Infopeople is offering "Getting Started with XML"

[Lori Bowen Ayre]

Infopeople is offering a unique opportunity for California libraries to
learn directly from a national expert in digital access. Eric Lease Morgan,
Head of the Digital Access and Information Architecture Department at the
University Libraries of Notre Dame, is coming to California to deliver
three sessions of "Getting Started with XML" for Infopeople. We realize
that most of you who are on our various mailing lists are reference or
other public service staff, and we know that systems, technical services,
and Web management staff will be particularly interested in this workshop.
We therefore ask that you forward, copy, post, route, or otherwise share
this announcement with those in your library who might not receive this
message directly. Please note: Although Infopeople workshops are typically
restricted to library staff only, this workshop is open to those in your
jurisdiction or organization who support library Web sites or digital
access to library resources.


Title:  Getting Started with XML

Dates and locations:

Tuesday, March 11, San Francisco Public Library
Wednesday, March 12, California State Library
Friday, March 14, Cerritos Public Library

To register for this workshop:  Use the online registration form at
http://www.infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Workshop/116


If you have looked at the title of this workshop and thought:

What is XML and why should I care?

Or if you are wondering:

--What's the difference between HTML, XHTML and XML?
--How do I make sense of the XML alphabet soup when I have to deal with
things like CSS, TEI, EAD, and XSLT?
--How can XML help me in my day-to-day work?
--What's it mean to "render" XML documents?

Then this workshop is for you!

Workshop Description: Designed for librarians and library staff, this
workshop introduces participants to the extensible markup language (XML)
through numerous library examples, demonstrations, and structured hands-on
exercises. Through this process participants will be able to evaluate the
uses of XML for making their libraries' data and information more
accessible to people as well as computers. Examples include adding value to
electronic texts, creating archival finding aids, and implementing
standards compliant Web pages. By the end of the workshop participants will
have acquired a thorough introduction to XML and be able to: 1) list the
five rules governing the syntax of XML documents, 2) create their very own
XML markup language, 3) write XML documents using a plain text editor and
validate them using a Web browser, 4) apply page layout and typographical
techniques to XML documents using cascading style sheets, 5) create XML
documents using a number of standard XML vocabularies important to
libraries such as XHTML, TEI, and EAD, and finally, 6) articulate why XML
is important for libraries.

Topics To Be Covered:

--Demonstrating the use of XML in libraries to create, store, and
disseminate electronic texts, archival finding aids, Web pages, and
bibliographic data
--Teaching the five simple rules for creating valid XML documents
--Practicing with the combined use of cascading style sheets and XML
documents to display data and information in a Web browser
--Practicing with the use of XHTML and learning how it can make your
website more accessible to all types of people as well as Internet robots
and spiders
--Demonstrating how Web pages can be programmatically created using XSLT
allowing libraries to transform XML documents into other types of documents
--Enhancing electronic texts with the use of the TEI markup allowing
libraries to add value to digitized documents
--Writing archival finding aids using EAD thus enabling libraries to
unambiguously share special collection information with people and other
institutions

Workshop Instructor: Eric Lease Morgan. Eric is the Head of the Digital
Access and Information Architecture Department at the University Libraries
of Notre Dame. He considers himself a librarian first and a computer user
second. His professional goal is to discover new ways to use computers to
improve library and knowledge services. Applied research and development
has included investigations in traditional library science, digital
libraries, information retrieval, and human-computer interaction.

Who Should Attend: This workshop is designed for librarians and library
staff who are responsible for creating all types of digital content for
their institutions.

Prerequisites: This is not intended to be beginner's level workshop;
participants are expected to have a working knowledge of a markup language
such as HTML, and they are expected to know how to proficiently create
plain text HTML files with something like NotePad.

Fee:  There is a $75.00 fee for this workshop.  Infopeople does not provide
parking passes, lunch or refreshments.

Other Logistics:

*On-site check-in is from 8:30-9:00 AM; instruction is from 9:00 AM-4:30 PM.

*Maps, directions, and parking information are available on the Infopeople
Web site at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop/Directions

*Infopeople does not provide refreshments or lunch. Since some training
locations do not have in-house or convenient food service, Infopeople
recommends that participants bring a sack lunch.

To view a complete list of Infopeople workshops and for general information
about Infopeople training opportunities, go to the main Infopeople
Workshops page at http://infopeople.org/WS/workshop

If you have questions about registration or scheduling of workshops, please
contact Linda Rodenspiel, the Infopeople Project Assistant, at
assist at infopeople.org or by phone at 650-578-9685.