This presentation takes a slightly provocative look at the history of XML and finds that after several years the focus of XML has returned to handling rich document content.

1. XML in the Wilderness
Joe Gollner
Vice President
Stilo International
Copyright © Stilo International 2008

2. 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)

3. 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 Wilderness
Albrecht Dürer (1495)

6. Markup and the Curious World of Content
1705
Jonathan Swift John Dunton
Inter-Textuality
Reference | Reuse | Republish | Ridicule

7. 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 share
content in the future?

8. In the Beginning
…were table(t)s…
…and
and
books…

9. Memex
Adapting to the Exponential Growth in
pg p
Knowledge Resources
1940 1960 1980 2000

10. Some “Provocative” Definitions
Data
Dt
Data is the meaningful representation of experience
Information
Information is the meaningful organization of data communicated
in a specific context with the purpose of informing others
Knowledge
Knowledge is the meaningful organization of information,
expressing an evolving understanding of a subject
and establishing a basis for judgment and the potential for action.
Content
What is “contained” and “communicated”
Accommodates Data, Information, and Knowledge

11. The Knowledge Dynamic
The persistence of content is what has allowed this
dynamic to accelerate at an exponential rate

12. Knowledge Application with Technology
Leveraging Knowledge through Automation
The modern organization cannot survive
without automation as a means to
encapsulate & leverage knowledge
1940 1960 1980 2000

13. Augmenting Human Intelligence
Leveraging Automation to Assist Personal and Team Productivity
Douglas Engelbart
Workstation - 1966
Workstation - 1968
1940 1960 1980 2000

14. The Internet
Connecting Organizations
to form Knowledge Enterprises
Enterprise: bold, imaginative undertaking
enabled by the sharing of knowledge
1940 1960 1980 2000

15. The Vision of Hyper-Text
Envisioning content forms that reflect how people think and collaborate
Theodor (Ted) Holm Nelson
1940 1960 1980 2000

17. Proprietary Content Formats
Limiting the Interchangeability and Usefulness of all data types
g g y yp

18. CALS – Tackling the Interchange Problem
PROBLEM INTERIM SOLUTION GOAL
STDS
Supplier Client Supplier Client Supplier and Client
1940 1960 1980 2000

19. Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML)
1940 1960 1980 2000

20. SGML
SGML
Reflected human communication patterns
Provided substantial flexibility
Automated processing was “difficult”
Adopted in documentation-intensive sectors
Charles Goldfarb
Military, Aerospace and Commercial Publishing
y, p g
The Father
Th F th
of SGML
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

21. The World Wide Web
Where there’s a Will there’s a Way
y
1940 1960 1980 2000

22. World Wide Web – The Success of Simplicity
Original Objective (1989)
“to allow information sharing within
internationally dispersed teams”
HTML:
HTML a simple use of a complex standard
il f l tdd
Sir Tim Berners-Lee
The Father
The K I
Th Key Innovation of the Web:
ti f th W b 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

23. Extensible Markup Language (XML)
Source: Microsoft
1940 1960 1980 2000

24. 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 h
dt i i how it should b d
h ld be done ( (execution)
ti )
Yuri Rubinsky
The Spiritual Father
XML exhibits an unresolved tension between of XML
Sophistication
to meet the needs of application integration
Simplicity
to meet the needs of people interacting with technology

25. XML
The driving focus for XML
has been facilitating a revolution
in the way technology
applications are d i
li ti designed,d
developed and deployed
This addressed the failure of
preceding approaches to adapt
to genuinely open systems
This focus explains a g
p great deal
about the character of XML

26. Web 2.0 – The Social Web
The second Emergent
revolution in consequence
web adoption of integration
1940 1960 1980 2000 2010

27. Web 2.0 – All About Engagement
Web 2 0 has been called “The Participatory Web”
2.0 The 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

28. What About Content?

29. What XML has meant for Content Authors
Authoring in XML exhibits two contradictory challenges
Too much markup
Gets in the way of creating content
Forces a reliance on unfamiliar tools
Adds a level of technical complexity
to what is a creative task
Not enough markup
Some content demands precision
Authors need clear guidance and
useful feedback in order
to satisfy this demand
As more content is delivered to
applications, this is more common

30. What XML has meant for Information Architects
Information Modeling
Syntax stabilization (restriction)
Vocabulary definition constraints
Models mirror communication
patterns less naturally
Sought simplicity & processability
New language for declaring rules
XML Schema (data constraints)
Implementation
Specific constraints on markup use
Encourages instance verbosity
Many complexities reintroduced
Application challenges remained

31. What XML has meant for Publishers
XML
Multi-Format
Multi Format
Automatic
Publishing
Authoring ith
A th i with
Structured Markup

32. What XML has really meant for Publishers
XML
Persistent
Multi-Channel
Interaction
Continuous
C ti
Collaboration

33. 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 content
is fundamentally synthetic (an aggregate or composite)
if d t ll th ti ( t it )
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?

34. Embedded Markup Considered Harmful (1997)
Ted Nelson
Has been a vocal critic of structured markup
Sees it as an impediment & an intrusion
Primary Objections to Embedded Markup
Complicates editing & change tracking
Impedes transpublishing
Theodor (Ted) Holm Nelson
Reuse must be unimpeded
Reuse often introduces changes
Enforces unnatural & constraining structures on communication
Ef tl t ii tt i ti
What is needed would accommodate:
The “anarchic and overlapping relations”
pp g
“deep version management”
the “vast interconnectedness of ideas” ... Hypertext

35. Something on the Hypertext Horizon
Darwin I f
D i Information T i A hit t
ti Typing Architecture (DITA)
Online Access
Wireless Access
Customers
Call Centre Staff
C ll C t St ff
Print Manuals
PDF
Sources Topics Repositories Maps Products
Emerging out of the relatively mundane world of software
and hardware documentation. An assemblage of “SGML Dirty Tricks”…

36. The Tao of DITA: Handling Variability & Change
Type Hierarchy
Maps
Default
Topic
Behaviour
Applications
A
Core Behaviour
Concept Task Reference Specializations
Specific
Specialization Overrides
Domains
highlight programming software UI
Base
Elements
new semantics specialization
Introduces and continues to evolve a framework for handling content
and its challenges more gracefully. Application layers are given a chance.

37. DITA enables an interesting mix of practices
Promotes simplified markup for most content
Allows specialization to be introduced
When more detailed markup guidelines help authors
When precise markup is essential for downstream applications
Is introducing more sophisticated reuse behaviour

38. The Emergence of Content Technologies
The initial focus of XML
has not been on content
DITA represents a serious
p
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 l b l i t
I t t global interaction
ti
Hypertext is becoming possible

39. XML Returns from the Wilderness
Saint Jerome
Headed into isolation in the
Syrian Desert
Learned Hebrew
Was able to create a new Latin
translation of the bible (Vulgate)
Established the t d d f
E t bli h d th standard reference
XML
The fruits of success in application
pp
integration are being seen (Web 2.0)
DITA shows promise
Addressing key content challenges
Leveraging more of the SGML legacy
St Jerome in his Study
Creating industry momentum Albrecht Dürer (1492)

40. Conclusion
We can start to
handle & leverage content
in its true h
i it t hypertext form
t tf
-- for the first time
Joe Gollner
VP e-Publishing Solutions
Stilo International
S il I i l
jgollner@stilo.com