1 Web Developments For The JANET Community Brian Kelly UK Web Focus UKOLN University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY

2 UK Web Focus UK Web Focus: National web coordination post for UK HE community Based at UKOLN, University of Bath Responsibilities include: –Technology watch –Information dissemination in variety of ways: –Workshops (national, regional) –Presentations at conferences and seminars –Online –Coordination activities –Representing JISC on W3C Brian Kelly appointed on 1st November 1996 –Involved with web since January 1993 –Previously worked at University of Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, and Loughborough Voting on new standards Voting on new activities Seeking involvement from UK HE

3 W3C Activities Public charters & workplans Closed discussion groups, draft papers Participation encouraged See User Interface HTML Style Sheets Document Object Model Math Graphics & 3D Internationalisation Fonts Amaya Technology & Society WAI Digital Signatures Electronic Commerce Metadata PICS IPR Privacy & Preferences Security Architecture HTTP Addressing (URLs) Object Technology Synchronised Multimedia XML Jigsaw

4 HTML Developments End user control over layout, better printing,... Why: Increased functionality Barriers: Lack of standards How: CSS, HTML 4.0 (Cougar) Familiarisation: IE 4, Netscape 4, HTML 4.0 proposal, CSS 2 proposal HTML 4.0 and Related Work Forms: Improved forms. Printing: Better control over printing. Layout: Absolute positioning of HTML elements, layering, etc. Scripting: Standard mechanisms for scripting. Document Object Model (DOM): APIs (application program interface) for HTML/CSS elements. Provides a programming interface for HTML (hooks for Javascript, etc.) HTML 4.0 and Related Work Forms: Improved forms. Printing: Better control over printing. Layout: Absolute positioning of HTML elements, layering, etc. Scripting: Standard mechanisms for scripting. Document Object Model (DOM): APIs (application program interface) for HTML/CSS elements. Provides a programming interface for HTML (hooks for Javascript, etc.)

5 The SGML / HTML philosophy is to use HTML to define the document structure Netscape / Microsoft wars have broken this Companies are now supporting CSS: Ease of maintenance Richer functionality (e.g. filter effects as in Powerpoint) Network friendly Accessibility

6 Increasing Use Of Java Expect to see increasing use of Java: Why: Provide extra functionality on client; Minimise support load for desktop applications Barriers: Performance concerns (real and imaginary - cf XMosaic) How: Standard web browser Familiarisation: Z39.50 clients are being developed using Java

7 Metadata Components PICS, Digital Signatures, Transparent Content Negotiation, resource discovery, website administration are all related to metadata Example Imagine you make your University prospectus available on the web. What metadata may be required? Use Of Metadata PICSResource accessible to users in Middle East, which ban unrated sites DSigDescription of course is a legally binding agreement TCNResource can transparently be accessed in HTML or PDF format Web Collections Print resource as single document Resource Discovery Search for Bath prospectus finds it Website Administration Use of review-by to find out-of- date material

8 Development of a Metadata Architecture Metadata - the missing architectural component from the initial implementation of the web Metadata PICS, TCN, MCF, DSig, RDF, DC,... Addressing URL Data format HTML Transport HTTP

9 A Quicker Web More effective use of scarce bandwidth Why: The web is too slow! Barriers: Limitations of protocols (HTML, HTTP) How: Caching, HTTP/1.1, HTTP/NG, Education, Charging! Familiarisation: Monitoring web pages, Internet magazines, attending workshops Technologies Caching: Essential! HTTP/1.1: New protocol is more cache- aware, and avoids problems (e.g. stale information) which have occurred in the past HTTP/NG: Proposal for new protocol Style sheets: Avoids need for large images for design effects Scripting Languages / Java: Exploit processing power at client Technologies Caching: Essential! HTTP/1.1: New protocol is more cache- aware, and avoids problems (e.g. stale information) which have occurred in the past HTTP/NG: Proposal for new protocol Style sheets: Avoids need for large images for design effects Scripting Languages / Java: Exploit processing power at client

10 Caching UK early pioneer in web caching: HENSA cache launched in 1994 Paper at WWW 1 presented at CERN (May 94) Cache migrated from Lagoon  CERN  Netscape Paper at WWW 5 presented in Paris (May 96) JANET WWW cache: Launched on Aug 1997 Hosted at Manchester & Loughborough Service and development arms See and caching/CacheNow/

11 A Quicker Web More effective use of scarce bandwidth Why: The web is too slow! Barriers: Limitations of protocols (HTML, HTTP) How: Caching, HTTP/1.1, HTTP/NG, Education, Charging! Familiarisation: Monitoring web pages, Internet magazines, attending workshops Technologies Caching: Essential! HTTP/1.1: New protocol is more cache- aware, and avoids problems (e.g. stale information) which have occurred in the past HTTP/NG: Proposal for new protocol Style sheets: Avoids need for large images for design effects Technologies Caching: Essential! HTTP/1.1: New protocol is more cache- aware, and avoids problems (e.g. stale information) which have occurred in the past HTTP/NG: Proposal for new protocol Style sheets: Avoids need for large images for design effects

12 XML XML: Extensible Markup Language A lightweight SGML designed for network use Support from SGML and browsers vendors Proposals for variety of applications: –CML (Chemical Markup Language)– MML (Maths..) –XML Web Collections – Privacy & Profiling –RDF (Resource Description Framework) –CDF (Channel Definition Format) –DRP (Distribution and Replication Protocol) See

13 Push Technologies Use of push technologies Why: Push information, teaching and learning services to end users Barriers: Lack of standards, bandwidth concerns How: CDF,... Familiarisation: Pointcast IE 4, Netscape See Architecture/ 9709_Workshop/

14 Will It Take Off In UK HE? Barriers to use of new technologies: Lack of knowledge Lack of tools Inertia Concerns over costs Solutions: Education, information, discussion, … UCISA-SG WebTools group Commercial pressures Enthusiasts Monitoring usage

15 UKOLN's WebWatch Project WebWatch: 1 year post funded by British Library (BLRIC) Ian Peacock ( ) Will develop set of robot tools for analysing UK web resources: –Usage of emerging web technologies, such as HTML 4, style sheets, Java, metadata, XML, etc. –Usage of file formats (e.g. PDF, Shockwave, …) –Web page profiles (typical nos. of links, images, size, etc) –... Analysis of log files (e.g. user agents) Results to be made available to various communities (institutions, national bodies, etc.) Feedback on project welcomed

16 WebWatch Aims Aim to: Analyse communities: –Public libraries– eLib pages –UK HE home pages– Institutional pages Provide useful information and statistics: –Size and extend of website –Technologies used –… Provide set of tools Useful for: –Funding bodies, trainers, institutional web teams, support staff, advisors. etc

17 WebWatch - Architecture Makes use of Harvest Stores SOIF records describing resources: file-type{4}: html p-count{1}: 9 script-count{1}: 2... url-refs{23}: file-type{5}: image image-type{3}: gif nos-colours{3}: 128 Counting HTML elements Recording attribute values Details for other resources e.g. image

18 Log Analysis Need to: Monitor user agents Platform issues (Win v Mac, 16 bit v 32 bit) Use of HTTP headers Useful for: Establishing timeliness of new technologies Caching communities Privacy implications Can: Access files directly (subject to AUP) Copy anonymised log files for processing

19 WebWatch Launch Plans 1. UK HE Institutional Home Pages What? Sizes of objects (HTML, images, etc.) Profile (nos. of images, links, graphics, CGI) Quality (broken links, HTML conformance) HTML element usage (metadata, tables, scripting) Stakeholders Institutional web teams, web policy groups, trainers Caching communities 2. UK Public Library Web Sites What? Extent of web site (size, nos. of pages, …)...

20 Conclusions The web is still developing rapidly Conformance to standards is important Institutions will have to continually monitor new developments (regional workshops, seminars?) The deployment of new technologies in a timely manner is a challenge (need for workshops, case studies?) There is a danger that the costs will increase when exploiting new developments There is a need to monitor developments and to advise the community WebWatch can assist by monitoring developments within the community

21 Questions Any Questions? Feedback on WebWatch