DocBook is “a schema (available in several languages including RELAX NG, SGML and XML DTDs, and W3C XML Schema) maintained by the DocBook Technical Committee of OASIS. It is particularly well suited to books and papers about computer hardware and software (though it is by no means limited to these applications).” [DOCBOOK] It has been under development since 1991, when it began as an SGML DTD for document interchange between HaL Computer Systems and O’Reilly & Associates. It was further developed and expanded by the Davenport Group before being taken on by the DocBook Technical Committee of OASIS in 1998.

As it is the best-known standard schema for technical documentation, DocBook or DocBook customisations are used for the proceedings of the Markup UK, XML Prague, and Balisage conferences.