From f889bc8ab806f40c27a7bcf1330e17fdbeae1d0e Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Irene Schena Date: Mon, 4 Mar 2002 14:50:02 +0000 Subject: [PATCH] Added Files: 1) innovation.xml: chapter 5 mowgli proposal --- helm/mowgli/home/xml/innovation.xml | 113 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 113 insertions(+) create mode 100644 helm/mowgli/home/xml/innovation.xml diff --git a/helm/mowgli/home/xml/innovation.xml b/helm/mowgli/home/xml/innovation.xml new file mode 100644 index 000000000..f5885fa9c --- /dev/null +++ b/helm/mowgli/home/xml/innovation.xml @@ -0,0 +1,113 @@ + + + + + + + Innovation + + +

Innovation

The main technical novelty of the project is in its synergy of different + scientific communities and research topics: digital libraries, Web + publishing, logical environments.

+ +

From the point of view of Web publishing, our project is the first attempt + to provide a comprehensive description, from content to metadata, of a + given field of knowledge (in our case mathematics), in order to enhance + its accessibility, exchange and elaboration via the World Wide Web. To + this aim, we shall put to use most of the technologies recently introduced + by the W3C: XML, DOM, XSL, XLL, Namespaces, MathML, RDF, etc. From this + respect, the project is first of all a complex test for all these + technologies, and should hopefully become an example of ``best practice'' + in their use. Note that the final architecture is likely to be extendible + to other fields of structured information: the emphasis on mathematics is + motivated by the fact that, due to its complex interplay between content, + structure and notation, it provides a major case study for Web-based + information systems (it is not a case that MathML has been one of few + instances of XML completely developed under the aegis of the World Wide + Web Consortium).

From the point of view of digital libraries, our work is aimed at + exploiting all the potential functionalities offered by the Web, and in + particular a more integrated use of its browsing and searching facilities. + The library is not merely seen as a more or less structured collection of + texts, but as a virtual structure inside which we can freely navigate, + jumping for instance from an entity to its definition, or peeping inside + some information at deeper and deeper levels of details (such as different + levels of detail of a proof). This is similar to what we currently do + with HTML texts, but in order to enhance the effectiveness of the + consultation, we clearly need a good metadata model of the information. + Moreover, in such an integrated view, it is hardly conceivable to just + apply some ``general purpose'' metadata model (like the Dublin Core + system, say): the metadata model must be eventually specialised to the + actual structure of the information it is supposed to model (and more + structure we have on the information, more relevant metadata we can + usually infer on the document). For instance, metadata could contain the + whole signature of a given module of mathematical knowledge. The usual + motivation for keeping metadata simple and general is that it is usually + difficult to add this information by hand; but in our case a large part of + the metadata is supposed to be extracted automatically by the (structured) + text itself, allowing for pretty complex metadata models.

Finally, a main aspect of our project is the integration with current + tools for the automation of formal reasoning and mechanisation of + mathematics (proof assistants and logical frameworks). This integration + has a mutual benefit. From the point of view of the mathematical library, + the first and fundamental role of these systems is that of providing + friendly authoring tools (for instance, our ``core'' library will be + automatically extracted from existing libraries of these systems). The + relevance of this point should not be underestimated: as a matter of fact, + the main reason for the failure of complex markup modellings is usually + the lack of suitable authoring tools (it is often painful to add the + markup by hand). Of course, they can also provide other functionalities + (like automatic proof checking) on fragments of the library (typically, + the fragments generated by the tool itself, in its specific logical + dialect). These additional functionalities may be especially relevant for + industrial applications, e.g. in the context of IT security evaluation + standards like the Common Criteria standard (see + others/cc). In its highest + assurance level, this standard requires the development of formal models + of the IT product under evaluation, as well as mechanized proofs that it + meets its security objectives. Such models and proofs must be published in + a format that can be easily readable and understood by security + evaluators. Hence, there is a strong need from software industry to be + able to produce such documentation directly from the models introduced in + the proof assistant, and to link it with documents describing the IT + product, etc.

On the other side, there is a compelling need of integration between the + current tools for automation of formal reasoning and mechanisation of + mathematics and the most recent technologies for the development of Web + applications and electronic publishing. XML, which is rapidly imposing as + a pivotal technology in the future development of all Internet + applications, and the main tool for representation, manipulation, and + exchange of structured information in the networked age, looks as a + natural, almost mandatory, choice for modelling the information.

In this way, we just obey to the very primitive commandment of the Web: + make your information available. Currently, libraries in logical + frameworks are usually saved in two formats: a textual one, in the + specific tactical language of the proof assistant, and a compiled (proof + checked) one in some internal, concrete representation language. Both + representations are obviously unsatisfactory, since they are too oriented + to the specific application: they restrict the access of the libraries to + the users of the given application, and at the same time they are too + sensible to the evolution and the maintenance of the application itself. + On the other side, as soon as the information is put in a standard format + on the Web, any kind of research becomes virtually possible, and + anybody could start developing his own spider for + implementing his own searching requirements. This is clearly a major + improvement w.r.t. the present situation. Currently, you must not only + rely on the searching facilities offered by the specific applications, but + even if you would wish to implement your own searching algorithm, you + would be prevented by the simple reason that the information is not + accessible (in any reasonable sense of the word).

The project builds on the solid ground provided by several existing + XML-based languages for the management of mathematical documents such as + MathML, OpenMath and OMDoc. Each of these markup languages covers a + different aspect of the information. Our aim is not to propose a new + language, but to study and to develop the technological infrastructure + required to integrate all these languages together, in order to take + advantage of the specific features of each of them.

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