[Sigia-l] microcontent - a definition?

[Thomas Vander Wal]

Eric --

I started running into the term *microcontent* in late 2000 and it was used
in the framework of content management, where a chunk of information can be
extracted from the overall content and it will stand on its own.  This was
used for headers, sub-headers, titles, links, summaries, quotes, contact
information, etc.  

Microcontent has two roles in a hypertext environment: 1) To provide content
that is self-sustaining or helps to provide context to a larger chunk of
content; 2) Provides a means to anchor an external hyperlink to a
self-sustaining chunk of content or a reference point in a large piece of
content.  

The second portion is often overlooked, except for application developers
who are working on tools that will provide tools that will easily provide
the means to cross-reference information (among many other uses).  I know of
a few folks that have been trying to link to content from self-made
presentation tools that will link out to the various direct sources for
information used in presentations.  Content that is external to the
presentation, if properly prepared could provide a means to have each
paragraph linked to, as well as each header.  Having microcontent anchors
makes providing an annotated presentation much easier.  One tools was trying
to allow externally generated highlighting of the text that is important.

The tagging of content where natural breaks occur (paragraphs, headers, etc)
would make external referencing of all content much easier and accurate than
page numbers, which do not work well in a printed environment across printed
versions (editions and imprints).  Historians have been encouraging a format
similar to what is found in Bibles for all texts to ensure accurate
referencing.  Having Biblical references with book, chapter, and verse, may
be the ultimate example of tagged microcontent.  As we move closer to XML
structured information for all content we are moving closer to a world of
easily accessible microcontent.

All the best,
Thomas

On 2/16/04 5:56 AM, "Eric Scheid" <eric.scheid at ironclad.net.au> wrote:

> On 16/2/04 7:48 PM, "Stew Dean" <stew at stewdean.com> wrote:
> 
>> To me this is a good reason to try and avoid terms like this.  I urge folks
>> here to think of plain English terms to describe both areas - if you mean
>> subject lines and short one sentence description use those terms - if you
>> mean public domain reviews and blog posts - use those term - public domain
>> content or content from community sites is more descriptive than a term
>> like 'microcontent'  or 'micro-publishing'.  Let's not fall into bad habits
>> here.
> 
> All good points, although I've often found that when I speak of a concept by
> only naming example members of the category (like "subject lines"), many
> people don't realise I'm talking of the broader concept, and wonder why I'm
> talking about email subject lines for their web page.
> 
> It's a bit like talking about lions and lionesses ... when what I'm really
> talking about are big carnivorous cats, including panthers, tigers, etc.
> There are terms for specific things, and there are terms for broader
> concepts. The term "microcontent" is one such term.
> 
> I do agree 100% with not using jargon for the sake of jargon, that if there
> is a plain english word with the requisite precision then use it. I don't
> agree with avoiding precision in language.
> 
> Give me a plain english term to use instead of "microcontent", I'll even let
> you stretch it to a two or three word syntagm, but don't ask me to recite a
> multi-word phrase every time I want to refer to that concept named
> "microcontent".
> 
> As to there being multiple definitions for a given word is not a good reason
> to avoid it. It's a good reason to introduce any special terms, it's a good
> reason to provide clarifying context, but it's not a good reason to discard
> it. Now excuse me while I go have a cup o' java ;-)