"Normative Appendix" a contradiction in terms

"ap·pen·dix
          1. An appendage.
          2. A collection of supplementary material, usually at the end 
of a book."

supplementary... as in: if you cut it off, you haven't changed what's 
specified, right?

Normative references, normative grammars, and the like do not belong in 
appendixes.

I gave this advice to the editors in the WG I chair, regarding the 
SPARQL grammar...
   http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/WD-rdf-sparql-query-20041012/#grammar

and they pointed out that they were just doing like the other specs 
they saw; indeed,
I see...

   http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-id/#references
   http://www.w3.org/TR/2005/WD-SMIL2-20050201/refs.html

Susan, please consider adding something about appendixes to the W3C 
manual of style.
   http://www.w3.org/2001/06/manual/


-- 
Dan Connolly, W3C http://www.w3.org/People/Connolly/

Received on Wednesday, 9 February 2005 05:32:24 UTC