Introduction

Hello All,

My name is Grant Robertson. I have been asked by Manu Sporny and Ivan
Herman to write some supporting documentation for the RDFa spec. Not
because I am an expert in RDFa but because I am just learning it and also
happen to be a pretty decent - though not professional -  technical writer.
For examples of my technical writing you can take a look at
http://www.ideationizing.com/search/label/TechnicalWriting. This particular
post (
http://www.ideationizing.com/2011/03/ocr-acrobat-pdf-with-renderable-text.html)
has turned out to be incredibly popular with users of Adobe Acrobat.
Finally, I wrote every word of the  the Distributable Educational Material
Markup Language web site (www.demml.org), except the "Lorum Ipsum" parts (I
keep meaning to fix that...).

Speaking of which: I come to RDFa via an odd path. When I first invented
the Distributable Educational Material Markup Language (DEMML), though I
had been a network manager, I had barely heard of XML. I did some research
and taught myself everything I needed to know. I became interested in RDFa
as a means to add additional metadata embedded within the actual content to
mark up specific phrases or quotes within said content. Recently, I watched
a TED talk by Michael Nielsen about making research data - and
collaboration between researchers - more open and available. That is when I
thought of dSRCI (
http://www.ideationizing.com/2012/02/dsrci-distributed-scientific-research.html)
which will utterly depend upon RDFa. So, that is when I really dug into the
RDFa spec and tried to learn it. To help myself with this, I started
working on a diagram to show what attributes can be used with what other
attributes in which circumstances. But I had trouble understanding certain
things in the spec (the old 2008 documents) so I tried to join the mailing
list. I ran into problems because the old list is dead and - by hook and by
crook - I ended up in contact with Manu, Ivan, and Sandro and suggested a
rewrite of certain sections of the old documentation (completely unaware
that you had been working on new documents for the past four years). So, I
guess the timing was just right on both ends. Manu and Ivan say the project
really needs a good technical writer just now, and I am trying to build a
name for myself so that people will listen to me when I talk about DEMML
and dSRCI (plus better job opportunities wouldn't hurt).

You will find me to be polite but blunt. I don't beat around the bush when
I think something needs to be fixed. However, I am also able to cede to
authority when necessary or appropriate without getting my feelings hurt.

I have several technical questions about the spec, which I will be posting
to the list over the coming week. Once I "fully grok" the spec, I will
start working on various supporting documents. The first will be a glossary
of terms and an outline of what topics need to be covered. Please keep in
mind, I am not suggesting that the documents I write become part of the
specifications. These will merely be supporting documents to help people
understand the spec.

I look forward to working with everyone here.


Sincerely,

Grant S. Robertson
grantsr@gmail.com
520-271-5019
www.demml.org
www.ideationizing.com