Open, knowledge-based publishing model
A new project, funded within the framework of the EU's RTD programme in the field of multimedia content (INFO2000), has recently been launched. The project (HAWK) will pilot an open knowledge-based publishing model in order to enable publishers to better exploit the information they hold. The aim is to address problems that occur when querying multimedia databases, which may involve several media types, as well as complex features and attributes. To solve these problems, the objects in a database must be indexed properly and their features must be properly identified and stored. Workable feature identification and extraction methods must also be developed. The HAWK model will centre around a future-proof knowledge base which contains explicitly modelled, highly structured and semantically interconnected publication content. The concepts and facts stored will serve both as an access structure to the text and multimedia material and as a source of information in its own right. The project model will use a generic toolkit approach which will integrate widely-used, standard software with innovative tools. The main goals are as follows: - To demonstrate the benefits of an open knowledge-based publication process using an application framework approach based on open distribution processing standards; - To validate and verify the feasibility of the generic model and the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed production processes; - To develop new media services, based on JAVA and CORBA, together with two European publishers to validate and verify the model through specific instances. The intended output of the project is to provide an innovative publication architecture and publishing process which should enable publishers to reuse their assets in a broad range of highly targeted publications, in order to react more quickly to changing market needs. The extendible application framework and its generic toolkit approach will ultimately enable a flexible adjustment of production processes and end-user interfaces.