I know Ed Hew has already said that ORA would be interested in working
on this project, but I thought I'd put in a direct word.
I've been interested for some time in the possibility of using
the web to create a new kind of "online book." That is, the
online book not as a multimedia presentation (though certainly
that can be one component) but as a USER INTERFACE to a large,
dynamic body of information.
Take the Whole Internet Catalog in GNN...what is is but a user
interface to the Internet?
We've got some internal projects going to turn some of our
books (such as the Encylopedia of Graphics File Formats) into
this form of online book. For those of you who don't know it,
the book has about a half dozen conceptual chapters about
graphics file formats, followed by 5-6 page articles on each
of about a hundred formats, and is accompanied by a CD on
which resides the full text of all the specifications for
all the formats, plus sample images, tools, etc.
For the second edition of the book, we have much more ambitious
plans: to include a hypertexted copy of the entire book,
which would then serve as a (yes, you guessed it) user interface
to the hundreds of megabytes of additional information that
is now accessed from the disk using more conventional file
retrieval semantics...PLUS access (for those who have net access)
to an online component with the latest of everything.
The book is kind of a "cliff notes" for a much larger body of
information. Linking those notes via hypertext to the original
sources makes an integrated information system in which lots
of interesting new things can happen.
I have plans to do a similar "online reference" to the
Internet RFCs, and it strikes me that the metaphor might
be applicable to the FAQs as well.
Of course, here it's a two level problem: the FAQs
are themselves "user interface documents" to Usenet. But
a two step problem is fine.
As in the FAQ project, the first thing that would be necessary
would be a birds eye view of everything that's available--
a taxonomy that helps someone understand the lay of the land.
That's the first level interface, and it points off to the
FAQs.
The second level is to turn the FAQs themselves into more
of a hypertext interface to the subjects they describe. This
could potentially be done as a value-added job by the publisher
and associated editors/authors, or could become part of the
evolving standard of how FAQs are written, with some people
pioneering new ways to write them and others gradually taking
on the new standard (or not).
Anyway, the point is that I believe that this kind of project
is really central to the birth of a new kind of information
publishing. I'd like to find people who see what's possible
in the creation of "information interfaces" (which I truly
believe will emerge as a whole new class of product--neither
book nor software) and work with them in whatever information
space intrigues them.
Anyway...this is just to let you know that I'm interested.
If you guys like my ideas, and can boil yourselves down to
a couple of point people who I can work with, I'd love to
explore this project. (Since I also run a reasonably large
company, I have only so many "sockets" available for communication,
and can't respond to every individual on a project like this.)
P.S. A number of people on this list have objected to
the idea of a book or CD of FAQs on the basis that it will
be rapidly out of date. Definitely true. However, for
someone who is not connected, even a frozen copy can be
useful (especially if it is frequently updated with generous
upgrade policies). And if someone IS connected to the net,
it is possible to set up a product in such a way that the
CD becomes a "local cache" and the software checks on an
online site to see if there is a more up to date version
available. All of the above is part of my vision for how
such a product should work.
Since Ed Hew was the one who first brought me into this loop,
I'll continue to try to work with him as a point person until
and unless you guys agree on someone else.
(PPS--I really like the idea of "collaborative books" and
believe that a project like this could actually be carried out
online on a web site under public construction.)
I've got a couple of things on the fire that I can't talk
about publically that will make all of the above easier,
and will create a context in which it can happen. I should
be able to be more explicit in a few weeks.
It's great to see all the energy and enthusiasm of the
people on this list.
-- Tim O'Reilly @ O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. Publishers of Nutshell Handbooks 103 Morris Street, Sebastopol, CA 95472 707-829-0515 ext 266, Fax 707-829-0104, Home office fax 707-829-3382 Internet: tim@ora.com http://gnn.com and http://www.ora.com
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