Copy-editing Benefits

I have made some copy-editing changes in the Benefits section [1].

I am adding the following points to ConversionStyle [2]:
-- "e.g.," and "i.e.," (_with_ comma)
-- Avoid contractions: "don't" should be written: "do not"
-- "websites" (lower case)
-- Two spaces after a full stop:
   "Sentence one.  Sentence two" - and NOT: "Sentence one. Sentence two."
-- "cataloguing" (with a "u") - YES?

I'd like to draw your attention to one point that is mirrored between
"Benefits to organizations" and "Benefits to developers and vendors".

"Benefits to developers and vendors" says:

    Developers will also no longer have to work with library-specific data
    formats, such as MARC, which require custom software tools and
    applications. Linked Data methods involve pushing data onto the Web in a
    form that is generically understandable. 

...and

    Library vendors that support Linked Data will be able to market their
    products outside of the library world, while vendors outside the library
    world may be able to adapt their more generic products to the specific
    requirements of libraries. 

In parallel, "Benefits to organizations" _originally_ said:

    Adoption of mainstream technology will allow libraries a wider choice in
    vendors, meanwhile broadening the user base (and thus capacity) of
    traditional library vendors. Libraries will also be able to recruit from
    and interact with a larger developer pool, when data formats are mainstream
    rather than library-specific.

...which I have edited to read:

    Adoption of mainstream Linked Data technology will give libraries a wider
    choice in vendors while broadening the potential user base of their
    platform beyond the library. The use of standard Linked Data formats will
    also allow libraries to recruit from and interact with a larger pool of
    developers.

Rationale: I do not understand what was meant by "broadening the user base (and
thus capacity) of traditional library vendors."  Does it actually mean to say
that adoption of mainstream Linked Data technology will broaden the potential
user base of their platform beyond the library?  If this is not the intended
meaning, I suggest we _not_ revert to the old wording but come up with a different, 
clearer, wording.

Tom

[1] http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/index.php?title=Benefits&diff=6065&oldid=6018
[2] http://www.w3.org/2005/Incubator/lld/wiki/ConversionStyle

Received on Thursday, 1 September 2011 23:25:44 UTC