Authoring: In and Out of the Real World
MesMuses 2003
Andy DingleyCodesmiths
http://codesmiths.com
Introduction
“For magic consists in this, the true naming of a thing.”
- Ursula Le Guin
Nominals
Three Levels of Solution
• Recognising the problem• Techniques within a project• Publishing outside the project.
Level of Dependency on Nominals
• None– Static– Flexible
• All– Self-populating
• Some– Worst of both worlds
Three Use Cases
• Input• Output• Authoring
Output
• Embedded on the published page• Harvesting; Open Archives
Initiative , XML web services• Distributed querying;
Z39.50, XML web services
<title>ARKive species | Barbastelle bat | Barbastella barbastellus | Overview</title>
<META name="WPC" content="@CHAPTER_UK">
<META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Animalia"> <META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Chordata"> <META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Mammalia"> <META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Chiroptera"> <META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Vespertilionidae">
<META name="WPC" content="@LOC_Europe">
<META name="WPC" content="@HAB_Broadleaved">
<META name="WPC" content="@BEHAV_Carnivorous"> <META name="WPC" content="@BEHAV_Flying">
<META name="WPC" content="@STATUS_I-V"> <META name="WPC" content="@STATUS_CITES II"> <META name="WPC" content="@STATUS_UKBAP Priority"> <META name="WPC" content="@STATUS_WCA"> <META name="WPC" content="@STATUS_Habitats Directive">
<META NAME="DC.Rights" CONTENT="http://www.arkive.org/tandc.html">
<META NAME="DC.Publisher" CONTENT="ARKive">
<META NAME="DC.Language" CONTENT="en-UK">
<META NAME="DC.Type" CONTENT="Text">
<META NAME="DC.Format" CONTENT="text/html">
<META NAME="DC.Date" CONTENT="Thu May 08 16:51:24 BST 2003">
<META NAME="DC.Identifier" CONTENT="http://www.arkive.org/species/overview/overview_t.jsp?id=4747">
<META NAME="DC.Subject" CONTENT="Barbastella barbastellus">
<META NAME="DC.Title" CONTENT="ARKive species | Barbastelle bat | Barbastella barbastellus | Overview">
<META NAME="DC.Description" CONTENT="ARKive species | Barbastelle bat | Barbastella barbastellus | Overview">
<META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Chiroptera">
<META name="WPC" content="@SPEC_Vespertilionidae">
<META name="WPC" content="@LOC_Europe">
Metadada
<META name=”taxonomy" scheme="DCMIDCSV" content=”order=Chiroptera">
<META name="taxonomy" scheme="DCMIDCSV" content="species=Vespertilionidae">
<META name=”DC.Coverage.Spatial" scheme=”TGN" content="Europe">
Input
• How• What
Sparse Database ?
Dense• Filtered on input
+ Simple implementation
– Extensibility
Sparse• Requires filtering
on output
+ Incremental growth
A Surfeit of Orchids
Authoring
Need for third-party tools
• Complex problem• Technical expertise• Exceeds project budget
• Need for open standards
Limits of Classical Taxonomy
• Poor model of many realities• Chosen because it’s easy to code• Irrelevant to many audiences
Cladistics
Cognitive Sciences Theory
• Prototypes• Fuzzy set theory• Cognitive models
Celestial Emporium of Benevolent Knowledge(after Borges)
• those that belong to the Emperor
• embalmed ones
• those that are trained
• suckling pigs
• mermaids
• fabulous ones
• stray dogs
• those included in the present classification
• those that tremble as if they were mad
• innumerable ones
• those drawn with a very fine camelhair brush
• others
• those that have just broken a flower vase
• those that from a long way off look like flies
Women, Fire and Dangerous Things
• BayiMen, kangaroos, possums, bats, most snakes, most fish, some birds, insects, the moon, some spears
• BalanWomen, bandicoots, platypus, echidna, some snakes, some fish, most birds, water, fire or the sun, the hairy mary grub, some spears
• BalamEdible fruit and plants, cigarettes, wine, cake
• BalaParts of the body, meat, bees,wind, most trees, grass, mud, stones, some spears, all others
• (after George Lakoff)
Conclusions
• Metadata is a dialogue, not a monologue.
• Authoring will require shared tools. • Classical taxonomies are
inadequate.We must look to fields outside IT.
“The mistaken notions of Naturalists are hereby stricken out of the record so as to prevent damage to learning.”
T’ien-Kung K’ai-Wu(The Creations of Nature and Man)
Sung Ying-Hsing, 1637