Alex Barnett, Community Program Manager within Microsoft's Data Programmability team, shares his expertise on Web 2.0, OPML, tagging, data programmability, and microformats.
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Episode 7: Coping with Info Overload
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Are your users drowning in data, and you have no idea how to help them navigate through the information available? It doesn't help to know that you're the only one without a life preserver. Fortunately, the Web is evolving, and new tools are being created to help you — and the people you serve — navigate the expanding information space.
Some solutions look very interesting, says Alex Barnett, Community Program Manager within Microsoft's Data Programmability team. They range from the familiar Search to subscriptions to the possibility of future tools, where "people act as a filter into the information space."
In our latest DevSource video, Barnett shares his expertise on Web 2.0, OPML, tagging, data programmability, and microformats.
Microformats, explains Barnett, provide content and data in a structured format. Sure, you already have XML, but you also need schemas describing the information. For example, the hCalendar microformat has a standard schema for describing "where and when" in xHTML in an agreed-upon way. Or a developer could rely on the definition of contact information, and be sure of the nature of the information stored. The idea, says Barnett, is to keep it simple.
Barnett also goes into detail about the value of tags and tagging — another example of a microformat. Tagging he says, brings you an instant personal value because you immediately have bookmarks. "There is no central taxonomy service that you need to operate against," he says. Plus, social networks are affected, including the ability to discover a "conversation" with people who share common interests, and the ability to navigate by the content.
Right now, you mainly see these technologies in the consumer space, so they may not seem quite as relevant to enterprise developers. However, Barnett expects to see more use of tagging inside the firewall in the next one or two years, for the purpose of knowledge management.
To watch the video in Windows Media Player, click here.
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