SDD Schema in relationship to Prometheus

Rob Stevenson robert.stevenson at UMB.EDU
Mon Mar 15 09:03:22 CET 2004


Dear Trevor,

I watched from a far intellectual distance (not being a computer
scientist or a taxonomist) as my colleague Bob Morris helped develop the
SDD schema. Occasionally Bob and I would discuss the the broader issues
of how standards are recieved by a community and how or why they get adopted

I know there was a great deal of time and thought put into the proposed
standard and that your comments will be very helpful to the committee
and to someone like me trying to understand the issues.

Your email also highlights the equally important communication and
sociological issues with standards. I hope your comments will stimulate
a broader dialogue.

Rob Stevenson

Paterson, Trevor wrote:

> Gregor
>
> I have written a rough document considering several aspects of the
> SDD-schema - largely interpreted with reference to our Prometheus
> Database model for descriptive data. It seems easier to keep this all
> together, rather than post it to various sections on twiki, so i am
> attaching it here
>
> My main problems in interpreting the schema were the lack of
> documentation ( as always...) especially for the conceptually complex
> parts like concept trees. I think clear, visual  summary models for
> description, characters, concept trees etc would help a novice to get
> to grips with the concepts, and might make some of the complexities
> more tractable. I do worry that the overall schema is over complex and
> 'trying to do too much in one go' - eg considering multiple language
> and expertise representations, although I am sure that there are good
> political reasons for everything.....
>
> yours
> trevor
>
>
>
> Trevor Paterson PhD
> t.paterson at napier.ac.uk <mailto:t.paterson at napier.ac.uk>
>
> School of Computing
> Napier University
> Merchiston Campus
> 10 Colinton Road
> Edinburgh
> Scotland
> EH10 5DT
>
> tel:          +44 (0)131 455-2752
>
> www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~cs175
> <http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/%7Ecs175>www.prometheusdb.org
> <http://www.prometheusdb.org/>
>
>


--
R.D. Stevenson
Dept. of Biology
UMass Boston
MA 02125-3393

tel 617-287-6572
fax 617-287-6650
http://www.cs.umb.edu/efg/


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Dear Trevor,<br>
<br>
I watched from a far intellectual distance (not being a computer
scientist or a taxonomist) as my colleague Bob Morris helped develop
the SDD schema. Occasionally Bob and I would discuss the the broader
issues of how standards are recieved by a community and how or why they
get adopted<br>
<br>
I know there was a great deal of time and thought put into the proposed
standard and that your comments will be very helpful to the committee
and to someone like me trying to understand the issues.&nbsp; <br>
<br>
Your email also highlights the equally important communication and
sociological issues with standards. I hope your comments will stimulate
a broader dialogue.<br>
<br>
Rob Stevenson<br>
<br>
Paterson, Trevor wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="cite"
 cite="mid36402DCC1069D411922D00508B5B2CC222DC07DC at ex-server1.napier.ac.uk">
  <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; ">
  <meta content="MSHTML 6.00.2800.1400" name="GENERATOR">
  <div><font face="Arial" size="2"><span class="977562610-15032004">Gregor</span></font></div>
  <div>&nbsp;</div>
  <div><font face="Arial" size="2"><span class="977562610-15032004">I
have written a
rough document considering several aspects of the SDD-schema - largely
interpreted with reference to our Prometheus Database model for
descriptive
data. It seems easier to keep this all together, rather than post it to
various
sections on twiki, so i am attaching it here</span></font></div>
  <div>&nbsp;</div>
  <div><font face="Arial" size="2"><span class="977562610-15032004">My
main problems in
interpreting the schema were the lack of documentation ( as always...)
especially for the conceptually complex parts like concept trees. I
think clear,
visual&nbsp; summary models for description, characters, concept trees etc
would
help a novice to get to grips with the concepts, and might make some of
the
complexities more tractable. I do worry that the overall schema is over
complex
and 'trying to do too much in one go' - eg considering multiple
language and
expertise representations, although I am sure that there are good
political
reasons for everything.....</span></font></div>
  <div>&nbsp;</div>
  <div><font face="Arial" size="2"><span class="977562610-15032004">yours</span></font></div>
  <div><font face="Arial" size="2"><span class="977562610-15032004">trevor</span></font></div>
  <div>&nbsp;</div>
  <div>&nbsp;</div>
  <p><b><font face="Arial" size="2">Trevor Paterson PhD</font></b> <br>
  <b><font face="Arial" size="2"><a
 href="mailto:t.paterson at napier.ac.uk">t.paterson at napier.ac.uk</a></font></b>
  </p>
  <p><font face="Arial" size="2">School of Computing</font> <br>
  <font face="Arial" size="2">Napier University</font> <br>
  <font face="Arial" size="2">Merchiston
Campus</font> <br>
  <font face="Arial" size="2">10 Colinton
Road&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font><br>
  <font face="Arial" size="2">Edinburgh&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font><br>
  <font face="Arial" size="2">Scotland&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </font><br>
  <font face="Arial" size="2">EH10 5DT</font> </p>
  <p><font face="Arial" size="2">tel:&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
+44 (0)131 455-2752</font> </p>
  <p><strong><font face="Arial" size="2"><a
 href="http://www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/%7Ecs175">www.dcs.napier.ac.uk/~cs175<br>
  </a><a href="http://www.prometheusdb.org/">www.prometheusdb.org</a></font></strong>
  </p>
  <div>&nbsp;</div>
</blockquote>
<br>
<pre class="moz-signature" cols="72">--
R.D. Stevenson
Dept. of Biology
UMass Boston
MA 02125-3393

tel 617-287-6572
fax 617-287-6650
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.cs.umb.edu/efg/">http://www.cs.umb.edu/efg/</a>
</pre>
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