The Rhetorical Nature of XML: Constructing Knowledge in Networked Environments

摘要

The Rhetorical Nature of XML shows technical communicators how they can "expand their skills and understand how to use, and not be used by, new communication technologies" (p. ix) such as single sourcing, classification systems, HTML, XML, and other social media venues. Its accompanying Web site, www.rhetoricalxml. com, contains "a repository of XML tools and tutorials, links of interest, and sample documents," as well as code examples (p. 4). HTML is all about how you set (format) text and images and how you link the text and images to "go" somewhere else. "XML is about identifying, separating, and recombining specific data" (p. 42) needed for other purposes or designated content by using document type definitions (DTDs) and schema. It lets you use software to search and retrieve or locate and extract specific data, provided those data have been marked and coded appropriately in a database or Web site.