Standards for Standards: ISOSTS and NISO STS Compared

Producing standards—authored by committee, revised over many cycles, published in multiple languages and formats—raises unique challenges and calls for unique workflows designed for standards, not for books, journals, catalogs, or other content types. Implementing an XML workflow using NISO STS (ANSI/NISO Z39.102:2017, the Standards Tag Suite) greatly facilitates the publication, interchange, and accessibility of standards content.

Inera offers proven, easy-to-use software solutions for national standards bodies (NSBs), standard development organizations (SDOs), and other organizations that create or publish standards. Our off-the-shelf eXtyles STS solution makes getting started quicker and easier; an eXtyles Custom implementation allows for maximum customization to meet your unique requirements.

It’s a pleasure to promote eXtyles, as it really does magic in our documents.
— Serge Juillerat, International Organization for Standardization

Additional resources

  • XML Publication Workflows for Standards, an article by Bruce Rosenblum, is an overview of XML workflow options for standards bodies that includes an ISO case study. This article is reproduced with the permission of SES, the Society for Standards Professionals. The article was first published in Standards Engineering, the official SES Journal, Vol. 65, No. 6, November/December 2013. For subscription or membership information, contact SES at [email protected].

  • In October 2017, NISO published the NISO Standards Tag Suite (STS), ANSI/NISO Z39.102-2017, a specific tag set designed for standards publishing. The ISOSTS DTD, JATS-based tag set developed by the International Standards Organization, formed the basis for this new standards DTD.

  • Co-chaired by Bruce Rosenblum and Robert Wheeler, Director of Publishing Technology at ASME, the 40-member international NISO STS Working Group worked for 2 years to develop this “standard for standards,” aligned with JATS and designed to promote interoperability and increase options for co-publication and distribution of standards (read more). The standard then underwent a public comment period, revisions, and votes by the STS Working Group, the NISO CCM Topic Committee, and the NISO membership.

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