*************************************************************** ****************** WELCOME TO SGML NEWSWIRE ******************* *************************************************************** * * * To subscribe, send mail to sgmlinfo@avalanche.com * * * * (Please pass along to interested colleagues) * * * *************************************************************** BLAST TO THE PAST ================= Below are a few excerpts of articles that have recently been published in the computer trade press. Until just recently we weren't aware of the appearance of SGML in several other publications dating back to 1988. Those articles are cited in the current bibliography. They may provide an invaluable way to see bits and pieces of how current thinking on SGML has evolved since its origin in 1986. NOTE: If you'd like a current Table of Contents sent to you, please send e-mail. UNIXWORLD, "Information Overload! Text retrieval can help your business quickly search through thousands of documents. But don't expect it to be cheap," 1 June 1993, Mike Burgard. This article is a straightforward analysis of the costs and benefits of SGML vis-a-vis text retrieval, including a few case-studies to illustrate both its advantages and disadvantages: "The idea behind text retrieval technology is simple: You have a large collection of documents such as legal cases, medical journals, or newspaper articles. Most text retrieval products are based on indexing every word in a document or article - most commonly by constructing an inverted index. The real work of text retrieval involves building these indexes when you first enter the documents... SGML GOES BEYOND TEXT SGML, an emerging standard in document management, promises benefits in text retrieval... Even text retrieval giant Mead Data Central is considering converting to SGML because it provides more options, according to Eric Reese, a Mead senior software engineer..." Computerworld, "Technohumanities 101: scholars are pushing computers in the humanities far beyond their traditional roles," 1 February 1993, Gary Anthes. See SGML-related sidebar. This article includes a description of SGML applied in an academic research scenario: "Indeed, technology is just reaching the critical mass needed to give a quantum boost to the productivity of humanist scholars. One key to making the dreams of the technohumanists come true is Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML),... Along with SGML, electronic networks containing on-line catalogs and databases, multimedia functions, relatively cheap mass storage for graphics and images and powerful workstations are redefining centuries-old research methods." Newsbytes, "Getting Documents to Speak the Same Language," 26 February 1993, Jacqueline Emigh. "Mark Walter, senior editor of the Seybold Report on Publishing Systems, told Newsbytes that SGML is similar to SQL (Standard Query Language), a protocol used for database retrieval, in defining a standard method of information retrieval. But SGML goes still further to define an entire document structure, he added." Dr. Dobb's Journal, "Compound Documents: what could be better than ASCII?," 1 March 1993, Lowell Williams. This tutorial highlights the differences between ODA, CDA, and SGML, three candidate technologies for the integration of sound, video and graphics elements into documents: plain-old ASCII still handles just plain-old text: ..."Because it is strictly a text format, ASCII is no longer adequate to fulfill the role it is continually called upon to play -- that of universal document-interchange standard... Let's say, for example, that we wish to encode the newspaper USA Today so that we will be able to interchange text, photos, layout, and other information between editorial, printing, and sales offices around the world...A universal document-encoding model would ensure that each application, regardless of vendor, could see and therefore work with these objects, just as ASCII allows current applications to see text... What makes ASCII so popular, despite its limitations, is that it is interpreted consistently by applications that support ASCII and is universally accessible to developers. Developers currently have four candidates available to them as a potential compound ASCII equivalent: private formats, the Open Document Architecture (ODA) standard, the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) standard, and Digital's Compund Document Architecture (CDA)..." BellCore Exchange, "A Generalized Language for Logical Structures," 1 January 1993, Mark Buckley. This article gets down to the nitty-gritty of SGML without diving too far in past the average reader's head. If you're interested in contacting the writer directly, his e-mail address is: mark@oscar.ims.bellcore.com. Communications of the ACM, "Markup Systems and the Future of Scholarly Text Processing," Volume 30, Number 11, November 1987, James H. Coombs, Allen H. Renear, Steven J. DeRose. This article is considered a classic and is highly recommended. ************************************************************** * SGML NEWSWIRE LIST MANAGER * * * * Linda Turner * * Corporate Communications * * Avalanche * * 947 Walnut Street * * Boulder, CO 80302 * * sgmlinfo@avalanche.com * * linda@avalanche.com * * Vox: (303) 449-5032 * * Fax: (303) 449-3246 * **************************************************************