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List:       xml4lib
Subject:    [XML4LIB] shining a lamp on xml
From:       kgs () bluehighways ! com (K ! G !  Schneider)
Date:       2004-07-22 14:14:40
Message-ID: 20040722181445.DACF0C126C3 () mail ! messagingengine ! com
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> > The script will eventually be a part of a workshop I am giving called
> > "Shining a LAMP on XML." the outline, to date, is here:
> 
> I have been working on revising my Getting Started with XML (Shining a
> LAMP on XML) workbook, and made its present incarnation available in
> DocBook, XHTML, and PDF formats here:
> 
>    http://infomotions.com/musings/getting-started/beta/
> 
> It is not finished. There are still a lot of holes. It will eventually
> be filled with more exercises than any group will be able to complete
> in one day.
> 
> I'm hoping for a bit o' peer review.

(Shared collegially in case anyone disagrees with my comments)

This will be great when it is done.  My observations as someone who spends a
lot of time asking these questions:

Who is this for?  It says "librarians and library staff," but that's a broad
group, and should be qualified.  Once I get to the following sentences, I
know you don't really mean *all* librarians and library staff:

"Think of XML as if it represented tab-delimited text files on steroids."

But then, I think this is your real lede:

"[Libraries] are becoming less about books and more about the ideas and
concepts manifested in the books. In both of these spheres of influence
there needs to be a way to move data and information around efficiently and
effectively. XML data shared between computers and computer programs via the
hypertext transfer protocol represents an evolving method to facilitate this
sharing, a method generically called Web Services."

(Isn't this really why XML is important, not because it resembles
tab-delimited files on steroids?)

Who is it by? (And why is that important?) I immediately wanted to know more
about the author and the editors. I *do* know you, of course, at least, as
well as Lori, but I am speaking here as an editor reviewing this resource on
behalf of someone stumbling across it, which presumably is what you want. 

I see some grammatical errors, but I assume you want "big picture" stuff.
"Who did this and who is it for" falls in that category, as does how you
start this piece.

This has the potential to be a very important resource. You could reach a
lot of librarians with this. Good luck!

Karen G. Schneider



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