Resource Library: Multimedia/Resource Library: Multimedia.iso/hypertxt/msdos/montana0/sgmh

Text File | 1993-03-05 | 14.2 KB | 277 lines

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[S7]    SGML ELECTRONIC DISCUSSION FORUMS AND ONLINE SUPPORT CENTERS
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Contents:   * Usenet Newsgroup: comp.text.sgml
            * SGML Project, University of Exeter
            * TEI-L Discussion Forum
            * SGML-L Mailing List
            * MARKUP-L Discussion Forum
            * CALS-BBS

[112] Usenet Newsgroup: comp.text.sgml

The Usenet Newsgroup comp.text.sgml is a dedicated forum for
discussion of SGML and associated standards (ODA, SDIF, DSSSL, SPDL,
etc.).  It began in Fall 1990 thanks to the vision and energy of
Edward Vielmetti (University of Michigan Math Department, Ann Arbor,
MI; Internet: [e-mail]).  As of late 1991,
comp.text.sgml hosted the most concentrated and high-quality
electronic discussion of SGML on any academic network.  The discussion
group has support from a number of experts within the SGML community
(e.g., contributions from SoftQuad; Software Exoterica; Electronic
Book Technologies; Open Text Systems; InfoDesign; Naggum Software;
ArborText; Avalanche Corporation).  An introductory FAQ file on SGML
("Frequently Asked Questions") written for comp.text.sgml is noted
under section 1 above; cf. entry [29].  The discussion forum is
accessible from any VAX, UNIX or other site which receives Usenet
News, viz, from among any of the 40,000 Usenet sites worldwide.
Software for reading News on a local system varies greatly; see your
local computer gurus.

Various sites archive the posting from comp.text.sgml in spool and
public archive areas, and sometimes with indexes.  The ARCHIE servers
may be used to locate such sites.  As of late 1991, some hosts were
listed as follows:

Host mcsun.eu.net   (192.16.202.1)
      Location: /newsarchive/comp/text/sgml
      DIRECTORY rwxrwxr-x      2048  Dec  4 23:53   sgml
Host aix370.rrz.uni-koeln.de   (134.95.136.1)
      Location: /usenet/comp.archives/text/sgml
      Location: /usenet/comp.archives/auto/comp.text.sgml
Host utsun.s.u-tokyo.ac.jp   (133.11.11.11)
      Location: /misc
      DIRECTORY rwxrwxr-x       512  Oct 31 11:51   sgml
Host src.doc.ic.ac.uk   (146.169.3.7)
      Location: /usenet/comp.archives/text/sgml
      Location: /usenet/comp.archives/auto/comp.text.sgml
      Location: /.zapme/comp.archives/auto/comp.text.sgml
Host rusmv1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de   (129.69.1.12)
      Location: /soft/kommunikation/news/spool/comp/text/sgml
Host cs.dal.ca   (129.173.4.5)
      Location: /pub/comp.archives/comp.text.sgml
Host ftp.syd.dit.csiro.au   (130.155.128.3)
      Location: anonymous:[.comp_text_sgml]


[113] SGML Project, University of Exeter

In November, 1990, a two-year project was awarded by the UK
Information Systems Committee (formerly the Computer Board for
Universities and Research Councils) to the University of Exeter to
evaluate SGML products for use in UK Universities and Research Council
establishments.  The project staff are now located within the
University's Computer Unit and the project is directed by Paul
Ellison, a member of the relevant ISO working committee and a long-
time proponent of SGML.  The aims of the project are:  (1) to
investigate commercial products and review them for possible use in
the UK Academia; (2) to investigate the current use of SGML within and
without Academia; (3) to assess possible requirements for SGML systems
in UK Academia; (4) to investigate the required utilities (e.g.,
editors, translators, formatters) and make recommendations concerning
possible acquisition; (5) to define, in consultation with academic
users, a vocabulary of element and entity names and develop general
Document Type Definitions; (6) to maintain a library of DTDs; (7) to
function as a center for information on the use of SGML; (8) to
cooperate with AGOCG (the Advisory Board on Computer Graphics) in
increasing the awareness of SGML in Academia.  The project was first
proposed within the context of an AGOCG sponsored workshop on the use
of SGML in UK universities, organized by Anne Mumford of Loughborough
University.  SGML was one of the standards chosen by the AGOCG for
structuring and distribution of university-related information
containing graphics (research documents, teaching aids, view graphs).
A set of recommendations issued to the AGOCG and the UK academic
community called for such an initiative as Paul Ellison now directs
(information supplied by Anne Mumford and Paul Ellison).  The SGML
Project's host machine will be fully addressable for anonymous-FTP
from 01/01/92.  The machine's address will be:


         sgml1.ex.ac.uk (144.173.6.61) INTERNET
         uk.ac.exeter.sgml1  JANET

(N.B. the machine name sgml1 = "sgml_one")

A library of DTDs, tools etc. is to be created, and details of this
service will be widely publicized.  Any donations (of DTDs etc.), or
suggestions as to what this library should contain, would be most
welcome.

The SGML Users' Group Parser Materials (the ARCSGML v1.0 parser
toolkit, VM2 etc), are currently held on the SGML Project's host
machine.  Until 01/01/92 these are only available over JANET, via an
e-mail request (contact the Project for more details on both), or via
anonymous-FTP from other sites; see entry [118] below for a list of
anon-FTP sites hosting the ARC-SGML tools.

For academic and research sites within the UK, the SGML Project has
been given funding to make visits to give lectures, to run workshops,
or give advice on SGML implementation and use.  This service is
entirely free to such sites.

The SGML Project has published notices in all the university and
research institution site newsletters in the UK.  Currently it has a
mailing-list of 200+ contact names, and each will automatically
receive any updates, reports and notices produced by the Project.
Additional contact names are always welcome (any country).

To contact the SGML Project: Michael Popham; SGML Project; Computer
Unit - Laver Building; North Park Road; University of Exeter; Exeter
EX4 4QE; UNITED KINGDOM; TEL: [phone]; TEL: [phone];
FAX: [phone]; Email: (JANET): [e-mail] (Office);
(JANET): [e-mail] (Project Officer); Paul Ellison on
(JANET): [e-mail] (Project Director).

Further references: (1)  "The SGML Project."  SGML Users' Group
Newsletter 18 (November 1990) 13;  (2)  Advisory Group on Computer
Graphics.  Document Exchange: The Use of SGML in the UK Academic and
Research Community. Workshop Proceedings 5-7 March 1990.  Edited by
Anne Mumford.  See [28]: the volume's front matter contains the
recommendations proposed for the 'Exeter' SGML group.

[114] TEI-L Discussion Forum (on BITNET)

TEI-L is the electronic discussion forum for the international Text
Encoding Initiative, implementing SGML for markup of texts in academic
applications, particularly the humanities.  The list owners are
Michael Sperberg-McQueen and Lou Burnard, TEI editors.  TEI-L is the
primary electronic forum for the TEI, normally open for subscription
to all who request subscriber status; specialized forums hosted on the
same computer (TEI-REP, TEI-ANA, TEI-META, TEI-DOC) are normally
closed lists used by TEI subcomittees and working groups.  While the
TEI-L forum is not designated for discussing the theoretical and
practical merits of SGML per se, the TEI encoding is an implementation
of SGML, and thus some theoretical and practical discussions of SGML
will be heard.

Many SGML-related working papers and provisional DTDs are available in
conjunction with the archived TEI-L discussions.  Send email or postal
mail to Wendy Plotkin requesting document TEI A0, "Current Documents,"
which lists some 120 working papers, committee reports and minutes
records -- many of which address TEI-SGML issues.  Address: Wendy
Plotkin, Email (Internet): [e-mail], OR
[e-mail] OR [e-mail]; Postal: Wendy Plotkin,
TEI-Rm 168; UIC Computer Center; Computer Center (M/C 135); University
of Illinois at Chicago; Box 6998; Chicago, IL 60680.

If you wish to subscribe to the TEI-L electronic forum (there are no
subscription fees), send an interactive BITNET message, or (from a
BITNET site, or from one of the other public networks), send standard
mail to the BITNET address listserv@uicvm with the single line as the
first line (any subject line will be ignored):

            subscribe tei-l YOUR NAME

If you wish to obtain archived files from this discussion, send
interactive BITNET message or mail message to the BITNET address
listserv@uicvm with one or more lines patterned after this example
(for October, 1991 archive):

            get tei-l log9110

[115] SGML-L Mailing List (on BITNET)

BITNET: SGML-L@DHDURZ1

SGML-L was only minimally active through most of calendar 1991, but
showed some signs of vitality late in 1991.  The List Owners are
Joachim Lammarsch ([e-mail] or X33@DHDURZ1) and Mr. Holger
Wendt (WENDT@DHDSPRI6).  Mr. Wendt serves as the SGML-LIST editor.  To
subscribe to the mailing list, send an interactive BITNET message or
mail message (from any network) to the BITNET address listserv@dhdurz1
with the command:

            subscribe SGML-L YOUR NAME

substituting your personal name for "YOUR NAME."


[116] MARKUP-L (GLDV-AK fuer TEI-Guideline-Anpassung)

The objectives of the Goettingen-based GLDV-AK fuer TEI-Guideline-
Anpassung and associated MARKUP-L discussion list are given in a
poster submitted by Guenter Koch, 8-October-1991, "Mitgliederbrief und
Protokoll der konstituierenden Sitzung des GLDV-Arbeitskreises:
'Kodierung und Normung maschinenlesbarer Texte,' Universitaet Trier am
27.9.1991, 14.-15.30 Uhr."  These objectives relate primarily to the
evaluation and use of TEI (and SGML) encoding standards within the
German research comunity, but the discussions and resources will be of
broader interest, covering such areas as TEI applied to machine-
readable lexica, hypermedia, and non-Roman languages (e.g., Sanskrit).
The role of the discussion group in particular is described as
follows:

"Um eine schnelle und kostenguenstige Kommunikation zwischen den
Teilnehmern des Arbeitskreises zu ermoeglichen, haben wir auf dem
Listserver [e-mail] eine Liste mit dem Namen MARKUP-L
eingerichtet. Sie soll dazu dienen, Fragen bei der Arbeit mit SGML und
den TEI-Richtlinien zu diskutieren, Erfahrungen mit Programmen
auszutauschen und Einschaetzungen einschlaegiger Buecher
weiterzugeben. Auch arbeitskreisinterne, organisatorische Nachrichten,
z.B. wo und wann ein naechstes Arbeitskreistreffen stattfindet, sollen
ueber die Liste verbreitet werden. Des weiteren enthaelt die Liste
eine Reihe Dateien, die von den TEI-L und anderen fachlich
benachbarten Kommunikationslisten stammen und nuetzliches
Arbeitsmaterial bieten, so die TEI DTDs, Bibliographien zu SGML, zum
Thema Hypertext und SGML etc."  The two list owners are Guenter Koch,
GWD Goettingen (BITNET: GKOCH@DGOGWDG1) and Peter Scherber, GWD
Goettingen (BITNET: PSCHERB@DGOGWDG1).

The LISTSERVer may be addressed via its BITNET address
(LISTSERV@DGOGWDG1) or by the Internet address ([e-mail])
using standard LISTSERVer commands: sub markup-l [your name], index
markup-l, review markup-l, get [filename filetype], etc.  The
LISTSERVer currently (December 1991) contains general information
files on TEI, SGML (bibliography), DTDs from TEI phase 1 work, and
discussion logs.


[117] CALS-BBS

The primary CALS(-SGML) documents are alluded to above; see [61].
Several of these CALS-specific SGML documents and related information
files are available via telephone dialup or Internet anonymous-FTP.
Of special interest are MIL-M-28001 SGML and MIL-M-28001A SGML (Markup
Requirements and Generic Style Specification for Electronic Printed
Output and Exchange of Text), held in ASCII file format and containing
relevant parsable DTDs.  The file server also contains electronic
information and/or full text for: (1) MIL-HDBK-59A;  (2) MIL-STD-1840A
"Automated Interchange of Technical Information";  (3) MIL-D-28000
"Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (IGES);  (4) MIL-R-28002
Group 4 Raster;  (5) MIL-D-28003 Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM).
Amendments for some of these items are also on the server.

Direct access to the files (but without BBS interface) is via
anonymous-FTP: FTP to durer.cme.nist.gov (129.6.32.4) and 'cd' to
pub/cals.  The subdirectories are: 1840a; 28000; 28000a; 28001; 28002;
28003; 28003a; 59a; arc; autocom; brochure; bulletin; cals-net; cals-
rpt; citis; ctn; expo91; ietm; isg; misc; scenario -- where content is
readily discernible.  Files are held in ASCII, WordPerfect and other
binary formats as appropriate.  In the subdirectory 28001, for
example, one would find the following files: 28001a.exe; 38784-v2.exe;
38784pid.exe; app-a10-.exe; app-a50.exe; app-a70a.exe; app-a70b.exe;
app-a70c.exe; app-a80.exe; app-b10-.exe; app-b50.exe; app-b70.exe;
app-b80.exe; app-b90.exe; app-c10-.exe; app-d10-.exe; app-d50.exe;
dtds.exe; m28001a.exe; os-pid.exe; pid-fos.exe; read.me; temp-fos.exe;
temp-pid.exe.  The files '[filename].exe' are self-extracting
compressed files that may be unpacked on an MS-DOS machine simply by
typing the [filename].

Direct dialup for the BBS is supported for phone via (1 301) 948-8966
(a four line rotary); or (via Internet) TELNET to 129.6.32.173 and
follow the login instructions.   The BBS Main Menu contains seven
areas: 1 - Meetings and Conferences; 2 - Special Announcements; 3 -
CALS Information Sources; 4 - Standards News; 5 - Technology News; 6 -
BBS Operation and Software; 7 - SME & SOLE Bulletins.   CALS-MIL-STD
documents are online, available for downloading: Directory  1. - CALS
MIL-SPECS, MIL-STDS, & MIL-HDBKS; Directory  2. - DOD Publications
About CALS Program; Directory 3. - Standards Activities Information;
Directory 4. - Miscellaneous Information.  Also included in the BBS
support is a file on CALS-Related Software Packages, maintained by the
Tech Transfer Committee of the DOD/ISG Small Business Task Group.  For
questions about the CALS-BBS, contact Dave Bettwy via email, the CALS
BBS message system, or by telephone at (1 301) 975-6641.