Web Research

 From the Textbook:

1. The World Wide Web Consortium creates standards for the Web.

Visit its site at http://www.w3c.org and then answer the following questions:

a. How did the W3C get started?

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) was founded by Tim Berners-Lee after he left the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in October, 1994. It was founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory for Computer Science (MIT/LCS) with support from the European Commission and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), which had pioneered the Internet.

W3C was created to ensure compatibility and agreement among industry members in the adoption of new standards. Prior to its creation, incompatible versions of HTML were offered by different vendors, increasing the potential for inconsistency between web pages. The consortium was created to get all those vendors to agree on a set of core principles and components which would be supported by everyone.

b. Who can join the W3C? What does it cost to join?

Membership in W3C is open to all types of organizations (including commercial, educational and governmental entities) and individuals. Any entity that can sign the Membership Agreement can become a Member. Members may be either for-profit or not-for-profit organizations. Most Members invest significant resources into Web technologies. They may be developing Web-based products, using Web technologies as an enabling medium, conducting research on the Web, or developing specifications based on W3C work.

Fee Table For United States  Annual Fee for Memberships Starting 2010-04-01

For-profit organization that has annual gross revenue, as measured by the most recent audited statement, of greater than or equal to 50,000,000 USD. 68,500 USD

All other organizations, including non-profit organizations and government agencies. 7,900 USD

c. The W3C home page lists a number of technologies. Choose one that interests you, click its link, and read the associated pages. List three facts or issues you discover.

These links take you to technical documents that specify the standardization for the technologies listed.  For example, the widgets abstract summarizes this information as:  "This specification defines an application programming interface (API) for widgets that provides, amongst other things, functionality for accessing a widget's metadata and persistently storing data."  It also lists the status of the document, which tells you who was responsible for creating it, the purpose, and any revisions.  It also informs you of current status if revisions are in progress.  The introduction concisely explains the technology, as well as proposed standardized functions.  For example:

"This specification defines an application programming interface that enables baseline functionality for widgets, including the ability to: 

• 
  
  "Access some of the metadata declared in a widget's configuration document."
• 
  
  "Persistently store data relating to a widget instance."
• 
  
  "Handle an IRI through an appropriate scheme handler."
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  "Retrieve the name and value of preferences, which may have been declared in a widget's configuration document."
• 
  
  "This specification uses [WebIDL] to specify application programming interfaces."

2. The Internet Society takes an active leadership role in issues related to the Internet.  Visit its site at http://www.isoc.org/ and answer the following questions:

a. Why was the Internet Society created?

"The Internet Society (ISOC) is a nonprofit organisation founded in 1992 to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and policy. With offices in Washington D.C., USA, and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to ensuring the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of people throughout the world.

"The Internet Society provides leadership in addressing issues that confront the future of the Internet, and is the organisational home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB).

"The Internet Society acts not only as a global clearinghouse for Internet information and education but also as a facilitator and coordinator of Internet-related initiatives around the world. For over 15 years ISOC has run international network training programs for developing countries and these have played a vital role in setting up the Internet connections and networks in virtually every country connecting to the Internet during this time." 

3. The World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) is a professional association dedicated to the support of individuals and organizations that create and manage Web sites. Visit its site at http://www.joinwow.org and answer the following questions:

a. How can you join WOW? What does it cost to join?

"Eligibility Requirements:  Membership in the World Organization of Webmasters is open to anyone with an interest in enhancing their career development and who wishes to join, and sends in an application with the necessary data."

"Membership pricing is annual. Membership classes are as follows:

Student – $29 USD

Government/Educational – $49 USD

Individual – $69 USD

Corporate – contact WOW for details

Small Business – contact WOW for details "

WOW also has memberships for high schools, community colleges, and universities, which are priced according to client.

 b. List one of the events that WOW participates in. Would you like to attend this event? Why or why not?

Voices that Matter:  I would be interested in this one as it is to address current trends as well as Web Design skills.

c. List three ways that WOW can help you in your future career as a Web developer.

 According to their "Why Join WOW" page, "The World Organization of Webmasters (WOW) is a leading organization in providing community education and certification resources to Web professionals in all phases of their career was formed to unite the Web professional community to strengthen its position as a recognized profession..."Visit the WOW blog for hours of articles, interviews and relevant content; stop by the WOW Store if you’re in need of professional products/web services or want to buy products such as low cost domain names or web graphic software and hardware. Our resource page offers recommended links and a list of books and podcast on just about any web-related issue you can think of — ranging from the technical to web business management — as well as great tutorials to teach you some great new tricks".