EP Topic News: 25th October 2001EP Topic News: 25th October 2001
| About topic news We now publish topic news twice a week with a separate page for each week, ensuring that links (particularly from El.pub Weekly) continue to remain current. To view news from other weeks, please use the navigation buttons below. |
El.pub Weekly A free email alerter of the week's news items and associated URLs |
 |
Forward to next week
|
Back to previous week
|
 |
CONTENTS
SOAP 1.2 Draft
XHTML 1.0 2nd Edition
Journal of Digital Information
Star Office 6.0 Beta
ILAW, Winter 2002
Web Intelligence
Ariadne 29 available
XML and .Net
Text spam arrives
Palm OS Network Programming
Digitisation workshop
Innovative new media - a request
Innovative new media - a response
Homepage Usability
SCHEMAS Project workshop
Web patents policy
New eLearning product
Xsbrowser v2.0
E-business resource site
Web Design in a Nutshell
VoiceForum.org
D-Lib Magazine October 2001
e-Culture newsletter latest
RLG DigiNews October published
Scalable Vector Graphics 1.0 is a W3C Recommendation which represents cross-industry agreement on an XML-based language that allows authors to create two dimensional vector graphics. Adobe's SVG Viewer 3.0 is available in beta as a download from their site and gives a good indication of how the technology for this next generation of web-based graphics is developing. There is an article on XML.com which reviews the specification, and assess its potential for success.
URL: SVG Viewer 3.0 download http://www.adobe.com/svg/viewer/install/beta.html
URL: SVG 1.0 W3C overview http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG
URL: Recommendation http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/REC-SVG-20010904/
URL: XML.com review of SVG http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/09/12/svg.html
The WWW Consortium's (W3C) XML Protocol Working Group has released the second Working Draft of SOAP Version 1.2 in two parts. Publicly developed and based on SOAP/1.1 (Simple Object Access Protocol), SOAP is a data transfer protocol designed for information exchange on the Web, using XML as its encapsulation language. Further information is available on the W3C's XML Protocol home page.
URL: XML Protocol WG http://www.w3.org/2000/xp/
The HTML Working Group has released XHTML 1.0: The Extensible HyperText Markup Language (as a Working Draft for public review. XHTML 1.0 is a reformulation of HTML in XML, giving the rigor of XML to Web pages. The second edition is not a new version; it brings the XHTML 1.0 Recommendation up to date with the first edition errata. Read more on the HTML home page.
URL: XHTML 1.0 http://www.w3.org/TR/2001/WD-xhtml1-20011004/
URL: HTML home page http://www.w3.org/MarkUp/
The Journal of Digital Information for October 2001 (Volume 2, issue 1) includes two papers on the usability aspects of digital information systems, entitled:
- "Reading Hypertext and the Experience of Literature"
- "Why Are Users Banner-Blind? The Impact of Navigation Style on the Perception of Web Banners"
The next issue will feature a selection of the best papers from the International Conference on Dublin Core and Metadata Applications 2001 being held in Japan at the end of October 2001.
Sun have released the version 6.0 of its StarOffice suite which includes a word processor (Writer), a spreadsheet (Calc), a presentation creator (Impress), and a drawing program (Draw). The programs are apparently compatible with all Microsoft Office applications and support XML file formats. The suite is available free for download though registration is required.
Registration is now open for the Berkman Center's Winter 2002 Internet Law Program of Instruction (ILAW, Winter 2002), the central segment of which will take place in Singapore. Taught by leading experts in the field, the programme will address the most controversial cyberlaw issues being debated by lawmakers, courts and practitioners in the US and other countries.
The programme is designed for a broad audience including professionals in law, politics, business, journalism and education. It offers an optional online instructional component in addition to the intensive, three-day series of lectures and discussions January 2-4, 2002 in Singapore.
The link below gives further details, including syllabus and registration information. The Berkman Center for Internet and Society is part of the Harvard Law School and it's programmes come very highly recommended.
A call for papers has been issued by the IEEE Computer journal which is planning a special issue on "Web Intelligence". The subject is defined in the call as: "a new direction for scientific research and development that explores the fundamental roles as well as practical impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced Information Technology (IT) on the next generation of Web-empowered products, systems, services, and activities".
The editors are requesting papers covering all aspects including web information systems environments and foundations, human-media interaction, web information management, web information retrieval, web agents, web mining and farming, and emerging web-based applications. In particular, however, they are interested in papers on web agents and web mining. Electronic versions (MSWord or pdf) of papers to a maximum of 4,000 words are being requested by the editor. The submission deadline is February 1, 2002. There is an introductory paper on Web Intelligence available for download via the conference site below.
Email: paper submission mailto:zhong@maebashi-it.ac.jp
URL: Web Intelligence Introductory Paper (follow links) http://kis.maebashi-it.ac.jp/wi01/
For El.pub readers who wish to know more about web intelligence, the first International Conference on Web Intelligence (WI-2001) was held at Maebashi City, Japan, on October 23-26, 2001. Planned as a major international forum, the event enabled researchers and practitioners to present the state-of-the-art in the development of web intelligence, to examine performance characteristics of various approaches in web-based intelligent information technology. For more information, please visit the WI-2001 home page.
Ariadne 29, the latest electronic journal from the UK's library and digital information research community, is now available online and includes the following articles:
- "An introduction to Web Services" which introduces the concept of web services, self-describing applications which can be discovered and accessed over the web by other applications.
- "Architects of the Information Age" in which Paul Miller reports on a recent UKOLN-organised event at the Office of the e-Envoy, and explores the need for an architecture to scope what we build online.
- "Subject Portals", which describes a 3-year project to develop a set of subject portals - part of the UK's Distributed National Electronic Resource (DNER) development programme.
- "Evolution of Portable Electronic Books" charts the development of portable electronic book hardware, from the first generation in 1980s to the range of handheld devices available today.
In addition the issue includes a number of opinion-driven pieces including:
- an investigation into the use of the Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), the XML-based protocol that is taking a leading role in the emerging area of Web Services;
- a report on the Fifth Institutional Web Management Workshop;
- and five reports from recent conferences and workshops ranging from the ACM/IEEE Joint Conference on Digital Libraries to a Managing Digital Video Content workshop which reviewed current and emerging standards for managing digital video content.
URL: Ariadne Issue 29 http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue29/
URL: Ariadne http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/
URL: UKOLN http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
A Microsoft guide which attempts to explain how independent software vendors (ISVs) can use the Microsoft .NET as a platform for developing XML-based hosted solutions and web services to deliver software to their customers.
URL: http://www.microsoft.com/serviceproviders/strategicwp/xml_web_services.asp
Connection Software, a London-based text messaging service provider, has launched a two-way text messaging service aimed at businesses that wish to send SMS messages in bulk with a fast way to receive a replies. "As mobile phone marketing becomes more popular, advertisers have been pressing for this full, two-way SMS service", claimed Connection Software's Managing Director, John Coll. "Now, for the first time, they can use SMS to broadcast their messages in high volumes and then immediately receive replies back from the recipients - also by SMS".
Quite how recipients of the messages will view this development in spamming, remains to be seen. It is apparent that there is growing concern across Europe that text spamming to mobile handsets is controlled in some way. We plan to report on developments in future issues of El.pub.
"Palm OS Network Programming" is described as "the first complete developer's guide to building network applications for the Palm platform". This book gives a detailed, illustrated treatment of the Palm Net Library using sample network applications, and it also thoroughly covers networking concepts such as transport protocols and client-server applications. The editors claim that, "abundant examples throughout the book help you learn how to build creative, well-designed, and connected Palm applications". Chapter 5, "A Brief Tour of the Net Library", is available online.
URL: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/palmosnetpro/
URL: Chapter 5 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/palmosnetpro/chapter/ch05.html
The UK's Technical Advisory Service for Images (TASI) in conjunction with UKOLN is running a workshop on 23 November, 2001 in Bristol, UK that aims to help those who have digitised focus on ways of ensuring the longer-term sustainability of services and widening access to their collection. The workshop will focus on ensuring that the digital resources created are useful and are used. Specifically it will cover:
- Putting digital archives on the web
- Security issues
- Facilitating transactions
- PR & marketing
- Site usage
- Exit strategies
Primarily intended for those planning their digitisation projects, the workshop will also be useful for projects currently in production. Further details, along with details of other courses, are available via the link below.
URL: http://www.tasi.ac.uk/training/bookingform.html#bf13
Email: mailto:info@tasi.ac.uk
A request from The Council for Museums, Archives and Libraries in the UK circulated to the Cultivate Interactive list, asks for projects to help them determine "what museums, libraries and archives will look like in 10 years time". The Council are attempting to identify examples of innovative museums, libraries and archives across the world which might provide some indication of where the future lies.
Please contact Henrietta Hopkins, International Policy Adviser at the Council, with a brief summary of why they are innovative and contact details so that she can follow up your suggestion.
Email: Henrietta Hopkins mailto:henrietta.hopkins@resource.gov.uk
Email: Cultivate Interactive list mailto:cultivate-list@ukoln.ac.uk
In response to the request published above, Monika Fleischmann and Wolfgang Strauss Directors of MARS - Exploratory Media Lab at Fraunhofer Institute for Media Communication suggested a project from their own labs, which may also be of interest to El.pub readers.
netzspannung.org (the Internet Media Lab) is a series of interconnected research from the MARS Exploratory Media Lab and is "conceived as a platform for media art production and a complex information space that is intuitively navigable thanks to knowledge discovery interfaces". Based on a database, its developers believe that it will be possible to generate different views of the content, characterised as a classic view, or to explore the content using a knowledge discovery interface (the Timeline or the Semantic Map). Currently written to display via a Shockwave plug-in, the next step is to write Java-based interfaces for platform portability.
The Lab has created a number of "prototype" media which can be linked to via the MARS site below.
URL: MARS - Exploratory Media Lab http://imk.fhg.de/mars
URL: Netzspannung.org http://netzspannung.org/
Email: Monika Fleischmann mailto:fleischmann@imk.fhg.de
The Webreference Update Newsletter of October 11, 2001 features an interview with Jakob Nielsen and Marie Tahir about their new book "Homepage Usability". The authors discuss the ways you can make your home page easier to use, how they arrived at their 113 usability guidelines, and some specific recommendations.
You can subscribe to the weekly newsletter, which covers web technologies and their application, via the link below.
URL: newsletter October 11, 2001 http://www.webreference.com/new/011011.html
URL: newsletter http://www.webreference.com/new/
URL: home page http://www.webreference.com/
A one-day workshop on 30 November, 2001 in The Hague, The Netherlands which aims to review means by which projects can share information about metadata in use, and to consider ways in which collaboration can be made more effective. Participants will be updated on recent developments regarding use of metadata schemas and application profiles. A panel of experts will discuss metadata related activity in their domains and developments in metadata standards. This workshop will take place in the context of increasing interest in the infrastructure needed for the Semantic Web.
The project has investigated using the Resource Description Framework (RDF) for expressing the "profiles" of local metadata models in terms that can be merged across applications. The workshop is intended for those involved in building web based systems whether as metadata creators, system implementers, software developers within the educational, cultural heritage, government and industrial sectors.
The SCHEMAS Project is an accompanying measure under the European Commission's IST programme. The project's aim is to support metadata schema implementers and designers by making available information about the proper use of new and emerging metadata standards and by providing guidance on adapting multiple standards for local use in customised schemas.
URL: Workshop http://www.schemas-forum.org/workshops/ws4/
URL: SCHEMAS Project http://www.schemas-forum.org/
There has been much coverage of the W3C's proposed policy on patents which has suggested that patented technology could be allowed into W3C Recommendations. The new, Patent Policy Framework proposal, introduces a licensing model for such patents, which has been dubbed RAND (reasonable and non-discriminatory). However, many in the industry consider this development far from reasonable.
- XML.com has an article, "Patents, Royalties, and the Future of the Web", which: "provides background to the issue and a solid overview of the debate".
URL: http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2001/10/10/patents-web-future.html- In response to W3C's request for comments, W3C (World Wide Web Consortium) member O'Reilly & Associates has voiced it's opposition to the proposed framework, and called on the W3C to lead the Web community in fighting the imposition of patent rights on the Web.
URL: http://www.oreillynet.com/cs/weblog/view/wlg/761- There is also a further negative article, entitled: "A Web of Bronze, a Medium of Lead: Web Content at Risk in W3C's Proposed Patent Framework" published on the O'Reilly site.
URL: http://www.oreilly.com/news/oram_patents_1001.htmlURL: Patent Policy Framework draft http://www.w3.org/TR/patent-policy/
Interactive Labs, the new media and technology based training company of Giunti Publishing Group, has released: learn eXact, a Learning Content Management System (LCMS) which it claims is "ideal for the development and management of learning and information business to employee portals and vertical knowledge publishing portals".
The suite of software includes a number of modules:
- eXact Packager, client/server software to create and package XML native learning objects, courses and publications that can be delivered on standards-compliant platforms and devices (CD, DVD, Web, e-book, mobile, wireless and wearable devices, GPRS/UMTS phones);
- eXact Siter, web-based software with content management, tracking and delivery features, ideal for the setup and management of eLearning portals and business to employee knowledge portals;
- eXact Lobster, Learning Objects Storage Repository based on Tamino, the first DBMS XML native by Software AG, to store courses, knowledge and learning objects in native XML format with dynamically redefinable XSL stylesheets enabling multi-device, future-proof, content delivery;
- eXact Tracer to track and report learners' performances following ADL-SCORM CMI specifications;
- eXact Stations, 3rd party hardware devices fully integrated with the learn eXact solution for mobile delivery of learning content. eXact Stations have been developed based on CompaQ Ipaq, Fujitsu pen computers, the Xybernaut wearable PC and IPM-Net eBook devices.
URL: Giunti Interactive Labs http://www.giuntilabs.com/
URL: PDF of the product brochure http://www.giuntilabs.com/PDF/brochurelearneXactA4.pdf
The developers of the Xsbrowser v2.0 aimed to develop software "with which to communicate the meaning of XML documents to users". Xsbrowser attempts to create a human readable document model from a given DTD (REC-xml-19980210) or XML schema (REC-xmlschema-1-20010502).
As a main feature, the xsbrowser exploits human readable material contained in DTD comments and XML Schema documentation and presents it to the user who is interested in the meaning of XML documents. The Xsbrowser allows for navigation of an XML document model and the creation of valid XML instance documents using an HTML browser. The Xsbrowser is available free as Java source code via the URL below.
A new conference information/news portal has been established which focuses on the subject of "E-business". Supported under the European Commission's IST Programme (Key Action II, New Methods of Work and Electronic Commerce), the site contains:
- information about the eBusiness and eWork Conference,
- news releases,
- information about events,
- edited versions of strategic papers from Key Action II conferences,
- general information about the IST Programme and Key Action II, as well as links to relevant web sites.
Further development of the site is underway, and it is intended to publish details of Key Action II projects and information supplied by projects concerning new technology developments, etc. A virtual conference is also planned on the site. Sign-up to an email news service via the site.
"Web Design in a Nutshell" from O'Reilly has been thoroughly reviewed and revamped to reflect today's new web design environment, focusing on the front-end aspects of web design, such as HTML authoring, graphics production, and media development.
The Second Edition provides a comprehensive reference for HTML 4.01 tags; updated information on using graphics, multimedia, audio and video, and advanced technologies such as Dynamic HTML, JavaScript, and XML. There are also chapters on XHTML, WML and SML. In common with other O'Reilly books, Chapter 13, "Tables", is available free online.
URL: http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wdnut2/
URL: Chapter 13 http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/wdnut2/chapter/ch13.html
An announcement of a group attempting to pull together a community interested in the development of speech technologies, particularly in relation to their impact on the web. The group lists as potential areas of interest: speech/voice recognition, voice over IP, voice portals and voice oriented software and platforms. Sign-up to an email news service via the site.
The October 2001 issue of D-Lib Magazine is available online and includes four full-length articles, two major digital library conference reports, and several smaller features in D-Lib Magazine's "In Brief" column, excerpts from recent press releases, and news of upcoming conferences and other items of interest in "Clips and Pointers". The October 2001 articles include:
- "Public Access to Digital Material";
- "A Call to Researchers: Digital Libraries Need Collaboration Across Disciplines";
- "Greenstone: Open-Source Digital Library Software";
- "Retrieval Issues for the Colorado Digitization Project's Heritage Database".
URL: D-Lib home http://www.dlib.org/
URL: D-Lib October 2001 http://www.dlib.org/dlib/october01/10contents.html
Volume 2, Issue 4 July - September 2001 is the latest issue of the e-Culture newsletter, published by the IST's Digicult project, and covering cultural content and digital heritage. This issue includes details of the geographic spread of the project partners involved in projects supported under the Cultural Heritage and Digital Content sector of the IST programme's KA Line III Multimedia Content and Tools.
There are also outlines of recently launched projects and news on reports and resources relevant to electronic publishers, amongst which:
- The report on the Digital Heritage Support Actions Concertation Event, held in Vienna, Austria on 21 June 2001, is now available.
URL: http://www.cscaustria.at/events/supportactions3.htm- Long Term Preservation Study launched by Royal Library (KB) Netherlands. The purpose of the study is to investigate in more detail the long term digital preservation and its impact on current efforts within the DNEP project to establish a working first release of an electronic deposit. The documents available describe how the study will be undertaken.
- URL: http://www.kb.nl/kb/resources/frameset_kb.html?/kb/ict/dea/ltp/ltp-en.html
To subscribe to the e-Culture newsletter send a message to digicult@cec.eu.int with "subscribe" in the body of the message.
Email: subscribe mailto:digicult@cec.eu.int
URL: Cultural Heritage sector on Cordis http://www.cordis.lu/ist/ka3/digicult/home.html
| About topic news We now publish topic news twice a week with a separate page for each week, ensuring that links (particularly from El.pub Weekly) continue to remain current. To view news from other weeks, please use the navigation buttons below. |
El.pub Weekly A free email alerter of the week's news items and associated URLs |
|
|
Forward to next week
|
Back to previous week
|
|
|
File
Downloads - Please note
|
| File downloads from the El.pub site are currently suspended - the links however have not been updated to reflect this. If you would like access to a particular download file - please email webmasters@elpub.org with a suitable request confirming a description of the file you wish to download. |
El.pub - Interactive
Electronic Publishing R & D News and Resources
We welcome feedback
and contributions to the information service, and proposals for subjects for
the news service (mail to: webmasters@elpub.org)
Edited by: Logical Events Limited - electronic marketing, search engine marketing, pay per click advertising, search engine optimisation, website optimisation consultants in London, UK. Visit our website at: www.logicalevents.org
Last up-dated: 16 February 2024
© 2024 Copyright and disclaimer El.pub and www.elpub.org are brand names owned by Logical Events Limited - no unauthorised use of them or the contents of this website is permitted without prior permission.