|
|
Learning the electronic ABC
Electronic mail, video-conferencing and other modern communications technologies should be making life simpler - but all too often the reverse is true. This concise book of suggested standards is a useful attempt to bring order to the current chaos.If you use electronic mail (e-mail) you have probably at some time received a document that you cannot read. Perhaps your correspondent has used MIME encoding for a file attachment when you can accept only UUCODE, or has sent foreign-language characters - as simple as a French accent or a British pound sign - that have been damaged in transit. What ought to be a simplifying technology ends up causing delay and frustration.
Choosing the right HTML standards for your Web site, setting up a video-conference with your customers or transferring files by ISDN are other everyday IT tasks that are somehow never quite as simple as they should be. It's time to introduce some standards and, just as importantly, to make sure that people know about them.
Commendably brief but regrettably obscure
The Handbook on Communication Services is a concise guide to e-mail, web page design, archiving services such as Gopher, groupware, voice conferencing, video-conferencing and network security. It was produced as part of the ACTS (Advanced Communications Technologies and Services) project under the Fourth Framework Programme.
Although the book notes briefly what each service does, its main aim is to explain the relevant standards. In each case it recommends which standards we should be using, and even suggests named software packages for each application. The authors' emphasis on the need for PC users to adopt standards that will allow them to communicate with Mac and Unix machines is welcome.
The Handbook takes an unusual approach, and the information it provides would be difficult to find elsewhere in such a compact form. But although it fills a clear need, this book is not easy reading. It is described as being suitable for managers, technical staff and freelancers, but the latter, at any rate, are likely to feel overwhelmed by the clumsy and over-technical style.
|
The handbook on communication services
Deutsche Telekom Berkom GmbH, Berlin, 1995
Fax +49 30 34 973599
English, 111 pp, Free of charge |
|
In Brief ...
|
The IT society: where is it going?
The information content industry, which takes in traditional print and electronic publishers as well as the audio-visual industry, is of prime importance to the EU. This report examines technological, infrastructure and market development, both in Europe and elsewhere, and outlines the regulatory and policy framework. It also looks at the skills shortage and the overall picture for employment.
European information trends 1996
EUFO 1164
European Commission, 1998
DG XIII/ E-2, Fax +352 4301 33190
English, 121 pp, Free of charge
Electronic business
Telecommunications developments and the popularity of the Internet make electronic commerce an attractive proposition for many businesses. But still, many hurdles remain before it becomes a totally viable and reliable option. This publication provides an overview of European R&D in this field, in particular in the ACTS programme, along with project managers' views of the future. Information brokerage
European Commission, 1998
Deutsche Telekom Berkom GmbH, Berlin,
Germany, Fax +49 30 34 973599
English, 150 pp, Free of charge
Educating Europe
The Education and Training Sector of the European Commission's Telematics Application programme has relaunched its website. A presentation in three formats - text, slide-show and full-blown multimedia presentation - introduces descriptions of the various projects that are under way. Useful information such as conference notices, related news items and a glossary of terms is also accessible. TETRISS website
http://www.echo.lu/telematics
/education/en | |
