footnote element in HTML

Hi Shane and David,

We discussed the proposed HTML footnote element in today's DPUB IG meeting. The primary question is that the Web Annotations WG is working on far more robust model to represent this sort of information [2].

We've heard a lot of discussions of what a "footnote" is, but it certainly fits well within the definition of annotation:
"An annotation is considered to be a set of connected resources, typically including a body and target, and conveys that the body is related to the target. The exact nature of this relationship changes according to the intention of the annotation, but most frequently conveys that the body is somehow "about" the target. Other possible relationships include that the body is an identifier for the target, provides a representation of the target, or classifies the target in some way. This perspective results in a basic model with three parts, depicted below. The full model supports additional functionality, enabling content to be embedded within the annotation, selecting arbitrary segments of resources, choosing the appropriate representation of a resource and providing styling hints for consuming clients. Annotations created by or intended for machines are also considered to be in scope, ensuring that the Data Web is not ignored in favor of only considering the human-oriented Document Web." [3]

Does HTML have a draft definition beyond the notes David assembled at [3]?  Why should HTML move forward with the addition of an element that accomplishes only a percentage of what the Annotations Data Model accomplishes?

[1] http://www.w3.org/TR/annotation-model/
[2] http://www.w3.org/TR/annotation-model/#introduction
[3] http://davidmacd.com/blog/html51-footnotes.html

Thanks,
Tzviya


Tzviya Siegman
Digital Book Standards & Capabilities Lead
Wiley
201-748-6884
tsiegman@wiley.com<mailto:tsiegman@wiley.com>