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The article provides information on building Web resources designed to facilitate ad hoc, unpredictable future uses. According to the article, the challenge has been to design metadata that is easy for the non-technical scholar to construct, is expressive enough to declare the provenance and relationship of resources, and perhaps most importantly, reflects standard information architecture protocols such as extendible markup language (XML) so that conventional application programs can harvest the metadata and re-purpose a Web content. XML is extensible, platform-independent, and supports internationalization by being fully Unicode compliant. The fact that XML is a text-based format means that when the need arises, one can read and edit XML documents using standard text-editing tools.

The article discusses the computer query language SPARQL and its design for interrogating the semantic Web. Concepts regarding the semantic Web are discussed for background purposes, noting an example of how scientific metadata could be interrogated to link multiple records. Example SPARQL endpoints are noted including Gene Ontology, the National Center for Biotechnology Information bibliographic database, and Jamendo, a music database. The article also discusses the Resource Description Framework (RDF) of linked open data.

The article offers step-by-step instructions for probing the semantic Web with the query language SPARQL.

This article discusses the types of documents that can be found on the Internet and the use of Resource Description Framework (RDF) to enhance them. Most documents on the Web are hyper text markup language (HTML) documents, but there are also many documents that are based on Extensible Markup Language (XML) that provides a more structured document with more information. The RDF documents are mostly designed for machine processing, but there is a version called the RDFa which bridges both the human and data webs. The article also presents an example of an RDFa document.

The article presents information about language-integrated queries.

The article discusses how the use of language-integrated query (LINQ) affects information search queries. The author illustrates the use of structured query language (SQL) in searching for information from information stores comprised of XML documents. He suggests searches using LINQ do not need to divide searches between databases and XML documents due to information storage architecture. He notes the creation of database systems, such as the DB2 Universal Database, that incorporate both XML and SQL data storage structures and discusses the introduction of LINQ at the Professional Developer's Conference by programmer Anders Hejlsberg.

This article looks at the trends concerning metadata and Web contents. The design of metadata should be easy for the non-technical scholar to construct, expressive enough to declare the provenance and relationship of resources; and perhaps most importantly, reflects standard information architecture protocols so that conventional application programs can harvest the metadata and re-purpose the Web content. XML or the Extensible Markup Language architecture leverages all the application software built on the protocols of the W3C.

The article provides information on the Asynchronous JavaScript and Extensible Markup Language (AJAX). A Web browser uses a scripting language to connect to a Web server and ask for more information which may be received and packaged as Extensible Markup Language. The Google Maps was the classic pioneering AJAX application. Some AJAX libraries include a Yahoo! User Interface Library, an open-source JavaScript project called Dojo and a Google Web Toolkit.

The article offers information regarding the use of Greasemonkey, which is a Firefox extension, in adding bits of Document markup language (DHTML) or a user script to any Web page to change its behavior. The Greasemonkey script empower Web user to design a Web page, like inserting a preferred style, deleting content and adding content that can increase the utility of that Web page.

Background User scripting heralds a paradigm shift towards web reader empowerment. Powerful web writers of the first decade of the Web needed to be cautioned about usability and accessibility issues. As power shifts to web readers, they become capable of customizing web pages to their own tastes and purposes. This paper describes the development of Greasemonkey extension of the Firefox browser. Argument User scripting is a product of the development of the open source browser, and individual developers who wish to change webpages. The Greasemonkey extension of the Firefox browser permits web readers to write JavaScripts that (1) Change the look and feel of Web pages, (2) Change the functionality of web page controls, and (3) Facilitates Web page ‘mashups’, hybrid web presentations composed of content from two or more web pages. The only naturally occurring limit to web page modification may be difficult Web page source code. Tools that shield Web readers from the complexity of HTML are being introduced. Conclusion The paradigm shift to Web readers, armed with powerful and easy-to-use tools for customizing Web pages heralds a new era of the Web. It threatens the idea that a Web page has a single look and feel, and emphasizes the trend to design Web pages as mere input to the reading experience, subject to modification of presentation device as well as reader taste and purpose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on Greasemonkey, a Firefox extension through which one can add bits of DHTML. A set of JavaScript instructions are included in a user script which is run by a Web browser just before a Web page is shown. This script is used by the people who don't have the time to run JavaScripts. There are numerous advantages of user scripting. Several free scripts are found in the user script including Book Burro, which helps in shopping for books by providing prices of books from competitors, Clean Language, that replaces offensive swear words, etc., with a desired filler term, Linkify, through which Web addresses in Web pages can be converted to clickable links, etc.

The article states that the extensions for the new Mozilla Firefox Web browser can help both Web writers and readers. The Firefox Web browser exemplifies the advantage of open-source development where many different people can contribute many different extensions to satisfy many different needs. It is fundamental to the development of interactive Web pages. One can make things fly across the Webpage or build image billboards for the timed display of pictures.

Presents a letter to the editor about an article published in the January 1990 issue of the Journal of the American Society for Information Science.