19 june 2006semantic web & publishing1 welcome towards the ‘semantic web’: standards and...

19 June 2006 Semantic Web & Publishing 1

Welcome

Towards the ‘Semantic Web’: Standards and Interoperability across Document Management and Publishing Supply Chains

ARC Linkage ProjectApril 2006—March 2009


Agenda

Noon Project Introduction1pm Lunch1.30pm Roundtable Introductions

and Discussion


Project History

Proposal Submitted May 2005ARC Grant Awarded November 2005Initial Project Meeting February 2006Project Commenced April 2006


Participants

RMIT UniversityFuji XeroxCommon GroundReference Group MembersAustralian Research Council


Personnel

Principal Researchers:Bill Cope (University of Illinois)Margaret Jackson (RMIT Business)Mary Kalantzis (University of Illinois)Bill Martin (RMIT Business)

Research Assistants:David Burg (MA)Rachael Dunstan (Manager)Gus Gollings (PhD)Liam Magee (PhD)


Questions

Background, 2000s: Changes in publishing industries and

supply chains Growth of electronic publishing—both

formal and informal Growth of outsourcing (typesetting,

editorial, pre-press, warehousing) Diversity of rendering formats and

devices iPod phenomenon – no such equivalent

(yet!) for text


Research Questions

More Background, 2000s: Consolidation among publishers,

retailers (Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders) and printer manufacturers (Xerox, HP, Canon, Epson)

Development of publishing standards for documentation creation, metadata, cataloguing, commerce, printing


Research Questions, continued

More Background, 2000s: Complication of the notion of

‘document’: multimodal, multi-part, compound, interactive, format-determined

Emergence of technical platforms: XML, Semantic Web, Service-Oriented Architecture—possibility more cost-effective, more efficient supply chains

Opportunities (and threats!) for industry


Practical Research Questions

How does modern publishing work? What are the broad trends? What are the business models, and how are these evolving?

How are standards used in industry? Do they help industry compete/co-operate, and how? What can, if necessary, facilitate better or broader adoption of standards?


Practical Research Questions, continued

What are the limitations of standard adoption (sometimes argued by large software companies: ‘standards stifle innovation’)?

Industry at a crossroads—follow proprietary or standard formats? Preparedness to ‘open’ data, knowledge to suppliers, customers, partners, the public? Cost-benefit analysis of doing so?


Practical Research Questions, continued

Does the W3C Semantic Web have a role to play in improving interoperability and supply chain efficiency? If so, how? What to do about semantic incongruity of different standards (e.g. different definitions of ‘document’, ‘creator’, ‘rights’)?

What are the legal implications of greater knowledge sharing between publishing parties?

What prevents or limits participation of communities in publishing? (Technological capacity, economic means, education, other?) Can standards play a role in overcoming such limits?


Theoretical Research Questions

What is a document? What forms of document metadata exist? How are standards developed? Is there an

ideal standard development path? What is the Semantic Web? How can the Semantic Web describe

documents? Are these document descriptions

consistent with other standards?


Project Rationale

Assist organisations to anticipate directions in publishing

Promote understanding and use of standards in industry and government—leads to lower costs, improved efficiency, time-to-market

Provide tools and research to help communities engage in publishing


Project Rationale, continued

Develop some level of capability and understanding of important ‘new wave’ in knowledge management—the Semantic Web

Supply policy recommendations to industry and government relating to standards development, adoption and usage

Highlight commercial opportunities in the ‘new’ publishing market


Research Methods

Research methods designed for: Broad use of theoretical, empirical and

exploratory methods, designed to encompass a broad and fast-moving field…

Aim to balance industry partner needs with the aims of ‘pure’ research

A mix of contextual and situational analysis with scenario planning.


Research Methods, continued

Contextual Analysis Review of technical literature of

electronic publishing standards Survey interoperability policies for

state, federal and international government

Survey participants in standards bodies (W3C, OASIS, ISO…)

Survey industry bodies



Situational Analysis Nine case studies over three years Looking at sites of document creation,

production and use along the publishing supply chain, including print rooms.



Scenario Planning and Strategy Development

2nd year: Scenario Planning 3rd year: Strategy Development Final report to policy recommendations


What is the Semantic Web?

Initial answer: an arcane, largely misunderstood technology—more a collection of specifications than a technology

Derives from AI research in 70’s, 80’s, into semantic frames, knowledge representation, knowledge bases. Further back, derives from predicate logic, set theory.


What is the Semantic Web? continued

Direct applicability: expert systems (e.g. medical, system diagnostics)

Focus on automated reasoning and inference (for example: Given A: ‘All documents are resources’ and B: ‘All books are documents’, we can automatically infer C: ‘Therefore, all books are resources’).



Relevance to the Web: provides a standard way to describe the meaning of data across websites

One implication: might allow for structured searches across the Internet. For example: ‘Show me all resources authored by Bill Cope’. Query knows a) not to search ‘bill’, ‘cope’ the common nouns; b) not to search for any author ‘Bill’ or ‘Cope’; c) to show all resources (web pages, articles, books, presentations, MP3 files etc.)



Another implication: machines can automatically determine more about data; will help system integration/interoperability—the technical machinery of supply chain integration


‘Open Publishing Architecture’

Aim: develop blueprints for contemporary publishing houses, departments and communities

‘How-to’ guide for building ‘best-practices’ publishing infrastructure

Relevant to: Large Publishing Operations Community Administration Government Bureaucracy


‘Open Publishing Architecture’, continued

Details a publishing architecture—processes and system components for all aspects of document production

Maps standards relevant to different process and systems

Supplies policy recommendations Ties together pragmatic and altruistic

aspects of the project – of benefit to industry, government and community


Work Done So Far

Outreach: project website, brochure and plan

Steps towards refinement of project methodology

Outline of ‘Open Publishing Architecture’

Outline of Case Studies Commenced technical literature review

relating to Semantic Web Establishment of Research Reference

Group Commenced associated research: MA

Business (David Burg); PhD (Gus Gollings and Liam Magee)


Next Steps

Finish project website, brochure and plan

Refine and document methodology Identify candidate Year 1 surveys (25)

and case studies (3) Ethics approval Author ‘Introduction to the Semantic Web

and Publishing’—a position paper around the proposed research


Reference Group

Thank you for accepting our invitation.What we are asking of you: Attend Reference Group Meeting (2 days

per year) Provide specific advice in areas of

expertise / interest (rights management, publishing workflow, print production, librarianship, collections management)

Help steer the broad direction of project

Assist in selection of and introduction to interview / case study candidates

Provide any other feedback you wish to!


Questions, Lunch

Administrivia: Suitable date for next meeting—

December 2006? Website address—

http://tsw.cgpublisher.com Contact person—

Gus GollingsMobile: 0417 523 137Email: [email protected]

19 june 2006semantic web & publishing1 welcome towards the ‘semantic web’: standards and...

Documents

w3c semantic web

broader adoption of

publishing industries

publishing parties

document management

notion of document

modern publishing work

forms of document metadata