[metadataInURI-31] New editors draft for Metadata In URIs Finding

I am very pleased to announce the availability of a new editors' draft of 
a TAG finding: "The use of Metadata in URIs".   HTML and XML versions are 
available at [1,2,3].  This is a significant revision to the previous 
draft [4].  Note that I recently published a guide to work-to-date on this 
issue at [5]. and that served as input to this rewrite.  Those new to this 
issue might want to check out the guide.

The principle goals of this rewrite include:

* The use of more examples and stories to motivate conclusions, as long 
ago requested by Dan Connolly: "hmm... no story atop 4 July 2003 draft of 
finding" [6].  In fact, I originally set out to add just a story or two, 
and came to feel that examples were a good way to make most of the points. 
 So, most of the conclusions and suggestions are introduced in a 
succession of little Dirk & Nadia-style stories.

* A first cut at focussing on the conclusions we tentatively agreed in the 
TAG teleconference of May 2, 2006 [7].  These roughly correspond to the 
conclusions proposed at the end of my guide [5,8], but with one very 
significant addition:

* Until May 2nd, the drift of TAG discussions had been very much: 
"Metadata in URIs, just say no".  During the telcon, some TAG members 
emphasized a second line of thinking, which is basically:  "While it is 
indeed undesirable for software to be reliant on URI metadata, and while 
it's very important to understand which sorts of metadata can be inferred 
reliably and which not, having meaningful URIs is very important to human 
users of the Web.  If you read a URI on a billboard or the side of the 
bus, you want it to be sensible."   The TAG asked me to try to make that 
point strongly too, so this new draft attempts explore both the pro and 
the con sides of exploiting URI metadata.

I don't consider this draft completely polished, but it's easily good 
enough to signal the directions I'm exploring.  I'd rather not do more 
polishing until I get some encouragement that this is the right base on 
which to build.  So, I welcome comments from the TAG and from readers of 
www-tag.   I think we've tentatively scheduled some time for this issue on 
this coming Tuesday's call (5/16).  Thank you!

Thank you.

Noah

[1] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/metaDataInURI-31
[2] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/metaDataInURI-31-20060511.html
[3] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/metaDataInURI-31-20060511.xml
[4] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/doc/metaDataInURI-31-20030708.html
[5] http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/2006/02/metadatainURI31Roadmap.html
[6] http://www.w3.org/2003/07/07-tag-summary.html#metadataInURI-31
[7] http://www.w3.org/2006/05/02-tagmem-minutes.html#item03
[8] 
http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/2006/02/metadatainURI31Roadmap.html#NoahIdeas

--------------------------------------
Noah Mendelsohn 
IBM Corporation
One Rogers Street
Cambridge, MA 02142
1-617-693-4036
--------------------------------------

Received on Thursday, 11 May 2006 22:03:12 UTC