The Web In The 21 st Century Brian Kelly UK Web Focus UKOLN University of Bath Bath, BA2 7AY UKOLN is supported by: Email B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk URL
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The Web In The 21st Century
Brian Kelly
UK Web FocusUKOLN
University of Bath
Bath, BA2 7AY
UKOLN is supported by:
EmailB.Kelly@ukoln.ac.ukURLhttp://www.ukoln.ac.uk/
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Contents
• Where Are We Now?• The Original Web Architecture• Architectural Developments• Deployment Issues• Discussion
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About Me
Brian Kelly:• UK Web Focus – a JISC-funded post to advise HE
and FE communities on Web developments• Based in UKOLN - a national focus of expertise in
digital information management based at the University of Bath
• Involved in Web since 1993, while working in Computing Service at University of Leeds
• Close links with Computing Service and Library communities
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Look Back at Web Conferences
W3C Advisory Committee Meeting – June 1998• Held at CERN, Switzerland• W3C staff and AC Reps (from computing
companies) using mobile phone and laptop for Internet access during talks
WWW9 Conference – May 2000• Laptop and mobile, digital cameras are mainstream
(e.g. Weblogs for realtime trip reports)WWW10 Conference – May 2001
• Wireless LANs and laptops• Web access pervasive (free 5 mins at Heathrow,
unlimited access throughout Hong Kong – shopping malls, cafes, etc)
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How I Use The Web Today
Recently I have:• Used a Web kiosk at London and Leeds train
stations to view sports results on the BBC Web site (Australia won!) – free for selected Web sites, otherwise 50p for 5 minutes
• Used a Web kiosk in a pub in Leeds to read my email using a Web-based email client (£1 for 10 minutes)
• Viewed the Guardian regularly on my Palm PDA• Installed parts of the W3C, JISC Web sites, etc …
on my Palm
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Where Are We Now?
Current position:• Awareness that resource management is critical• Integration with legacy systems• E-learning is seen as important
But:• Have we yet grasped importance of pervasive
networking?• Is our institutional decision-making processes
hindering developments? Will we lose out to: Microsoft .net (or Sun’s ONE) and Web services Harvard-online, MIT-online, etc. Student Web sites, or Web services aimed at students
• Are we still too institution-centric, and missing out on distributed “Web services”?
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Standards, Architectures, Applications, Resources
This talk touches on several areas
Architectures: models for implementing systemsArchitectures: models for implementing systems
Applications: software products used to implement systems
Applications: software products used to implement systems
Standards: concerned with protocols and file formatsStandards: concerned with protocols and file formats
Open standards vs. Proprietary HTML / XML vs. PDFCSS / XSL vs. HTML
Which standards are applicableNT / UnixFile system / database applicationHTML tools / content management
Apache / IISFrontPage / DreamweaverOracle / SQLServerColdFusion vs ASP
Development vs. Migration costsUse of in-house expertiseIn-house vs. out-sourced Licensed vs. open source
Resources: financial and staff costs needed to implement systems
Resources: financial and staff costs needed to implement systems Is this a frightening
Thatcherite term?
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Standards
Need for standards to provide:• Platform independence• Application independence• Avoidance of patented technologies • Flexibility ("evolvability" - Tim Berners-Lee)• Architectural integrity• Long-term access to data
Ideally look at standards first, then find applications which support the standards
Difficult to achieve this ideal!
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How Does The Web Work?The Web has three fundamental concepts:
• URLs: addresses of resources• HTTP: dialogue between client and server• HTML: format of resources
The Netsoft home page
1 User clicks on link to the address (URL)http://www.netsoft.com/hello.html
2 Browser converts link to HTTP command (METHOD):Connect to computer at www.netsoft.com
GET /hello.html3 Remote computer sends file
Welcome toNetsoft
4 Local computer displays HTML file
Web Browser
Web server
<HTML><TITLE>Welcome</TITLE>..<P>The <A HREF=“…”>Netsoft</A> home page</P>
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Approaches To HTML
Emphasis on managing HTML resources inappropriate:• HTML is an output format, which cannot easily be
reused (e.g. WAP, e-Books, etc.)• Need to manage HTML fragments (only partly
achievable with SSIs)• Need to manage collections of resources• Need to have single master source of data• Need to support new developments such as
personalisation• Difficult to integrate with new formats
Issues• Should we stop giving HTML courses?• Should we stop buying HTML authoring tools?
Issues• Should we stop giving HTML courses?• Should we stop buying HTML authoring tools?
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XML
XML:• Extensible Markup Language• A lightweight SGML designed for network use• Addresses HTML's lack of evolvability• Arbitrary elements can be defined (<STUDENT-NUMBER>, <PART-NO>, etc)
• Agreement achieved quickly - XML 1.0 became W3C Recommendation in Feb 1998
• Support from industry (SGML vendors, Microsoft, etc.)
• Support in latest versions of We browsers
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XML Concepts
Well-formed XML resources:Make end-tags explicit: <li>...</li>
Make empty elements explicit: <img ... />
Quote attributes <img src="logo.gif" height="20"
Use consistent upper/lower case
XML Namespaces:Mechanism for ensuring unique XML elements:
<?xml:namespace ns="http://foo.org/1998-001" prefix="i">
<p>Insert <i:PART>M-471</i:PART></p>
There are several other XML goodies, such as XLink, XPointer, XSLT, etc which aren’t covered in this talk
There are several other XML goodies, such as XLink, XPointer, XSLT, etc which aren’t covered in this talk
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Getting to XML With XHTML
XHTML:• HTML represented in XML• Some small changes to HTML:
– Elements in lowercase (<p> not <P>)– Attributes must be quoted (<img src="logo" height="50">– Elements must be closed (< p >..</ p >)– Empty elements must be closed (<img src="logo" . />)
• Gain benefits from XML• Tools available (e.g. HTML-Kit from http://www.chami.com/html-kit/)
• See <http://www.webreference.com/xml/column6/>, <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/XHTML-L/> and <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue27/web-focus/>
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RSS – An XML/RDF Application
RSS (Rich / RDF Site Summary):
• Initially XML, now an RDF application
• Used for news feeds• Of interest to JISC
(DNER architecture)• Lightweight
approach that we should be investigating
See example of an RSS authoring tool and parser at <http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/> – to be demonstrated in Automated News Feed workshop.
See example of an RSS authoring tool and parser at <http://rssxpress.ukoln.ac.uk/> – to be demonstrated in Automated News Feed workshop.
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Model For News Feeds
Good For UserThe end user can choose her news feeds, including local news, news from JISC services and news from third partiesGood For ServiceThe service can chose its own informationflow model. Its news is disseminated automatically.
Good For UserThe end user can choose her news feeds, including local news, news from JISC services and news from third partiesGood For ServiceThe service can chose its own informationflow model. Its news is disseminated automatically.
RSS Institution (e.g. Bath)
RSSCommunity(e.g. MIDAS)
RSSExternal
(e.g. BBC)
Local News..JISC News..National News
XHTML converted to RSS
Structured database converted to RSS
Zope CMS outputs to RSS & XHTML
To be covered in workshop sessionTo be covered in workshop session
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Position Today
What should we be doing today?• Move away from creating new content in HTML• Move to XHTML as part of the migration• Deploying XML applications• Storing structured information in a neutral database• Using a CMS to manage our content• Deploying B2B applications to avoid human
bottleneck (such as RSS)
Note that these are aspirations. We will, of course, be constrained by existing systems, resource implications, vested interests, inertia, etc.
Note that these are aspirations. We will, of course, be constrained by existing systems, resource implications, vested interests, inertia, etc.
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The CMS To The Rescue
HTML authoring tools have their limitations (as has HTML itself). A CMS (Content Management System):
• Allows fragments to be managed• Allows collections to be managed• Allows resources to be stored in a neutral format
(backend database)• Allows resources to be reused• Often provides access control• Often provides workflow processes and project
management
Issues• CMS can be expensive• CMS can be free but have support implications• Which one to choose?
Issues• CMS can be expensive• CMS can be free but have support implications• Which one to choose?
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What About Tomorrow?
Two interesting areas:
The Semantic Web• Will allow intelligent agents to know about
resources • AI and ontologists meet the Web• Uses RDF (Resource Description Framework) –
W3C’s framework for metadata• Some concerns over scale of problem• See <http://www.w3.org/2001/sw/>
Web Services• One of the highlights of the recent WWW10
conference
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Web Services
The Web:• Initially used for viewing static resources• Then interactive services built (e.g. e-learning)
We now want:• Programmable Web services which can be used by
other Web services using standards Web protocols
We have experience of the first generation of externally-hosted Web services (stats services, voting systems, etc.) - see <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue23/web-focus/>.
The next generation will be programmable and machine-understandable
Note that concerns over outsourcing may be an issue
We have experience of the first generation of externally-hosted Web services (stats services, voting systems, etc.) - see <http://www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue23/web-focus/>.
The next generation will be programmable and machine-understandable
Note that concerns over outsourcing may be an issue
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Example
Some examples at gotdotnet.com:
• Mailsender• Thumbnail
Generator
Concepts been around for some time (see Auditing & Evaluating Web Sites workshop)
Now being standardised (UDDI, WSDL, SOAP, …) http://www.gotdotnet.com/playground/
services/thumbnailgen.aspx
http://www.gotdotnet.com/playground/services/thumbnailgen.aspx
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We’ve Been Here BeforeReusable components available on the network:
• Sounds like COM/DCOM, CORBA, etc. for reusable program components
Network services for use within a community:• Sounds like JISCmail, RDN, EDINA, MIMAS, BIDS,
Mirror Service and other JISC Services• It’s outsourcing – but it’s OK!
Web Services And UK HE / FE CommunitiesSounds like a great idea:
• We’ve the organisational framework to develop national services (JISC, etc.)
• We’ve got the network• We’ve a community which is willing to exploit centrally-provided
services and wants to avoid reinventing the wheel (haven’t we?)
Web Services And UK HE / FE CommunitiesSounds like a great idea:
• We’ve the organisational framework to develop national services (JISC, etc.)
• We’ve got the network• We’ve a community which is willing to exploit centrally-provided
services and wants to avoid reinventing the wheel (haven’t we?)
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Currently...
End user
Local content National content International content
Web Web Web Web Web Web
We should be moving away from providing separate Web services with their own interfaces …
We should be moving away from providing separate Web services with their own interfaces …
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Currently...
End user
Collection Description(e.g. Agora)
User Profile(e.g. Headline)
Authentication(Athens)
Local content National content International content
Web Web Web Web Web Web
… and separate metadata repositories and access services (which are sometimes centralised) …
… and separate metadata repositories and access services (which are sometimes centralised) …
Agora and headline are eLib Hybrid libraries
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Future...
Content
End user
User profile
Collectiondescription
Authentication
Metadata Services /Access (Web) Services
Application Services?
Bookmarks
Spell-checker
.. and move to Web-accessible, machine-understandable Web services as well as seamless access to content
.. and move to Web-accessible, machine-understandable Web services as well as seamless access to content
Brokered access provide by
institutional portal(MLE, …)
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Conclusions
To conclude:• HTML won’t do the job• XHTML is a useful transition• We’ll need a CMS to manage richly
functional institutional Web services• “Web services” should be important – and
we shouldn’t be too concerned about using remote services
• Standards are important
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Questions
Any questions?
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