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Communities and standards Hugo Besemer “Bircim.net”
Communities and standards
Hugo Besemer“Bircim.net”
Two cultures?
Snow’s world (1959)
Literary intellectuals
Scientists
In our little world
Knowledge managers
Techies
Exchange standards as a community process
Communities like
• (I)DML• The Agricultural sector
(Agstandards / AgMES / AOS / AgCo)
• Open Knowledge Network (OKN)
IDML = International Development Markup Languange
• Started 1998 • Purpose: investigate use of XML in
development community<html>
<body>
<h1>Education project>
<p><b>Angola</b>
<p>Worldbank<br>
USAID
</body>
</html>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes" ?>
<project>
<project_title>Education project</project_title>
<country>Angola</country>
<donor>Worldbank</donor>
<donor>USAID</donor>
</project>
IDML - what happened
• E-community created• DTD for project information
By Bellanet, based on CEFDA• Face-to-face meetings• Proof of concept demos
“The proof of concept”
“laid the basis for AIDA
Varying sources => “who, what, where rather than aggregate statistics
IDML - problems
• Development community does not “own” a problemlike: how to encode mathematical or chemical formulae
• Initiatives attracted technofiles rather than information service managers
• e-discussion did not set an agenda• Unclear who owned the initiative
IDML - results
• Increased awareness of opportunities
• Catalyst for other initiatives (AIDA, Eland)
• mailing list kept growing
What IDML did not achieve
• Create a home for standards in the community
• Go beyond markup (vocabularies, services)
Initiatives in the agricultural sector
(Agstandards, AgMES, AOS, AgCo)
• Started in 2000when everybody was aware XML would come…
• Only service managers invited• A number of general standards
were arising (e.g. Dublin Core)So what can a community do?
AgMES (Agricultural metadata set)
AgMES: namespaces and application profiles
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><agrisResources>
<agrisResource arn="XF2003000001"><dc:title xml:lang="eng">The Agricultural Metadata Element Set
Project (AgMES) </dc:title><dc:title xml:lang="eng">
<dcterms:alternative xml:lang="eng">AgMES</dcterms:alternative>
<dcterms:alternative xml:lang="eng">Project AgMES</dcterms:alternative>
</dc:title><ags:creator>
<ags:creatorCorporate>FAO, Rome (Italy). Library and Documentation Systems Div. </ags:creatorCorporate>
</ags:creator>
Need to map vocabularies:
Agricultual Ontology Service
What was different than IDML, and did it work in the Ag community?
• Real stakeholders (server owners) got involved
• One organisation felt responsible for process
• Communities have been formed• Vocabulary issues have been addressed
but…• It is only a first step• Standards do not have a “home”
AgCo = Coherence in International Agricultural Information Systems
• June 2003 (on invitation from DfID)• Trail: coherence donor
interventions• Trail: collaboration and exchange
between services
AgCo: services trail
• Clearinghouse for vocabularies• Clearinghouse for markup• Several services wanted to
investigate WebservicesSOAP => envelopes for exchanges between systemsWSDL = Webservices Definition LanguageUDDI => registry of trusted services (clearinghouse!)
OKN = Open Knowledge Network
• Local content creation at public access points in the South
• Extension of WWW where there is no permanent connection
• Driven by meta-data and standards• Standards not created by community• Standards create conditions for
community
OKN meta-data
• Standardisation on different levels than IDML / AgCoShould there be okn:// instead of http://
• Important to know where meta-data comes from =>
• RDF = Resource Description FrameworkTriplets of Resource => Propertytype =>Property
Example OKN Metadata Expressed in RDF
<?xml version="1.0"?><!DOCTYPE rdf:RDF [<!ENTITY okn 'http://openknowledge.net/2003/06/'>]>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dcterms="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" xmlns:okn="http://openknowledge.net/2003/06/core#" xmlns:ags="http://www.fao.org/agris/agmes">
<rdf:Description rdf:about="okn:hub.accesspoint1.guid.herbal_sprain.xml">
<ags:personalAuthor>R. Mangalakshmi</ags:personalAuthor>
<okn:reporter>J. Mangalakshmi</okn:reporter><okn:rating rdf:resource="&okn;ratingTypes#good"/><okn:type rdf:resource="&okn;types#"/><okn:statusTypes
rdf:resource="&okn;statusTypes#published"/><okn:rights
rdf:resource="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0"/><dc:title xml:lang="en">Herbal treatment for
sprain</dc:title>
<dc:title xml:lang="ta">kshkljsh kljhdkjds ljhsds</dc:title><dc:language>tam</dc:language><dc:subject rdf:resource="&okn;lexicon#treatment"/>
<dc:subject rdf:resource="&okn;lexicon#sprain"/><dcterms:abstract>An indigenous treatment from a traditional
healer in Pondicherry in South India, for sprain on any part of the body, using a widely available plant called, Erukkan chedi</dcterms:abstract>
<dcterms:spatial rdf:resource="&okn;spatial#all"/><dcterms:isVersionOf
rdf:resource="okn:hub.accesspoint1.guid.herbal_sprain_a1.xml"/><dcterms:issued>2002-02-21T12:00:00+01:00</
dcterms:issued><dcterms:dateSubmitted>2002-02-21T12:00:00+01:00</
dcterms:dateSubmitted><dcterms:modified>2002-02-22T12:00:00+01:00</
dcterms:modified><dcterms:valid>2002-02-28T12:00:00+01:00</dcterms:valid><dcterms:medium>text/xml</dcterms:medium><dcterms:extent>1000</dcterms:extent><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#fishermen"/><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#farmers"/><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#parents"/><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#houseHolders"/><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#citizens"/><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#women"/><dcterms:audience
rdf:resource="&okn;audienceTypes#men"/></rdf:Description>
</rdf:RDF>
General remarks
• These are supply driven processesThey create conditions for new demand-driven services
• These are technology-driven processes• Spontaneous (e)-communities are not
good at institutional tasks• Standards do not develop easily in a
vacuum, better in a co-operative service
