Copyright © Stilo International 2008

XML in the WildernessJoe Gollner

Vice PresidentStilo International

Patron Saint of Content Management

Saint Jerome - Caravaggio (1605)

Saint Jerome (347 – 420 AD)Patron Saint of Libraries, Librarians, Archivists and Encyclopaedists

St Jerome in his Study - Antonello da Messina (1460)

XML in the Wilderness

A Little Background

A Brief History of Content Technologies

What about Content?

Pointing towards the Hypertext Horizon

St Jerome in the WildernessAlbrecht Dürer (1495)

Markup and the Curious World of Content

1705

Inter-TextualityReference | Reuse | Republish | Ridicule

Jonathan Swift John Dunton

A Brief History of Content Technologies

Where did content technologies come from?

What lessons can we take from this history?

Does it help us see XML differently?

Does this shed light on how we might create and sharecontent in the future?

In the Beginning

…were table(t)s…

…and books…

Memex

1940 1960 1980 2000

Adapting to the Exponential Growth inKnowledge Resources

Some “Provocative” Definitions

DataData is the meaningful representation of experience

InformationInformation is the meaningful organization of data communicated in a specific context with the purpose of informing others

KnowledgeKnowledge is the meaningful organization of information, expressing an evolving understanding of a subject and establishing a basis for judgment and the potential for action.

ContentWhat is “contained” and “communicated”

Accommodates Data, Information, and Knowledge

The Knowledge Dynamic

The persistence of content is what has allowed thisdynamic to accelerate at an exponential rate

Knowledge Application with Technology

1940 1960 1980 2000

Leveraging Knowledge through Automation

The modern organization cannot survivewithout automation as a means to

encapsulate & leverage knowledge

Augmenting Human Intelligence

1940 1960 1980 2000

Leveraging Automation to Assist Personal and Team Productivity

Douglas Engelbart

Workstation - 1966

Workstation - 1968

The Internet

1940 1960 1980 2000

Connecting Organizations to form Knowledge Enterprises

Enterprise: bold, imaginative undertakingenabled by the sharing of knowledge

The Vision of Hyper-Text

1940 1960 1980 2000

Envisioning content forms that reflect how people think and collaborate

Theodor (Ted) Holm Nelson

Proprietary Content FormatsLimiting the Interchangeability and Usefulness of all data types

CALS – Tackling the Interchange ProblemGOAL

Supplier and Client

STDS

INTERIM SOLUTION

Supplier ClientSupplier

PROBLEM

Client

1940 1960 1980 2000

Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)

1940 1960 1980 2000

SGML

SGMLReflected human communication patterns

Provided substantial flexibility

Automated processing was “difficult”

Adopted in documentation-intensive sectors

Military, Aerospace and Commercial Publishing

The Key Innovation of SGML: naming something (understanding) is different than describing what should be done with it (behaviour)

naming something is the important part

naming something and defining its behaviour benefits from sophistication

Charles GoldfarbThe Fatherof SGML

The World Wide Web

1940 1960 1980 2000

Where there’s a Will there’s a Way

World Wide Web – The Success of Simplicity

Original Objective (1989)“to allow information sharing within

internationally dispersed teams”

HTML: a simple use of a complex standard

The Key Innovation of the Web:deciding what to do (intention) is different than determining how it should be done (execution)

deciding what to do is the important part

communicating an intention and successfully executing it benefits from simplicity

Sir Tim Berners-LeeThe Fatherof the Web

Extensible Markup Language (XML)

1940 1960 1980 2000

Source: Microsoft

The Key Innovations of XML

The Key Innovations of XML:Fusing the innovations of SGML and the Web

naming something (understanding) is different than describing what should be done with it (behaviour)

deciding what to do (intention) is different than determining how it should be done (execution)

XML exhibits an unresolved tension between Sophistication

to meet the needs of application integration

Simplicity

to meet the needs of people interacting with technology

Yuri RubinskyThe Spiritual Father

of XML

XML

The driving focus for XMLhas been facilitating a revolution in the way technology applications are designed, developed and deployed

This addressed the failure of preceding approaches to adapt to genuinely open systems

This focus explains a great deal about the character of XML

Web 2.0 – The Social Web

1940 1960 1980 2000 2010

The secondrevolution inweb adoption

Emergentconsequenceof integration

Web 2.0 – All About Engagement

Web 2.0 has been called “The Participatory Web”

Key technical elements include:AJAX – Asynchronous JavaScript and XML

simple syndication protocols – RSS / ATOM

simplified web services – Aggregator APIs

Folksonomies – collaborative tagging

Processable content – XHTML / CSS / Microformats

Addressable, traceable, dynamic, collaborative content – wiki / blog

Much closer to the original idea behind the ‘web’

The centrality of XML in making this possible is often missed

What About Content?

What XML has meant for Content Authors

Authoring in XML exhibits two contradictory challengesToo much markup

Gets in the way of creating content

Forces a reliance on unfamiliar tools

Adds a level of technical complexityto what is a creative task

Not enough markup

Some content demands precision

Authors need clear guidance anduseful feedback in orderto satisfy this demand

As more content is delivered to applications, this is more common

What XML has meant for Information Architects

Information ModelingSyntax stabilization (restriction)

Vocabulary definition constraints

Models mirror communicationpatterns less naturally

Sought simplicity & processability

New language for declaring rules

XML Schema (data constraints)

ImplementationSpecific constraints on markup use

Encourages instance verbosity

Many complexities reintroduced

Application challenges remained

What XML has meant for Publishers

Authoring with Structured Markup

Multi-Format Automatic Publishing

XML

What XML has really meant for Publishers

Continuous Collaboration

Persistent Multi-Channel

Interaction

XML

Content Happens

What is the nature of content really?Is it just the physical trace of an expression?

Is it always new and original?

No - Not really

Or does content mix what previously existed with something new?

Yes – More Likely

Maybe contentis fundamentally synthetic (an aggregate or composite)

accumulates over time and evolves continuously through use

is far from static and follows a path that is not predictable

Maybe content is more of a process than a product?

Embedded Markup Considered Harmful (1997)

Theodor (Ted) Holm Nelson

Ted NelsonHas been a vocal critic of structured markup

Sees it as an impediment & an intrusion

Primary Objections to Embedded MarkupComplicates editing & change tracking

Impedes transpublishing

Reuse must be unimpeded

Reuse often introduces changes

Enforces unnatural & constraining structures on communication

What is needed would accommodate:The “anarchic and overlapping relations”

“deep version management”

the “vast interconnectedness of ideas” ... Hypertext

Something on the Hypertext Horizon

Online Access

Wireless Access

Topics

Print Manuals

PDF

Customers

Call Centre Staff

Maps ProductsRepositoriesSources

Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA)

Emerging out of the relatively mundane world of softwareand hardware documentation. An assemblage of “SGML Dirty Tricks”…

The Tao of DITA: Handling Variability & Change

Introduces and continues to evolve a framework for handling contentand its challenges more gracefully. Application layers are given a chance.

Topic

Task ReferenceConcept

Specialization

BaseElements

highlight programming software UI

new semantics specialization

Dom

ainsA

pplications

Type Hierarchy

DefaultBehaviour

Core BehaviourSpecializations

SpecificOverrides

Maps

DITA enables an interesting mix of practices

Promotes simplified markup for most content

Allows specialization to be introducedWhen more detailed markup guidelines help authors

When precise markup is essential for downstream applications

Is introducing more sophisticated reuse behaviour

The Emergence of Content TechnologiesThe initial focus of XML has not been on content

DITA represents a serious effort to direct attention towards the challenges of content

The appearance of Web 2.0 is a sign that the infrastructure is maturing in its content handling

Simplified interfaces

Dynamic version management

Instant global interaction

Hypertext is becoming possible

XML Returns from the Wilderness

Saint JeromeHeaded into isolation in the Syrian Desert

Learned Hebrew

Was able to create a new Latin translation of the bible (Vulgate)

Established the standard reference

XMLThe fruits of success in application integration are being seen (Web 2.0)

DITA shows promise

Addressing key content challenges

Leveraging more of the SGML legacy

Creating industry momentum St Jerome in his StudyAlbrecht Dürer (1492)

Conclusion

We can start tohandle & leverage content in its true hypertext form -- for the first time

Joe GollnerVP e-Publishing SolutionsStilo Internationaljgollner@stilo.com