Processed Book Project
Encyclopedia
The Processed Book Project is a prototype website
and service with customized software tools, launched in November 2005, to explore the evolving nature of books, journals, and other authored content published electronically as digital data, and accessible on a widely connected, often global, network.
, who in 1994 launched Britannica Online, the first Internet encyclopedia.
The essay proposed that a "processed book" will become "a node in a network, with connections to other books, commentary, online library card catalogues, teachers' recommendations, and so forth"—connections linking both to and from the e-book. Esposito noted that this is very different from the "Romantic myth" of the "primal book...usually written by a single author, someone who has Something to Say".
Annotations can include: text notes (which can also have their own annotations); outbound Web links that can be added to a document by someone other than the author or Webmaster; inbound links from other Web sites or e-mail to specific points inside a document, which can be disconnected by the document author without deleting the page they connect to; "BizVantage" links to a proprietary dynamically updated Net "clipping service" , driven by "user selected keywords, so that related, external content is discovered and connected to the Book"; and bookmarks placed by the user for quickly returning to points in the document.
In addition, the Project has several document-global tools, including dissect text that "provides extraction, annotation and statistical reporting for both user supplied words/phrases, and for associated words/phrases found via an interface to the WordNet
software's extensive catalog of connections among words/phrases."
As an operating system and not simply a vehicle for Web publication, PBOS also provides the ability to add new features or bolt on new computer processes that can be brought to bear on any text stored in the Project library. PBOS is available as open source software at SourceForge. The Project was designed by Lynn Brock and programmed by Wayne Davison.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
and service with customized software tools, launched in November 2005, to explore the evolving nature of books, journals, and other authored content published electronically as digital data, and accessible on a widely connected, often global, network.
Beginnings
Supported by funding from the Hewlett Foundation, the Project grew out of an essay entitled "The Processed Book", published online in the open-access journal FirstMonday in March 2003, by Joseph J. Esposito , former CEO of Encyclopædia BritannicaEncyclopædia Britannica
The Encyclopædia Britannica , published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., is a general knowledge English-language encyclopaedia that is available in print, as a DVD, and on the Internet. It is written and continuously updated by about 100 full-time editors and more than 4,000 expert...
, who in 1994 launched Britannica Online, the first Internet encyclopedia.
The essay proposed that a "processed book" will become "a node in a network, with connections to other books, commentary, online library card catalogues, teachers' recommendations, and so forth"—connections linking both to and from the e-book. Esposito noted that this is very different from the "Romantic myth" of the "primal book...usually written by a single author, someone who has Something to Say".
Annotations
Annotations are one of the main tools of the Processed Book Operating System (PBOS), which allows users to connect "anything that adds lexical, semantic, or procedural value" to a specific segment of a document.Annotations can include: text notes (which can also have their own annotations); outbound Web links that can be added to a document by someone other than the author or Webmaster; inbound links from other Web sites or e-mail to specific points inside a document, which can be disconnected by the document author without deleting the page they connect to; "BizVantage" links to a proprietary dynamically updated Net "clipping service" , driven by "user selected keywords, so that related, external content is discovered and connected to the Book"; and bookmarks placed by the user for quickly returning to points in the document.
In addition, the Project has several document-global tools, including dissect text that "provides extraction, annotation and statistical reporting for both user supplied words/phrases, and for associated words/phrases found via an interface to the WordNet
WordNet
WordNet is a lexical database for the English language. It groups English words into sets of synonyms called synsets, provides short, general definitions, and records the various semantic relations between these synonym sets...
software's extensive catalog of connections among words/phrases."
As an operating system and not simply a vehicle for Web publication, PBOS also provides the ability to add new features or bolt on new computer processes that can be brought to bear on any text stored in the Project library. PBOS is available as open source software at SourceForge. The Project was designed by Lynn Brock and programmed by Wayne Davison.
External links
- Processed Book Project
- Processed Book Operating System on SourceForgeSourceForgeSourceForge Enterprise Edition is a collaborative revision control and software development management system. It provides a front-end to a range of software development lifecycle services and integrates with a number of free software / open source software applications .While originally itself...