Professional XML Meta Data

As we have an increasing amount of information available in electronic formats, we need a way of dealing with and managing the volume of data we store and exchange. To help us do this we can use meta data, which is simply data about data. XML's extensibility and interoperability make it an ideal format for meta data that is part of a scheme of sharing data between multiple sources. As concepts such as "the semantic web" and web services move closer to reality, having a knowledge of meta data and how to use it will be a huge advantage. There have been a number of recent developments in the field of XML meta data, and Professional XML Meta Data takes a look at some of the initiatives at the bleeding edge of the XML meta data world. In this book you will see how schemas, topic maps, RDF, and inferencing can be put to use in the field of data description, discovery, and exchange. Who is this book for? This book is for developers who are familiar with basic XML concepts and are seeking new methods for building data/process descriptions, resource discovery/retrieval, and exchanging/sharing information. Many of the topics covered are pioneering technologies that will soon be implemented in the mainstream - if you want to get ahead of the game and learn about tomorrow's technologies today then this book is for you. What does this book cover? How DTDs and XML Schemas can be used for resource discovery; the latest developments in XML querying and linking; RDF Syntax, Model, and Schema put into practice; how to build, share, and process XTM topic maps; initiatives such as Meaning Definition Language and Schematron; concepts behind more sophisticated search engines based on inferencing; extracting and using meta data to enhance utility of databases; designing XML meta data vocabularies to describe discrete processes