Hi Jonathan,
An interesting application of the technology, although I'm not sure
that is addresses how to make it *easier* for administrators to
maintain metadata records.
ISSUES
(Assuming the ideal solution would be a wysiwyg editing environment
for non-technical content authors.)
-adding DC class values to <span> elements is not a mark-up behaviour
likely to be supported by wysiwyg editors in such a manner that it
would be 'effortless' for an author, i.e. the author would typically
need to edit the source code to add appropriate class values
-administrators will still not entirely 'see' the metadata they've
added, as it is the combination of the name and content values that
creates a meaningful record, and this would only be visible at a code
level
-the benefit of metadata is that it can be used to classify content
to a significant degree of detail *without encroaching upon the
visible page content itself*. The example provided, <
http://research.talis.com/2005/erdf/wiki/Main/RdfInHtml >,
re-purposes content as metadata. If the content is edited, the record
could (unintentionally) be deleted, or the content rewritten to
included the records required
-if metadata records are split between the <head> and <body> of a
document, review would likely require a greater degree of
concentration/quality assurance and/or additional supporting
technologies (such as a metadata record 'viewer' that would reveal
both conventional and class-based records)
-etc.
A custom-built CMS, as a companion to a well-supported publishing
process, is still your best bet. The metadata records can be entered
at the same time as the content, with values selected from a
controlled vocabulary, etc. and then output either into the <head> or
<body> as required. After all, it's more than just the ability to add
or edit metadata records, its also the relevance of the values
entered to the content, end-use of the records and the intended
community.
Food for thought anyway...
Best regards,
--
Andy Kirkwood | Creative Director
Motive | web.design.integrity
http://www.motive.co.nz
ph: (04) 3 800 800 fx: (04) 970 9693
mob: 021 369 693
93 Rintoul St, Newtown
PO Box 7150, Wellington South, New Zealand
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