Re: [humanmarkup-comment] newbie intro

[Rex Brooks <rexb@starbourne.com>]

Thanks James,

Welcome. We appreciate the opportunity to add you to our TC, and look 
forward to your contributions toward harmonizing our vocabularies and 
schemata with the fields of archeology and anthropology. We number an 
invited expert, Dr. Sylvia Candelaria deRam Ph.D. among our 
contributors. As a database manager as well, you represent a great 
addition to our working crew. Organizing our elements so that we 
allow for credible data models is something we need to be very 
careful in developing.

As a Science and Science Fiction Buff, as well as a 3D specialist, I 
was intrigued by this article, which rose above my personal radar 
horizon this morning, so I thought I would pass it along for the 
benefit of the academics amongst us whose various departments might 
find a way to collaboratively request funding for what would 
constitute a serious drool hazard for me.

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1103-922239.html

  I would probably be seriously tempted by any offer that could get me 
access to a 3D video wall. I am in fact immediately considering ways 
in which our Non-Profit support organization (Humanmarkup.org, Inc. 
is completely separate from OASIS, though it exists to support this 
effort.) can include such a facility among our grant requests, and 
failing that, <kidding>I may have to take up bank robbing or 
embezzlement.</kidding>.

Ciao,
Rex

At 5:26 PM -0500 5/26/02, James.Landrum wrote:
>Dear list,
>
>Per discussion with Ranjeeth Thunga and Rex Brooks, I have joined OASIS
>and am opting in as a prospective member of the HumanMarkup Language
>Technical Committee (TC).
>I'll be as brief as possible here, and provide some basic
>personal/professional background information.
>
>Background Summary:
>I have over two decades professional and academic experience in the
>fields of anthropology, archaeology, and cultural resources management,
>and more recently, about 5 years emphasis in information technology,
>databases, web development and distance education, and computational
>archaeology and anthropology.
>
>I am currently the Database Manager for the North Dakota State
>University (NDSU) Archaeology Technologies Laboratory (ATL) and the
>Digital Archive Network for Anthropology (DANA). DANA is a National
>Science Digital Library (NSDL) for Anthropology. It is a distributed
>database network for scholarly research and education in anthropology
>that will connect remote systems around the globe via the Internet. The
>DANA application interface provides the means for delivering all forms
>of multimedia including two-dimensional (2D)  imagery (e.g.,
>photographs, maps, and other 2D digital graphics), accurate, scalable
>and measurable three-dimensional (3D) models of artifacts (e.g., stone
>tools; adzes) and fossils (e.g., hominid skeletal remains and cranial
>endocasts), and streaming media,  (e.g., video).
>
>Among the key goals of DANA is the creation and implementation of the
>Anthropology Markup Language (AnthML).  Currently AnthML is in the
>conceptual framework development phase.  Creation of AnthML is an
>ambitious undertaking and will require widespread cooperation and
>collaboration from members of the anthropology profession (and all
>subfields) and related fields and also computer sciences and information
>technology fields.
>
>For further information on DANA, I direct your attention to the ATL web
>site (http://atl.ndsu.edu), and also to the Journal of Digital
>Information (JoDI) special issue on Interactivity in Digital Libraries,
>Volume 2, Issue 4 (peer-reviewed) paper on the DANA project at
>http://jodi.ecs.soton.ac.uk/Articles/v02/i04/Clark/
>
>Please note that our server is currently being upgraded, and due to this
>the DANA application is offline until later next week. I'll post to the
>list when it is available for access.
>
>Discussion: Relevance to Human Markup Language:
>The HumanMarkup Language initiative incorporates the term 'artifact' in
>the base schema, and there are a variety of contexts and semantic issues
>that effect meaning and usage of the term 'artifact.'  It is my hope
>that I can contribute meaningfully to further qualifications and
>appropriate usage of the term artifact, with regard for archaeological
>and related (e.g., paleontological) contexts.  Similarly, as DANA and
>AnthML will also address human and (ancestral) hominid biological and
>physical elements, traits and characteristics, including both fossil and
>non-fossil (e.g., bone) remains (e.g., skeletal remains) and associated
>artifacts and other specimen types (e.g., associated ecofacts) in both
>archaeological and paleoanthropological settings (e.g., site contexts),
>it is my hope that we can have meaningful discussions on these aspects
>as well.
>
>Ultimately, within the framework of the broader Semantic Web context, it
>is important for both initiatives to have agreement on definitions,
>descriptions and contexts in which the term 'artifact' is applied, and
>it is my hope that by coordinating with the HumanMarkup TC that we can
>establish, at a minimum, a reasonable crosswalk.
>
>I am also enthusiastic about potentials for Human Markup within the
>broader context of other ATL undertakings, which include development of
>Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) for scholarly research education,
>in collaboration with the NDSU World Wide Web Instructional Committee
>(WWWIC; see http://www.ndsu.edu/wwwic/). For example, we are in the
>preliminary phase of developing the Virtual Archaeologist, and also the
>Fishhook Immersive Environment for Education (see
>http://vcell.ndsu.nodak.edu/fishhook/). We are also in the preliminary
>phase of development  for a Diabetes health care interactive game,
>called Native Dancer, in collaboration with the White Earth Band Tribal
>Council. More on this in future posts, as this will entail deeper
>discussion especially with regard for motion capture and bodylocator and
>related items.
>
>If anyone on this list has further interest in our undertakings, or is
>in need of additional information about me or how we can best interface
>our agendas, please feel free to contact me at anytime.
>
>
>
>--
>From the desk of James [Jim] E. Landrum III
>NDSU Archaeology Materials and Technologies Laboratories
>URL = http://atl.ndsu.edu
>Digital Archive Network for Anthropology (DANA).
>DANA URL = http://atl.ndsu.edu/archive
>Email: <James.Landrum@ndsu.nodak.edu>
>Phone: 701-231-8059
>FAX: 701-231-1047
>Voice Mail: 701-231-4228
>
>
>
>----------------------------------------------------------------
>To subscribe or unsubscribe from this elist use the subscription
>manager: <http://lists.oasis-open.org/ob/adm.pl>


--