#27951
Creating XML Trees with the XmlTextWriter and XmlDocument Objects
So you know all about reading and parsing XML files, and even checking if they're well-formed and valid. Now, take a step into more advanced territory with this expose of two objects that let you dynamically create well-formed XML documents in your ASP.NET scripts.
ASP Free (2004). Articles>Information Design>Software>XML
#31094
Jamie Owen explores how we can best utilize cues in our work by understanding how memory, cognitive psychology, and multimedia research affect how information is encoded and retrieved.
Owen, Jamie. Boxes and Arrows (2008). Articles>Information Design>User Centered Design>Cognitive Psychology
#20240
The Curse of Information Design
Information Architecture may be good for the web business, but Cohen thinks it is killing the web's subtler creative values.
Cohen, Scott Jason. List Apart, A (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design
#30111
Customer Profile: Ernest Svenson, PDF for Lawyers
A well-known advocate for the effective use of new technologies in the legal profession, New Orleans-based attorney Ernest Svenson finds Adobe Acrobat and PDF to be highly valued tools in a document-intensive field.
Foss, Kurt. Adobe (2007). Articles>Information Design>Legal>Adobe Acrobat
#18167
The Dangers of Personalization
Personalization is coming to technical communication, and the results may not be pretty. n offering the individual an opportunity to pick and choose among XML content objects, we risk causing confusion when the organization of the site appears to shift, and familiar landmarks disappear. Critical content may become invisible to the user. The very process of creating preferences, custom options, or an entire personal profile adds a complex distraction that many users may resent, because it takes them away from their original task for so long that they forget what they were doing. Even advanced search mechanisms, which promise to pinpoint the exact information object the user wants, risk baffling users with their own complexity.
Price, Jonathan R. Communication Circle, The (2001). Presentations>Information Design>Personalization
#27374
Darwin Information Typing Architecture
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA) is an XML-based architecture for authoring, producing, and delivering technical information. The architecture and a related DTD and a W3C-Schema was developed by IBM.
#27001
Darwin Information Typing Architecture (DITA XML)
DITA is an architecture for creating topic-oriented, information-typed content that can be reused and single-sourced in a variety of ways. It is also an architecture for creating new information types and describing new information domains based on existing types and domains. This allows groups to create very specific, targeted document type definitions using a process called specialization, while still sharing common output transforms and design rules developed for more general types and domains.
Cover Pages (2005). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA
#22394
Data Collection for Controlled Vocabulary Interoperability: Dublin Core Audience Element
This paper outlines the assumptions, process and results of a pilot study of issues of interoperability among a set of seven existing controlled vocabulary schemes that make statements about the audience of an educational resource.
Tennis, Joseph T. ASIST (2002). Articles>Information Design>Metadata>Controlled Vocabulary
#28526
A decision support database that is maintained separately from the organization's operational database. Support information processing by providing a solid platform of consolidated, historical data for analysis.
GNULAMP (2005). Resources>Information Design>Databases
#27614
Database Modelling in UML - Part 1
When it comes to providing reliable, flexible and efficient object persistence for software systems, today's designers and architects are faced with many choices. From the technological perspective, the choice is usually between pure Object-Oriented, Object-Relational hybrids, pure Relational and custom solutions based on open or proprietary file formats (eg. XML, OLE structured storage). From the vendor aspect Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, POET and others offer similar but often-incompatible solutions. This article is about only one of those choices, that is the layering of an object-oriented class model on top of a purely relational database. This is not to imply this is the only, best or simplest solution, but pragmatically it is one of the most common, and one that has the potential for the most misuse.
Sparks, Geoffrey. Methods and Tools. Articles>Information Design>Databases>UML
#24997
Once you've built several MySQL databases, you'll learn some shortcuts to database design. Why stop there? Take this trick a step further and put together a generic database with a set of empty, standard tables. With a well-designed MySQL template, you can quickly assemble the basics of any database as needed. A template also allows you to focus on the more interesting aspects of a database project.
Dyer, Russell. O'Reilly and Associates (2004). Articles>Information Design>Databases>SQL
#22678
Databases: Step-by-Step Guides to Using Databases
This detailed, inclusive database tutorial is designed for beginners and those ready to dive in. Easy-to-understand definitions, real-world anecdotes, and concrete examples set this site apart from the others.
#13700
Datacloud: Expanding the Roles and Locations of Information 
This presentation traces the locations and roles of computer documentation over the latter half of the 20th century in order to construct a model of information/knowledge space as it relates to different forms of work. The paper then provides suggestions about future forms of documentation and interface based on ethnographic research of workers in recently emerging forms of work, including nonlinear audio/video production and videogame playing. The final section of the paper provides concrete suggestions about forms of documentation and interface that will be required to support these new forms of work.
Johnson-Eilola, Johndan. Clarkson University (2001). Articles>Information Design>Hypertext
#31158
A Day at the DITA CIDM Conference
I went to the Content Management Strategies/DITA North America 2008 conference (put on by CIDM), which took place in Santa Clara last week. While I went to support our co-founder's speech on DocBook versus DITA, I also used this opportunity to catch up with software vendors and single-source users. Here's my top #10 take-away list.
Talbot, Fabrice. LiveTechDocs (2008). Articles>Information Design>XML>DITA
#18719
A Day In The Life Of BBCi Search
Since BBCi launched in November 2001, its search offering has been collecting data on the way that BBC website users search both the BBC's website, and through its homepage Websearch , the whole wide web. Given such a mass of data, the easiest way to aggregate and make sense of it has been to measure the search terms that are most popular. Indeed, the BBCi homepage has a panel displaying the three most popular search terms of the moment, and an editorial and taxonomy team at the BBC constantly monitor the searches gaining high volume in order to match the correct content to them.
Currybet.net (2002). Design>Information Design>Metadata>XFML
#20813
DC dot: Dublin Core Metadata Editor
This service will retrieve a Web page and automatically generate Dublin Core metadata, either as HTML META tags or as RDF/XML, suitable for embedding in the HEAD section of the page.
University of Koln. Resources>Information Design>Software>Metadata
#27244
de Lijst: Informatie Architectuur
de Lijst richt zich op het structureren van informatie en het vastleggen van kennis. de Lijst is in 1999 begonnen als een project van een student Informatiedienstverlening en -management (IDM) aan de Haagse Hogeschool.
#25859
The University of Tasmania decided to explore using a unified digital library for all its research output: journal articles, conference papers, higher degree theses, and other types. This decision is in advance of the state of the Australian national indexing systems. The digital library also uses OAI–PMH protocols for harvesting, which one of the national repositories does not as yet. The paper describes the context, reasons for the University’s decision, consequences and outcomes, and the development of software to talk to the Australian Digital Theses Program.
Sale, Arthur. First Monday (2005). Articles>Information Design>Case Studies
#21044
At the recent XML conference, Norm Walsh hosted a nocturne on Practical RDF, the highlight of which was his tour through thenorman.walsh.name setup. From the outside you may think this is a mere blog, but it’s actually a side-effect of a frighteningly gnarly confluence of metadata streams which are shaken and stirred to produce a sprawling network of resources a small part of which you might want to peruse for Norm’s news & views. I have a picture that made the audience at the session gasp in disbelief.
Bray, Tim. Deep XML (2003). Articles>Information Design>Web Design>XML
#27750
Default Mapping for Annotated XML Schema
The IBM DB2 Viper release brings many new XML-related (and non-XML) features. One such feature is the annotated XML schema decomposition that allows you to decompose their XML documents into relational tables. The annotated XML schema supports various mapping constructs that allow you to map elements/attributes defined in the XML schema to table-column pairs in the relational schema. For large XML schemas consisting of many XML schema documents, manual annotation can be a cumbersome task. Get an introduction to the tool, DefaultAnnotater, that allows you to create default mapping and a default relational schema into which corresponding XML documents can be decomposed. This article provides a good starting platform for not only trying out the new function, but also further enhancing the mapping in a given XML schema.
Pradhan, Mayank. IBM (2006). Articles>Information Design>XML
#21016
Deferred Hypertext: The Virtues of Delayed Gratification
Navigating a full browsing session to find information can be unpleasant and slow, particularly on mobile devices. Instead, issue a deferred request and have the information arrive later, as done by some SMS systems.
Nielsen, Jakob. Alertbox (2001). Design>Web Design>Information Design
#20294
Defining 'Value-Adding Work' of In-House Information Development Groups
Many in-house information development groups are redefining their role (or seeking to justify their existence) around the concept of 'value-adding work.' But which tasks are value-adding? Finding an answer to this question is critical for the survival of information development groups. Unfortunately, there is no easy, 'one size fits all' answer, because the response depends largely on your point of view. Thus, deciding what is and isn't value-adding may require technical communicators to do more project-by-project task, audience, and media analysis than ever before.
Collins, William L. STC Proceedings (1998). Careers>Content Management>Information Design>Content Strategy
#31207
Defining a TC Body of Knowledge
The Body of Knowledge effort is currently being led by a team of experienced industry and academic STC members. This spring, you will be invited to look at the initial outline of a hierarchy of domains, skills, and knowledge levels. This BoK is yours to develop; the start-up team is simply trying to put together a straw site to start the collaborative effort.
Hart, Hillary. STC Consulting SIG (2008). Articles>TC>Information Design
#21736
Defining Information Architecture
What is information architecture? Is it a nascent field or a flash in the pan? What does an information architect do? Are you an information architect? Am I? Is that the right label for our discipline? Do labels and definitions matter?
Morville, Peter. Argus Center (2000). Articles>Information Design
#22466
Defining Information Architecture Deliverables
One of the hottest topics these days in Information Architecture circles is documentation. This is probably partly because the IA's role is so ill defined. Our jobs sit perched between engineering and graphic design: go too far in one direction, we're doing the coding, go to far in the other and we are doing the design. Neither role maximizes the architect's key skills; defining the organizational structure and behavior of the web site or application. An IA is most effective when they leave implementation and final graphic design out of the mix. The documents they create to express this have to be crafted with equal skill and diplomacy.
Wodtke, Christina. SitePoint (2001). Articles>Information Design>Documentation
