LibTech International 99 Conference - 29-31 March 1999Brian Kelly gave a 20 minute talk on New Standards on the Web at the LibTech International 99 Conference held at Olympia, London on 29-31st March 1999.
The conference was organised by LibTech International. The conference web site is mirrored at InfoToday.
Papers from the conference are available at <URL: http://www.infotoday.com/ili99/ili99.htm>.
The programme contains the following information for track D4:
15:00 - 15:45
D4 - Update on Standards for Web Authoring
Brian Kelly, UKOLN, University of Bath, England
Paul Nieuwenhuysen, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium
Erik Buelinckx, Professional Desktop Publisher, Belgium
Information is increasingly created, developed, and maintained on computers for distribution in the classical form of printed documents, as well as in the more modern form of hypertext/hypermedia documents accessible online through an intranet or the World-Wide Web. Therefore, a simple, cheap and efficient procedure for authoring towards the two output media would be welcome. Taking the stance that new standards will change the Web, Kelly reviews how HTML is developing and how and when standards such as XML, PDF and dynamic HTML might effect libraries and electronic publishing. Nieuwenhuysen and Buelinckx report on their experience with common, widespread and well-known PC software for authoring. They find that already a lot can be achieved, though there are some remaining problems, but they see a bright future as HTML and XML take a more prominent place in the coming generation of the common office software packages.
The web was initially developed based on three architectural components: transport (which was provided by HTTP), addressing (provided by URLs) and data formats (provided by HTML). As the web grew, limitations in the original architecture became apparent. This talk gives an overview of the development of new web standards, including XML, HTTP/NG and URNs, and describes the development of a new architectural component: metadata. Techniques for deploying new technologies are given.