Re: [Fwd: RE: "information resource"]

Sandro Hawke wrote:

>>       "An "information resource" is a resource which constitutes a body 
>>of information."?
>>    
>>
>
>If the current text can be revised again without the worms all
>getting away, I would advocate that we already have a nice simple
>word with a close-enough dictionary meaning: "Document".
>  
>
I can see them all on the starting line wriggling to get away...

"Document" is a place we have been before. It suffers from some problems....

1) Resource-ful and Respresentation senses of use.

2) Concrete or concpetual - from the current editors draft:

"However, our use of the term resource is intentionally more broad. Other
things, such as cars and dogs (and, if you’ve printed this document on
physical sheets of paper, the artifact that you are holding in your hand),
are resources too. They are not information resources, however, because
their essence is not information."

I think may would consider the printed paper artifact a "document".

3) As an alternate for "resource" or "information resource" it is not 
reflective of the possibility that whilst the representation may be 
document like, the resource itself need not be.
eg. a robot arm.

I can see why it has some appeal... but...

Did I get the lid back on quickly enough? :-)

>The meanings are all over the place, but here are some:
>
> * Something, such as a recording or a photograph, that can be used to
>   furnish evidence or information. 
> * something (as a writing, photograph, or recording) that may be used
>   as evidence 
> * ...any writing, book, or other instrument conveying information...
> * writing that provides information
> * anything serving as a representation of a person's thinking by
>   means of symbolic marks 
> * a computer file that contains text (and possibly formatting
>   instructions) using 7-bit ASCII characters [ :-) ]
> * A term used on some systems (e.g. Intermedia) for a hypertext node.
>
>(all from http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=document&r=67)
>
>My semantic web browser infers from "200 OK" responses that the
>resource is a Document.  I'm very interested in any examples of this
>seeming incorrect.   (I have a few examples of RDF classes and
>properties with URIs served like that; I'd like an example from the
>non-semantic web.)
>
>      -- sandro
>  
>
Robot arm, temperature sensor, barometer.... basically any resource that 
senses or can actuate physical change. That's not to say that the 
representations exchanged are not 'document-like'... but the resources 
are not.

I also think that we should avoid taxonomising... "information resource" 
takes one step in that direction as does "web resource" - and I can see 
both defn's are intentionally different such that defining both gives us 
four boxes to think about... and I can see the ground beginning to slip 
away....

Thanks,

Stuart
--

Received on Monday, 18 October 2004 12:45:11 UTC