[alt-media-res] Fw: rdf standardisation effort begins:

[zoe]

fyi......

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "zoe" <zoe at esemplastic.net>
To: <metadata at transmission.cc>; <discuss at transmission.cc>
Sent: Friday, September 29, 2006 5:24 PM
Subject: rdf standardisation effort begins:


>
> Invitation to Collaborate in Sharing and Distributing Environmental/Social
> Justice Video Online
>
> Context
>
> A current concern for all kinds of video producers is to better share and
> distribute their materials, both to reach wider audiences and to
facilitate
> wider co-operation and learning.
>
> Massive increases in the speed of consumer-grade internet connections and
> disk storage space, as well as innovations in distributing software, mean
> that online distribution is now a viable option for media producers. As
> proprietary services like YouTube (www.youtube.com) have shown, there is
now
> a strong online viewership. Hoping to take up a share of this market,
groups
> and individuals concerned with environmental and social justice have
> recently launched numerous online video projects, and the quality of
> material available therein is increasing all the time. However, all too
> often this material is only available to people who happen upon the
websites
> where the videos are listed, or who sign up to specific mailing lists for
> updates.
>
> It would multiply the visibility of our projects enormously were we to
make
> effective use of emerging syndication tools such as media RSS feeds, and
> co-operate to facilitate aggregation and further syndication of material
> dealing with certain issues, countries etc. In the context of the emerging
> Transmission (www.transmission.cc) network of online video projects for
> social change, we are working to develop this kind of co-operation. One
> major barrier is the treatment of media files in a way that makes it easy
> for other online media services to find and use them. That is the problem
> this initiative seeks to address.
>
> What We Are Trying To Do
>
> We want to develop a framework that describes how to organise video
content
> so that it can be more easily accessed and exchanged. This framework has
to:
>
> * Be as easy as possible to understand and implement for video producers
and
> distributors
>
> * Be applicable to as many different kinds of content as possible without
> being unweildy
>
> * Adhere wherever possible to available standards for describing and
> distributing content online
>
> We have therefore set out to produce a set of initial recommendations for
a
> 'metadata' (data about data) standard that will meet all these criteria.
For
> the technically minded, our system will make use of RDF (Resource
> Description Framework) in the RSS 2.0 (Really Simple Syndication) format.
> The non technically minded will not need to understand the syntax of these
> formats to be able take part in the discussion about which descriptive
> 'fields' are necessary to describe video content in a way that facilitates
> collaborative use, re-use and distribution.
>
> Our basic 'essential' specification will include:
>
> Title - the name of the item
>
> Description - a description of the item
>
> Author/s - the author, publisher
>
> Link - a URL to the HTML website corresponding to that item
>
> PubDate -- date on which item was published
>
> Video link -- one or more links to a version of the video that is
available
>
> Length -- duration
> Video Type -- how it is encoded, at what quality, and in what dimensions
> Audio -- how it is encoded and at what quality
>
> Language -- the original language of the video
>
> License -- license information
>
> FPID -- unique identification code of the video
>
> For descriptive data, we propose to allow a free-form descriptive field
plus
> the use of user-selected keywords. Such a system encourages producers to
> describe their content in pithy 'tags' as well as using a longer
> description.
>
> Results
>
> If we can agree a standard between a group of interested parties, we can
> co-operate to encode all our video content in this way. (Easy tools can
also
> be created to do this, and we aim to move to this task as a next stage of
> this networking process.) The benefits of making this work are immense. We
> will be able to create, subscribe to, and recombine feeds of each others'
> video material and display the results on our own pages, on new shared
> portal sites, or wherever we like. Viewers will be able to find their way
to
>  our content much more easily than at present. Information about the
> existence of our video material will make its way out into the world, as
> related projects choose to feature RSS feeds of relevant video material.
>
> It is important, above all, that a system be designed that is usable for
all
> concerned, since what breeds success (adoption) in this area is usage.
Many
> previous schemas have withered after lack of adoption due to being too
> esoteric, top down, expecting too much of users and not building
grassroots
> support. That is is why we seek your input and support at this early
stage.
>
> What we can offer you
>
> The chance to be in at the start of a process to standardise a resource
> description framework among online video projects committed to progressive
> social change.
>
> Professional drafting of standards based on current best practice combined
> with ease of use.
>
> Clear support and guidance in the process of bringing your project into a
> syndication network.
>
> A dedicated 'metadata' e-mail list to share news, drafts, ideas, concerns,
> contacts etc.
>
> What we would like you to do
>
> Discuss this proposal with colleagues and existing networks,
>
> Raise any questions, concerns etc both internally and where appropriate,
> with us.
>
> Identify one or more individuals in your organisation who is informed (or
is
> able and willing to inform themselves) and empowered to engage in a
network
> moving towards video syndication.
>
> Come to the presentation and consultation on draft metadata standards 4-6
> pm, October 15th 2006) at Limehouse Town Hall, as part of Re:Transmission
> (www.retransmission.org.uk)
>
> Some questions to help guide your discussions:
>
>   a.. are you keen to share information about your online media with other
> online media projects, and vice versa?
>   b.. do you already use rdf, rss feeds etc?
>   c.. if not why not; if so, for what purposes and what tools do you use?
>   d.. are you aware of the potential of tools like Democracy Player etc?
>   e.. if you can see any political or other limitations on your interest
in
> this initiative, what are they and how might we work together nonetheless?
>   f.. have you any system of resource description, key words etc to
describe
> the video objects you publish?
>   g.. are you wedded firmly to any of these for any reason?
>   h.. are you planning any major changes in the way you list online video
in
> the near future?
>   i.. if we offered a small piece of code that would enable you to send
> information about your online videos automatically into a 'global' media
> sorting system, would you install it into the forms you use to upload
> information about your online videos?
>   j.. who would be the main person to be in touch about with about the
> various questions and tasks arising?
>   k.. what further information would you need to ensure effective
> participation?
> What happens next
>
> The consultants' report and recommendations for a RDF standard will be
> presented and consulted on by a gathering of video content producers,
> distributors and technical experts on 15th October 2006. After this a team
> will likely be formed to implement a simple means (likely a Java or web
> application) for marking up video to the agreed standard. Further
> developments from that point depend on the interest, commitment and
support
> of our emerging network....
>
>
> contact:
> zoe at esemplastic.net
>
>
> ******************************************************************
> Films about International Financial Institutions: http://www.ifiwatch.tv
> Writing on the Global Environment Facility: http://www.newgreenorder.info
> http://shootingpeople.org/cards/zoe      skype name: zoeyou
> tel: +44 (0) 20 7723 2875   mobile: +44 (0) 7931 316 970
> zoe at esemplastic.net, eyes at ifiwatchnet.org, zoeontheroad at hotmail.com
> **************************************************************
>