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9 October 2003
Review by Benjamin Wheal
Reviewer's note:
It was with some trepidation that I agreed to take notes on a
seminar about XML, RSS and CMS. Years at uni taught me that my
preferred learning method of sitting in the front row and nodding
gravely does not guarantee any understanding of what anyone actually
says. Recent attendance at another XML seminar confirmed this. On
the bright side, hopefully I have made several technical errors in
the following synopsis which will stimulate lively and entertaining
debate.
It was refreshing to listen to speakers who complimented their
impressive knowledge by enthusing about their topics too.
Content Management Systems
Sean Abel gave a brief introduction to Content
Management Systems, speaking from his experiences at the State
Library of South Australia.
Content management refers to software developed
for the maintenance of internet and intranet sites.
The central concept of content management
systems is that they separate the control of content from the
control of presentation. Examination of a line of html code
illustrates the difference between content and presentation:
<i>the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog<⁄i>
where the <i> tags control the presentation of
the content that sits between them (the text) to produce a result
that looks like:
the quick brown fox jumped over a lazy dog
Traditionally, web pages are static, and
managed through editors such as frontpage or dreamweaver. However,
maintenance of a large website can be difficult with these editors.
Updates, such as style changes, that apply to every page may need to
be applied individually to every page (which can become a tedious
exercise).
CMS's overcome this problem by using a single
presentation template for an entire website. CMS's let individual
editors provide the text (or content) which is then uploaded to the
template so that the presentation, look and feel of the website is
kept consistent. (CMS may even let editors add menus, links and
buttons that match the template).
And so, if an organisation undergoes a change
of image (e.g. wants every page to become yellow) all the webmaster
has to do is change the template once and all pages will change. Or,
if the address of a page on a website changes, then the CMS can
assure that all internal hyperlinks to that page may also change.
Obviously this frees up the webmaster's time
for more important tasks (which apparently involve risotto).
CMS's also allow for workflow to be regulated.
Restrictions may be placed so that people can only change pages from
their own area, and mechanisms may be introduced so that pages must
be reviewed by the webmaster or approved by management before they
are uploaded.
A CMS may even allow a site to be "rolled back"
to a historical record of the site which is kept on file (and
generated from previous templates). This is a handy preservation
tool where the prior content of websites has legal implications
(e.g. for government websites that produce and make public
legislature or determinations).
The tendering and planning process for a CMS
for a large organisation is a long and complex process (it took 2
years for the State Library of South Australia). Sean emphasised
that it was important to engage with a CMS software provider who was
easy to work with and willing to work through problems (and it was
fortunate that the successful tender applicant was local).
The SLSA choice for an XML based system turned
out to be the right choice - XML has taken off in a big way. But
Sean modestly said that is important to know when you are lucky and
when you are clever.
XML
Arne van Zilj spoke with fervour about some
topics relating to XML.
Arne observed that librarians and information
techologists are two sides of the same coin - the former
disseminate, locate and preserve information, the latter process and
provide the machinery for doing so.
XML is an initialism for Extensible Markup
Language (yes, it should be EML but that's not as cool sounding is
it?). XML is a language for writing language.
As library and information workers what we need
to understand is that it XML bridges the gap between different file
formats, making possible the translation of data between systems. An
example of this is an online catalogue which is a browser friendly
representation of the information contained in a library's database
of MARC records. Potentially, using XML software, a searcher for
information can access a number of different databases, library
catalogues and content from a single portal.
RSS (Rich Site Summary) is an example of an XML
language for capturing metadata. RSS: Rich Site Summary is an
XML-based language which can be used by developers to describe their
sites and to make their content available to others (for example,
for syndication; that is, for dispersing information to a wide
variety of consumers in different formats).
However, for RSS to be effective for all users
the developers of the language need to settle upon some kind of
standard.
However, the progression of new IT developments
(and IT standards) can be hampered by the corporate imperative of
the organisations which develop the technology - a competitive
mentality often discourages cooperation (rather than fosters it) ,
which runs against the grain of efforts to make cross-format data
sharing easier.
There are currently 2 or 3 different parties
laying claim to the "standard" for RSS, manifest in "the Blog Wars".
(Blogs (or Web-logs) are sites that allow users to submit simple
text files, which then turn the submitted text into a formatted
page. This uses RSS.) The main Blog competitors (Userland, Moveable
Type and Blogger) are developing their own RSS standards. This may
hamper the development and universality of the standards.
It is contentious to determine who should lay
claim to ownership of a "standard". Ultimately a standard must be
simple to use, have some traction and momentum (i.e. become popular)
and usually needs to have the backing and interest of large IT
companies.
Portals
Helen Walkden spoke about portals, giving a
front-end view of what the back-end technical stuff actually means
for many of us.
She introduced the
SA
Public Library Network's online portal.
Its features include a "24 hour library" of web
resources organised in a subject tree (the Computing: Dictionaries
and Glossaries branch proved very helpful when working out what my
own seminar notes actually meant). There is also a "Locate a
Library" page which lets you locate the nearest public library by
entering a post code, street name, locality etc. A groovy map pops
up showing the locations and listing the street addresses.
Portals may allow simultaneous searching across
many resources (I assume using some of that XML magic). For example,
the National Library of Australia's Public Library Portal is a
website that will provide access to diverse information services
(e.g. National Bibliographic Database, Picture Australia, Australia
Public Affairs Fulltext) from a single entry point. Searches across
all of these resources may be simultaneously carried out through a
single search query which retrieves, bib records, photos and more.
Speaker biographies
Sean Abel (State Library, South Australia)
Sean Abel is an information and communication
technology (ICT) project officer at the State Library. Sean has
taken a rather non-standard pathway towards the role of a computer
systems worker, through studying zoology at Adelaide university and
completing graduate studies in environmental management at the
Mawson Graduate Centre for Environmental Studies. He is not a
librarian by training.
Arne van Zilj (UniSA)
Currently - web coordinator UniSA Library.
Previously worked in the development of the connectsa SA government
web portal project. Also, previously e-learning resources and web
developer with Flinders University.
Helen Walkden (PLAIN)
I have been employed by PLAIN for the past 7
years, starting as a cataloguer and moving to the P2 development
project. I am currently Manager Technical Services and have been in
the position for almost 3 years.
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