their books
• Peter Milburn (Associate Director of Digital Product Marketing, Wiley) – helped lead the 200-year old publisher to partner print and digital in a direct-to-consumer division to 40% growth

Moderator: Kathy Sandler (Senior Manager, Content Applications and Digital Workflow Development, Penguin Random House)

Where: Random House, 1745 Broadway (bewteen 55th & 56th Streets), 2nd Floor

When: Tuesday, March 8th. Beer, wine, and hors d'oeuvres at 5:15 p.m., program at 6:15 p.m.

Admission: $40 for BIGNY members / $60 for nonmembers $5 admission for the speaker portion of the event only. All major credit cards are accepted online and at the door. Cash and checks are also accepted at the door. Student admission is free (lecture only) with valid student ID and reservation. Email programs@bookindustryguildofny.org or financial.secretary@bigny.org to make a reservation

TO PURCHASE ADMISSION AND OBTAIN MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE VISIT WWW.BIGNY.ORG