Part 3 in ISO Online Browsing Platform

[Dennis E. Hamilton]

Caroline, when I visit the sample, anywhere there might be substantive detail I instead see this message:

     "This part of the standard is not accessible to you. 
      To view the full content, you will need to purchase 
      the standard by clicking on the "Buy" button."

 - Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Arms, Caroline [mailto:caar at loc.gov] 
Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 13:15
To: dennis.hamilton at acm.org; 'SC 34 WG4'
Subject: RE: Part 3 in ISO Online Browsing Platform

Dennis,

Just a clarification.  The new ISO Online Browsing Platform (OBP) is not behind a paywall.  Hence my interest in how ISO 29500 parts look in it because it may provide the only view of some standards that is available without paying.  Of course, both ISO 29500 (OOXML) and ISO 26300 (ODF) are freely accessible anyway.  But the Library of Congress and other cultural heritage institutions have interest in many format standards that are not, such as the JPEG 2000 and MPEG families.  OBP only gives a preview of a standard, omitting the main body entirely, but that is a lot better than a current ISO Catalogue entry.  My guess is that it is a resource that will get some use from the digital preservation community.  I will certainly be more inclined to point people in that direction than to the ISO Catalogue.  And maybe the ISO Catalogue will end up being merged with the OBP.

I am assuming that ISO will continue to distribute entire standards as PDF -- based on the same argument as you make.

     Caroline

Caroline Arms
Library of Congress Contractor
Co-compiler of Sustainability of Digital Formats resource
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/

** Views expressed are personal and not necessarily those of the institution **
________________________________________
From: Dennis E. Hamilton [dennis.hamilton at acm.org]
Sent: Tuesday, September 03, 2013 3:12 PM
To: Arms, Caroline; 'SC 34 WG4'
Subject: RE: Part 3 in ISO Online Browsing Platform

OFF-TOPIC Concerns

The notion of having on-line, browser-rendered standards behind a paywall does not sound like something many will want to pay for, considering the reference nature of standards specifications and the potential ephemeral nature of this initiative.  I think I'd prefer an EPUB to whatever the contortions are for this.

In the meantime, PDFs are probably the most durable, consistently-usable form available.  Considering the size of the IS 29500 specifications, browser rendering will be toxic for many, and the supplemental machine-readable materials such as schemas still need to be dealt with.  (I find the OASIS linking to the HTML versions of ODF documents to be particularly jarring, ignoring the fact that the HTML conversion is imperfect.)  Thinking about accessing any of the substantial document-format and programming-language standards on my smart phone seems particularly creepy.

Once a specification is available at a client, PDF browsing, search, and navigation are far more effective.  I suspect reliance on translation software and handling of accessibility requirements will also be more effective.

I do think consideration of translation and especially accessibility is something worth discussion at the SC level, though.

On the question of applicability of MCE separate from OOXML, I would hope that is clear in the scope and in any abstract produced for Part 3.

 - Dennis

-----Original Message-----
From: Arms, Caroline [mailto:caar at loc.gov]
Sent: Tuesday, September 3, 2013 06:11
To: SC 34 WG4
Subject: Part 3 in ISO Online Browsing Platform

It just struck me that it will be worth considering how a revised Part 3 will look on the ISO Online Browsing Platform.

   Exmple display at   https://www.iso.org/obp/ui/#iso:std:iso-iec:14496:-21:ed-1:v1:en

"Users can now preview the content of standards (including the foreword, table of contents, introduction, scope and bibliographical references), run full-text searches, and use advanced filtering options." is what I find at http://www.iso.org/iso/home/news_index/news_archive/news.htm?refid=Ref1631

I know that we just agreed to shorten scope substantially.  I think it could be useful to review that decision based on what a user of OBP would see.  Will it be clear enough that the MCE mechanism is applicable beyond OOXML?

I also find  "More standards will be added to the Online Browsing Platform and become available for preview as they are converted into XML format. The goal is to have 30 % of the ISO collection of standards converted by the end of 2012, with the entire portfolio converted by the end of 2013."

Does anyone know what XML schema they are using?  And whether they will achieve the goal of 100% conversion by the end of this year?

    Thanks.

    Caroline


Caroline Arms
Library of Congress Contractor
Co-compiler of Sustainability of Digital Formats resource
http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/

** Views expressed are personal and not necessarily those of the institution **
________________________________________