Some Digital Publishing definitions at your fingertips....

Adobe Acrobat - a family of application software developed by Adobe Systems to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format (PDF).

API - Application Programming Interface is the accessibility to software that enables machines to interact with cloud software in the same way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers.

App - an abbreviation for application. App is also used generically to refer to lightweight, web-based applications tailored to a device (such as a mobile phone. is short for Application software.

C++ - one of the most popular programming languages. Its application domains include systems software, application software, device drivers, embedded software, high-performance server and client applications, and entertainment software such as video games.

Cloud - Cloud computing is computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services.

CMS - Content Management System is the collection of procedures used to manage work flow in a collaborative environment. These procedures can be manual or computer-based and allow for a large number of people to contribute to and share stored data as well as control access to that data.

CSS - Cascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the look and formatting of a document written in a mark up language. Its most common application is to style web pages written in HTML and XHTML.

Digital Libraries - a library in which collections are stored digitally and accessible by computer users. A digital library is a type of information retrieval system. The DELOS Digital Library Reference Model defines a digital library as:

An organization, which might be virtual, that comprehensively collects, manages and preserves for the long term rich digital content, and offers to its user communities specialized functionality on that content, of measurable quality and according to codified policies.

Documentum - is an enterprise content management platform.

Dotnet Nuke - is an open source platform for building web sites.

Dreamweaver - Adobe Dreamweaver is a web development application, it allows users to preview websites in locally installed web browsers. It provides transfer and synchronization features, the ability to find and replace lines of text or code by search terms and regular expressions across the entire site, and a templating feature that allows single-source update of shared code and layout across entire sites.

DRM - Digital Rights Management - DRM technologies attempt to control use of digital media by preventing access, copying or conversion to other formats by end users.

Drupal - is a free and open source content management system (CMS) used as a back-end system for websites - ranging from personal blogs to corporate, political, and government sites. It is also used for knowledge management and business collaboration.

e-book - An electronic book (also ebook or digital book) is a text and image-based publication in digital form produced on, published by, and readable on computers or other digital devices. Sometimes the equivalent of a conventional printed book, e-books can also be born digital.

ECM - Enterprise Content Management (ECM) is a formalized means of organizing and storing an organization's documents, and other content, that relate to the organization's processes. The term encompasses strategies, methods, and tools used throughout the lifecycle of the content.

Ektron - is a software company. It provides web content management and social software.

Electronic Rights - clauses intended to allow publishers to use content digitally and also control use of this content by preventing access, copying or conversion to other formats by end users.

Emulation - refers to the ability of a computer program or electronic device to imitate another program or device; it is a strategy in digital preservation to combat obsolescence as it addresses the original hardware and software environment of the digital object, and recreates it on a current machine.

ePub - is short for electronic publication and is the eBook standard as recognised by the International Digital Publishing Forum (IDPF). An ePub eBook is a digital version of a print book that optimises itself for on-screen reading on mobile phone, desktop, laptop or eReader.

e-readers - E-books are usually read on dedicated hardware devices known as e-Readers or e-book devices. Personal computers and some mobile phones can also be used to read e-books.

Fireworks - Adobe® Fireworks® is software that enables the creation of expressive, highly optimized graphics for the web or virtually any device.

Flash - Adobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages.

Highwire - Highwire is software used to convert HTML, dynamic web pages, and dashboards into high quality PDF reports. Using Highwire, when a user navigates or browses to a web page, dashboard, or dynamic graph, they can click on a button or link which translates the specified page into a PDF document

InDesign - Adobe InDesign is a software application used to create works such as posters, flyers, brochures, magazines, newspapers and books. In conjunction with Adobe Digital Publishing Suite InDesign can publish digital content suitable for tablet devices.

Information Architecture - Information architecture is determining what you want your website or app to do before building. Information architecture (also known as IA) is the blueprint of the site upon which all other aspects are built - form, function, metaphor, navigation and interface, interaction, and visual design.

Javascript - JavaScript is the most popular scripting language on the internet, and works in all major browsers, such as Internet Explorer, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and Safari. JavaScript is used in billions of Web pages to add functionality, validate forms, and communicate with the server.

JSP - JavaServer Pages (JSP) is a Java technology that helps software developers serve dynamically generated web pages based on HTML, XML, or other document types.

Knowledge Management - Knowledge management software (KM Software) is software which specialises in the way information is collected, stored and/or accessed. The concept of knowledge management is based on a range of practices used by an individual, a business, and a large corporation to identify, create, represent and redistribute information for a range of purposes.

Linux - Linux is a leading server operating system, and runs the 10 fastest supercomputers in the world.

MarkLogic - MarkLogic is provider of a purpose-built database for unstructured information serving the media, government, financial services, and other industries

Metadata - Metadata (metacontent) is defined as data providing information about one or more aspects of data, such as the means of creation of the data; the purpose of the data; the time and date of creation; and the creator or author of data. Web pages often include metadata in the form of meta tags. Description and keywords meta tags are commonly used to describe the Web page's content. Most search engines use this data when adding pages to their search index.

My SQL - MySQL is a relational database management system (RDBMS) that runs as a server providing multi-user access to a number of databases. MySQL is a popular choice of database for use in web applications. It is written in C and C++. SQL stands for Structured Query Language.

Open Source - Open Source Software is software whose source code is published and made available to the public, enabling anyone to copy, modify and redistribute the source code without paying royalties or fees. Open source code evolves through community cooperation. These communities are composed of individual programmers as well as very large companies. Examples of open-source software products are: PHP and Linux.

PDF - Portable Document Format (PDF) is an open standard for document exchange. The file format created by Adobe Systems is used for representing documents in a manner independent of the application software, hardware, and operating system.

PHP - Hypertext Preprocessor (originally Personal Home Page Tools) is a general-purpose scripting language that was originally designed for web development to produce dynamic web pages. PHP is especially suited to server-side web development where PHP generally runs on a web server.

Portal - a site that functions as a point of access to information on the Internet; A web portal, also known as a links page, presents information from diverse sources in a unified way. Apart from the standard search engine feature, web portals offer other services such as e-mail, news, stock prices, information, databases and entertainment. Portals provide a way for enterprises to provide a consistent look and feel with access control and procedures for multiple applications and databases, which otherwise would have been different entities altogether.

PPC - Pay per click, a method of charging for advertising on the Internet.

Prince2 - PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE) is a project management method. It covers the management, control and organisation of a project. "PRINCE2" refers to the second major version and is a registered trademark of the Office of Government Commerce (OGC), an independent office of HM Treasury of the United Kingdom.

SAN - Storage Area Network - architecture to remotely attach computer storage; or, System Area Network - high-performance, connection-oriented network that can link a cluster of computers.

SAS - originally Statistical Analysis System is an integrated system of software products that enables programmers to perform tasks such as data entry and retrieval, report writing, statistical analysis and data warehousing.

SEM - Search Engine Marketing, promoting websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results, targeting paid listings

SEO - Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the visibility of a website or a web page in search engines via un-paid search results. In general, the earlier (or higher on the page), and more frequently a site appears in the search results list, the more visitors it will receive from the search engine. As an Internet marketing strategy, SEO considers how search engines work and what people search for. Optimizing a website may involve editing its content and HTML and associated coding to both increase its relevance to specific keywords and to remove barriers to the indexing activities of search engines. Promoting a site to increase the number of backlinks, or inbound links, is another SEO tactic.

SGML - Standard Generalized Mark up Language is an ISO-standard technology for defining generalized mark up languages for documents. It describes a document's structure and other attributes, rather than specifies the processing to be performed on it. As a result descriptive mark up only needs to be done once, and will be relevant for all future methods of publication.

Simulation - Simulation software is, essentially, a program that allows the user to observe an operation in real time through simulation without actually performing that operation. Advanced computer programs can simulate almost anything, including weather conditions, electronic circuits, chemical reactions, atomic reactions, even biological processes.

Sun Microsystems - now part of Oracle, renamed Oracle America. Their products included computer servers and workstations; storage systems; and, a suite of software products including the Solaris operating system, developer tools, web infrastructure software, and identity management applications. Other technologies they produced include the Java platform, MySQL, and NFS. Sun was a proponent of open systems in general and Unix in particular, and a major contributor to open source software.

Tridion - SDL Tridion is the flagship software platform of the Web Content Management (WCM) Solutions division of SDL plc, a provider of global information management solutions. SDL Tridion is used by large organizations that need globalized web sites, brand management, targeted audience marketing and multi-channel marketing as part of their communications, sales and support strategy.

Unix - operating system widely adopted by academic institutions and businesses.

UX - indicates that the operating system is a version of Unix, eg. A/UX is Apple's version of Unix.

VB - Visual Basic is a computer-programming language from Microsoft.

Visio - Microsoft Visio is a commercial diagramming program for Microsoft Windows that uses vector graphics to create diagrams.

WCM - Web Content Management system is a CMS designed to simplify the publication of web content to web sites and mobile devices - in particular, allowing content creators to submit content without requiring technical knowledge of HTML.

XML - Extensible Mark up Language (XML) is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form over the Internet. As of 2009, hundreds of XML-based languages have been developed, including RSS, Atom, SOAP, and XHTML. XML-based formats have become the default for most office-productivity tools, including Microsoft Office (Office Open XML) and Apple's iWork.

Thanks to Wikipedia for much of the information, plus Firsty Fish (ePub) and Web Monkey (Information Architecture)

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