Digital library: In August at its General Assembly Meeting in Addis Ababa, the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) decided to build an Digital Library. IFIP already publishes 30 volumes of conference proceedings per year through a commercial publisher. Print publications are available via stores such as Amazon.com and electronically from the publisher. Read the "Report of the IFIP Digital Library Selection Task Force", (27 August 2007) and consider:

1. What are the main issues discussed? What problems are evident with setting up the digital library?

2. Which technologies discussed in the course could be used to address IFIP's needs? How?

3. Which new technologies might create new problems for IFIP?

Electronic documents: Ian Barnes' research paper "Preservation of word processing documents" is available rendered in both HTML http://www.apsr.edu.au/publications/preservation_of_word_processing_documents.html and PDF http://www.apsr.edu.au/publications/word_processing_preservation.pdf. Compare and contrast the two documents. In what sense are they the same document and how are they different? Why would a scholar prefer one over the other? A lawyer? A network manager?

The HTML is displayed much like the PDF version, with the title at the top and the text in a long strip below. How else might the document be displayed for easier use by a scholar?

Podcasting: There are hundreds of bushfires (wildfires) burning across Australia right now. These are automatically tracked by satellite. The data is made available to firefighters and the general public via the web using the Sentinel Bushfire Monitoring System ("Sentinel Hotspots") http://sentinel2.ga.gov.au/acres/sentinel/about.shtml.

However, the Sentinel system has limitations when used in the field by firefighters. In 2006 Tom Worthington created an experimental alternative web interface for the Sentinel system for smartphones with low bandwidth wireless connections.

The Sentinel system uses "pull technology" where the user has to request data. Instead "push technology" could be used with ATOM Syndication Format based "feed" from Sentinel to send maps to PCs and phones. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of push versus pull (web page versus feed)?