Simple Web Syndication with RSS 2.0

Simply put RSS is an XML application for simple web feed syndication and content subscriptions. Let's say you have content on your site that you want to feed, or make available for other sites. This is known as web syndication. Most commonly this takes the form of sharing news headlines, product releases, or some similar timely content. RSS provides a standardized method for web sites to use when creating these feeds.

Dev Articles (2007). Articles>Information Design>XML>RSS

Intranet Information Architecture (IA)

In analyzing 56 intranets, we found many common top-level categories, labels, and navigation designs, but ultimately, the diversity was too great to recommend a single IA.

Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2007). Articles>Information Design>Web Design>Intranets

Review: Small Pieces, Big Thoughts

'Small Pieces Loosely Joined' is touted on the cover as 'A Unified Theory of the Web.' But its author, David Weinberger, knows better. And he says as much in the book. It's a unified theory, but not the kind you sum up in a tidy little equation.

Hinton, Andrew. Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Reviews>Information Design

SOAP

SOAP is a protocol for exchanging XML-based messages over a computer network, normally using HTTP. SOAP forms the foundation layer of the Web services stack, providing a basic messaging framework that more abstract layers can build on. SOAP can be used to facilitate a Service-Oriented architectural pattern.

Wikipedia (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML>SOAP

Social Network Analysis on the Semantic Web: Techniques and Challenges for Visualizing FOAF  

The Semantic Web promises to provide new applications for Internet users through the use of RDF metadata attached to various information resources on the web. Yet issomewhat unclear who will provide the metadata, or what will motivate people to provideit, let alone the exact nature of the applications the Semantic Web will ultimately support. What will the ¡°killer app¡± of the Semantic Web be, and what shape will it take?

Paolillo, John C. and Elijah Wright. (We)blog Research on Genre Project, The (2004). Articles>Information Design>Metadata>Social Networking

The Sociobiology of Information Architecture

Long before anyone was looking for 'godfathers' of information architecture, our fellow species were wrestling with some of the same problems we face today. The real godfathers of information architecture, as it turns out, emerged a very long time ago with the earliest origins of life on this planet.

Wright, Alex. Boxes and Arrows (2003). Articles>Information Design>Biomedical

Speaking in Tongues

Last month I stated this is not a place for jargon. I felt that was important enough to call out. I certainly am being called to task for that.

Boxes and Arrows (2002). Articles>Information Design>Writing>Minimalism

SQL Cookbook: Advanced Searching  

Some types of searching operations stand apart from others in that they represent a different way of thinking about searching. Perhaps you're displaying a result set one page at a time. Half of that problem is to identify (search for) the entire set of records that you want to display. The other half of that problem is to repeatedly search for the next page to display as a user cycles through the records on a display. Your first thought may not be to think of pagination as a searching problem, but it can be thought of that way, and it can be solved that way; that is the type of searching solution this chapter is all about.

Molinaro, Anthony. O'Reilly and Associates (2001). Articles>Information Design>Databases>Search

SQL Functions

A function is a special type of command word in the SQL99 command set. In effect, functions are one-word commands that return a single value. The value of a function can be determined by input parameters, as with a function that averages a list of database values. But many functions do not use any type of input parameter.

Kline, Kevin and Daniel Kline. O'Reilly and Associates (2001). Articles>Information Design>Databases>SQL

SQL Tuning  

Even if the vast number of end users leads to high calculation loads outside the database, you can generally throw hardware at the application load (the load outside the database, that is), hanging as many application servers as necessary off the single central database.

Tow, Dan. O'Reilly and Associates (2001). Articles>Information Design>Databases>SQL

Stalking Information in its Natural Habitat  

You know how to write, but do you know what to write? Much of the information which is needed to plan and execute a project is not technical detail about the product. You need access to specific corporate information to produce the required documentation. The flow of information to and from Tech Pubs (the technical publications department) is determined by several factors, including the company’s commitment to procedures (such as ISO-9000), the corporate culture, the physical location of the department, and the personalities involved. By being aware of this information flow, you can take control of your projects and produce documentation which is appropriate and on time.

Guren, Leah. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Knowledge Management>Information Design

Standards with a Future

About ten years ago, a handful of highly specialised consultants were trying with missionary zeal to establish SGML as the basic format in technical communication; today, the XML-standard is no longer something that can be dispensed with, and is, in fact, even mandatory in many projects. This article takes a look in hindsight at the beginnings of SGML and XML, and the current developments and standards around XML, and also hazards a guess at what the years to come might hold in store.

Rath, Hans Holger. tekom (2006). Articles>Information Design>Standards>XML

Standards-Based Publishing with XML, XSLT, XHTML and XSL-FO  

XML, the Extensible Markup Language recommendation by the W3C, separates content from processing. When you author XML, you describe your information semantically using a computer readable and human readable syntax. The syntax of XML is elements and attributes. We call this semantic markup.

Arbury, Autumn. tekom (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML>Semantic

Stealth Soapboxes: Political Information Efficacy, Cynicism and Uses of Celebrity Weblogs Among Readers    

This study tests the effects of personalized and 'stealth' political discourse on weblogs (or blogs) and the repercussions on levels of political trust, information efficacy and political uses/gratifications. By surveying readers of three different blogs (N=1838), this study identified significant effects as a result of exposure to political statements on blogs. Indeed, there were differences in the levels of political cynicism depending on how political statements were communicated. Readers of non-political blogs were more confident in their level of political information and their ability to participate in politics. Finally, political uses/approaches and avoidances were examined, as were differences based on gender and age.

Sweetser, Kaye D. and Lynda Lee Kaid. New Media and Society (2008). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Blogs

Storage and Enterprise Content Management  

Almost one-third of the users reported that more than 40 percent of the storage spending is for unstructured documents and information--I think that percentage will continue to grow annually. Further, AIIM President John Mancini, who prepared the report, found that larger organizations especially are aggressively pursuing consolidation and rationalization of their storage and archiving strategies--but that cost is not the prime motivation behind those activities.

McKellar, Hugh. KMworld (2006). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>Content Strategy

Strategies for Improving Enterprise Search

Acquiring and installing a search engine is just the beginning of creating an effective enterprise search system. John Ferrara walks us through strategies for addressing critical aspects of the user experience often overlooked or ignored.

Ferrara, John. Boxes and Arrows (2007). Articles>Web Design>Information Design>Search Engine Optimization

Strategies in Re-Purposing Graphics for Interactive Intelligent Delivery

In the domain of aerospace/defense, a products life cycle may likely span up to 30 years. The amount of technical data required to manufacture, operate, and maintain those products is immense. The graphic representation of that data facilitates the communication of operational and maintenance instructions. This paper outlines issues with creating, authoring, revising, and delivering intelligence with graphics and the associated meta-data.

Woolsey, Jeremiah and Martin Jackson. XML Europe (2001). Articles>Information Design>XML>Metadata

Streamlining an Interface Using Information Design Principles  

'Information design' is the art and science of understanding problems from the product user's standpoint, and using that understanding to select an appropriate mix of graphics and text that supports the design and presents necessary information appropriately. This progression topic presents a simple, iterative way to examine a design problem, and uses that approach to solve a common design problem (using space more efficiently in a software interface).

Hart, Geoffrey J.S. STC Proceedings (2003). Articles>Information Design>User Interface

Structured Authoring and XML: Part One

Implementing structured authoring with XML allows organizations to create better content. The addition of hierarchy and metadata to content improves reuse and content management. These benefits, however, must be weighed against the time and money required to implement a structured authoring approach. The business case is compelling for larger writing organizations; they will be the first to adopt structured authoring. Over time, improvements in available tools will reduce the cost of implementing structured authoring and make it affordable for smaller organizations.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part Three

Not every content-creation group will benefit from structured authoring and XML. Sometimes, the expense of implementation outweighs the benefits realized, especially in smaller groups with less total page count.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2004). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Authoring and XML: Part Two

In a structured authoring environment, authors create documents by assembling elements and text in an order permitted by the structure definition document. You might think of structured authoring as being similar to template-based authoring with a strict template. Authors do not assign formatting; the formatting is automatically assigned based on the structure of the document. Formatting may differ for different output media.

O'Keefe, Sarah S. Carolina Communique (2003). Articles>Documentation>Information Design>XML

Structured Content Management in the Enterprise  

As other areas within organizations begin to consider structured content for the same reasons as technical communication departments, technical communicators have a golden opportunity to assist others in their move toward structured CM.

Rockley, Ann. Intercom (2007). Articles>Content Management>Information Design>Content Strategy

Structuring Complex Interactive Information

To improve the structure of complex information when it is to be presented electronically, technical communicators may turn to ideas taken from object-oriented programming, to clarify and revive the structure of the material in existing documents before mounting them online. But when an organization starts moving information onto the Web, technical communicators may go through a phase transition, as the system becomes so much more complex it exhibits emergent behaviors, and demands new attitudes, concepts, and work from the technical communicator.

Price, Jonathan R. Communication Circle, The (1997). Articles>Information Design>Multimedia

Structuring Document Collections  

The efficient and automatic structuring of large document collections can be of great importance in various contexts: many problems in information retrieval, knowledge and content management arise from lack of structure. Document clustering is therefore widely applied in IR (cf., for instance, www.clusty.com) and knowledge management systems. It allows a quick overview of which documents belong together and how many important topics are contained in a given collection.

Witschel, Hans Friedrich. tekom (2005). Articles>Information Design