Re: X.500, SR/Z39.50 and networked information retrieval

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Hi Steve,
	You write:

> In summary, I am proposing a BOF focussed on two technologies (X.500
> and WAIS use of Z39.50).   If people want this, lets go ahead.  If
> you would prefer a different BOF, it is open to others to suggest
> something. (NB for the BOF to be viable, I need to have a commitment
> to attend (and give brief presentations) from some WAIS people).

Following up here, Peter Deutsch and I will be holding a "Living
Documents" BOF at the next IETF under the User Services area. This is in
some ways very closely related to the above BOF although addresses a
specific problem.

To bring everybody up to speed, the basic idea here is that much of the
information now published on the Internet is out of date the moment it
gets retrieved from your favourite anonymous FTP site and sent to the
laser printer. We don't address the problem of locating the original
information, just its distribution. One of the more interesting attempts
at solving this problem is the idea of "Living Documents". These are
documents stored online and accessible with any changes made to the
original propagating "out" to all the copies in a logical sense. In
practical terms this probably means storing pointers to the original and
not making a physical copy itself. 

In the User Services area of the IETF we see this problem time and time
again and with the functionality of facilities like WAIS, X.500 and
Proprero we should be able to start the ball rolling on this. 

We would very much like to have the participation of people from these
systems to try and at least lay down some of the fundemental principles
involved.


-- 
-Alan

[phone]