The Open Electronic Book Structure (OEBPS) is an "XML-based specification for the content, structure, and presentation of handheld electronic books". OEBPS was developed by the Open eBook Forum and is designed to allow publishers to create content in a single format that can then be rendered on a variety of reading systems. The first version (1.0) released in 1999 and the most recent (1.2) in 2002. OEBPS is now very widely used throughout the electronic book industry and has influenced the development of other standards. The widespread implementation of OEBPS is not always apparent however as it is primarily used not as a "consumer device" format, but as an interchange format between inhouse content management systems and specific device formats.

As long as the ebook market was limited to primarily mass market publishing there seemed to be little motivation for attempting to take advantage of the full power of OEBPS, let alone completing the development of version 2.0. Simple applications of version 1.2 were more than adequate for mass market and trade publishing. Now however, with the increasingly likelihood of ebooks soon entering textbook and STM publishing, a better understanding of the capabilities of full OEBPS is needed -- as well as a frank discussion of its limitations, that might be removed in version 2.0.

This talk will present on overview of the OEBPS and its use in the publishing industry, emphasizing the techniques for supporting advanced functionality and innovation without sacrificing interoperability. It will concentrate particularly on how the OEBPS can support publishing of complex material in STM and textbook publishing, and how OEBPS can support content management in general. We will also candidly discuss some weaknesses of OEBPS and how to manage them, as well as look ahead to how the specification might develop in the future.