Introducing the Extensible Markup Language (XML)
This program sounds like a good idea. Sadly, I agree that with the cost of CDs and DVDs going down and Internet access going up this program lost steam.
A survey of XML standards: Part 1
It seems like the creators of XML are creating different tools to expand the markup language. Some seem to be working, others need more improvement before more people will use the product again or support it.
Extending your Markup: a XML tutorial by Andre Bergholz
This article explained XML and the various additions to it much better than the IBM article. I still have some confusion about it, but I think that smoothing out the confusion will only go away after using the markup language.
XML Schema Tutorial
This tutorial helped me gain a better understanding of what XML is and how it is used. I will need to go through this tutorial a few more times before I am fully comfortable with the language, but it is a good start
My overall question for this is how would this be incorporated into libraries? Would we use in OPAC systems or something else? I find it easier to learn things when they are put into prospective.
I think I might be able to answer your question. As long as a technology has the potential to simplify the means of organizing and transferring sources of information in a library, database, or any other similar entity, it is going to be put into use somewhere, sometime, in some form or another. I know whenever I look into digital libraries where books can be downloaded, there is a variety of formats to select, one of which can include XML. However, I do not suspect that there is a lot of XML files currently available, which is only because I have not seen them that often. I can only assume the reason for this is because XML is yet to achieve a higher level popularity, and I am sure that the moment more people realize its potential and how it can make their lives easier, it will only be a matter of time that XML files will be put into much wider use.
ReplyDelete(And for the record, the link we were given for the Martin Bryan article misled us to the wrong location. Here is one place where you can read the real thing: [ http://web.archive.org/web/20060924034226/http://burks.bton.ac.uk/burks/internet/web/xmlintro.htm ])
Thank you for explaining that. I understand it better now in context. Also, thank you for pointing me to the correct article. I will read and comment on it tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI, too, had trouble visualizing what this is used for. A couple things on the IBM site helped me put it into perspective. I think libraries could use this in some way, though, because it's about organizing information. I think I have been them as an option to download along with PDFs of some of the Pitt databases' articles.
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