CS99I Meeting 4 Notes: Digital libraries

Started by Gio Wiederhold, 24 Jan 2000.

Handout today: Reed Hellman: A Semantic Approach adds Meaning to the Web"; IEEE Computer Magazine, vol 32 No.12, Dec 1999, pp. 13:16.

Comments on XML development.

Digital Libraries

The old market view is that information is valuable. But today that is only one side of the equations. Information, to be useful, also requires attention. Today we have more information available than attention to consume it. This realization changes the business picture.

Participants

Authors

Publishers -- past -- future
Acquisition editors -- past -- future
Content editors -- past -- future
Printers -- past -- future
Distributors -- past -- future
Bookstores -- past -- future
Readers
Decision makers

Economics

Are libraries a business?
Who benefits now?
Who pays now?
Who benefits in the future?
Who pays in the future?

Types of Computers

There is a relationship between the type of computer and the class of computation it is best suited for. But those relationships change over time, since computers are getting more powerful, but applications are also getting more demanding. We can consider

    Personal Computers
    Workstations
      "If a trainstation is where the train stops, what's a workstation...?"-Anon.
    Servers
    Mainframes
    Routers
    Proxies
    Mediators

Business models

Needed for investors
List income sources (type, amount per Transaction No of ewxpected transactions per month or year)
List cost items: investment, interest on loans for investment,monthly personnel, supplies, service expenses, for various rates of transactions performed
Estimate for several quarters, years: income, cost, to get profit/loss

Notes

See Digital Library chapter draft. See also the references.