Information Engineering focusses on the problems of connecting together the different building blocs for information systems to make the content more easily accessible to users. In order for the ordinary user to be attracted to the use of electronic information and services, the systems have to be easy to install and use. Geoff Stephenson introduces the IESERV Project and the El.Pub web site.
Information Engineering is a horizontal action in the Telematics Application Programme, along with Language Engineering and Telematics Engineering. The focus of the action is on the problems of connecting together the different building blocs for information systems to make the content more easily accessible to users and more usable in the tasks they are carrying out. The projects cover all areas of electronic publishing - on the web, on Intranets, on CD-ROM and broadcast. The work programme covers the whole of the electronic information chain from authoring, through publishing and distribution, to retrieval and processing of the information by the user. The information systems that are emerging to support open information spaces, are largely directed at specialist users who are relatively expert users of computers. In order for the ordinary user in business or the home to be attracted to the use of electronic information products and services, the systems on offer have to be very much easier to install and use, than these specialist tools.
The priorities in the Information Engineering action are:
IESERV, now IESERV2, is a concertation support project that helps the projects interact with each other, the Commission and the rest of industry. The project organises workshops and meetings, helps projects with dissemination of results. It also provides an information service on R&D in electronic publishing, through its web site El.pub [1].
Meetings planned for the near future are:
More information about the workshops and registration details can be found on the web site.
The El.pub web site provides a focus for Information Engineering and the electronic publishing R&D community. The content of the site is complementary to that on the DG XIII sites such as I*M Europe and Cordis that are oriented to information about the RTD programmes. El.pub covers international developments in R&D, with technical news and lists of conferences and workshops updated twice weekly. There are sections on the components of electronic publishing such as standards, graphics, web design, and IPR, and application areas such as educational multimedia, that link to the major resource sites of industry and the universities. A directory of industry associations enables clients to find local support. There are short abstracts of the IE projects with links to their web sites and pointers to other projects in European and wider research programmes. Vendor links to product based sites are organised by application area. Studies commissioned by DG XIII E can be downloaded from the site and there are resources on user centred design - a priority area of the IE sector. The site has links to over 2000 resource sites across the web.
There is also a free weekly e-mail newsletter, El.pub Weekly, that provides a summary of the latest news stories on the web site. To subscribe to the news-letter visit the web site.
If you have any comments on this article, please contact the editors (exploit-editor@ukoln.ac.uk).
G. Stephenson
Co-ordinator IESERV2
Email: ketlux@compuserve.com
URL: http://www.pira.co.uk/IE/
For citation purposes:
G. Stephenson, "IESERV project and Information Engineering, Concertation Support," Exploit Interactive, issue 1, 10 April 1999
URL: <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue1/ieserv/>
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