[uf-discuss] RE: microformats for groups and group memberships?

[Jim Dalton]

Very helpful, exactly what I was looking for, and it's a very useful start.

Would it make sense for the main page of the wiki to link to this page under
the Exploratory Discussions section? I'll happy add the link myself, unless
there is a policy in place of not linking to certain exploratory discussions
from the main page...


Sincerely,

Jim Dalton
Production Director
ERE Media, Inc.
580 Broadway
Suite 304
New York, NY 10012

Phone: (212) 671-1181, ext. 802
Mobile: (917) 226-5631

jim at ere.net
http://www.ere.net

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Messina [mailto:chris.messina at gmail.com] 
Sent: Thursday, August 10, 2006 12:28 PM
To: jim at ere.net; Microformats Discuss
Subject: Re: microformats for groups and group memberships?

Hi Jim,

You should take a look at some of the list's "prior art":

http://microformats.org/discuss/mail/microformats-discuss/2006-February/0031
81.html

http://microformats.org/wiki/group-brainstorming

Chris

On 8/10/06, Jim Dalton <jim at ere.net> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I'm fairly new to this list, so forgive me if this topic has been
discussed
> before or if the information is available on the wiki (did my best to
search
> both and came up with a blank). I'm probably not as technically savvy as
> many of you either, so my apologies in advance for inadvertently
butchering
> terms or concepts.
>
> I'm interested in how microformats are being (or could be) used to define
> both memberships of individuals to a group, organization, company,
personal
> network etc., as well as defining a member's "role" within that
> group/organization.
>
> The hcard format gives us the ability to define an entity as an
> organization. The XFN specification defines relationships between
> individuals. Nothing in these microformats (or currently proposed
> microformats) seems, however, to allow one to describe a list of members
in
> an organization as well as the members' roles within it.
>
> I'm curious if there is information or discussion that have already taken
> place, or if this is an idea for the group to consider?
>
> Thinking about it for a minute, I would see implications for:
>
> * Groups in social networks - Defining a list of members in a group, as
well
> as each individual's role within the group (e.g. leader, administrator,
> member, etc.).
>
> * Personal networks in social networks? Defining a list of members in an
> individual's personal network, along with each indivdual's "role" (i.e.
> relationship via XFN?) in the network.
>
> * Employees of an organization - An employee directory, for example,
> indicating job title (i.e. function/role) in the organization.
>
> * Membership in real world groups - e.g. churches, schools, community
> organizations etc., along with roles (e.g.
> principal/administrator/teacher/student).
>
> * Other possible uses: groups of contacts in a contact database? client
> lists? etc.?
>
> There would seem to be many examples in the wild where groups and group
> membership are presented.
>
> My ability to think through actual hypothetical structures is probably
more
> limited than others on this list, though the first concept my mind fixes
is
> on is the "feed" structure, where a parent feed has child entries. The
above
> concepts seemingly fits such a parent/child concept.
>
> That's about where I run out of steam, and am mostly curious about what
> others think rather than continuing to babble. Thanks for any thoughts
> and/or assistance from the group.
>
> [FYI, the thinking I'm doing on this particular topic is in advance of
some
> reworking my company is doing on its existing niche social networking
> service. I'm pushing for greater structure (and use of microformats) on
our
> content and entities. The above "groups/memberships" concept is the one
area
> that I have yet to find a place where an existing or proposed microformat
is
> relevant.]
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Jim Dalton
> jim at ere.net
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> microformats-discuss mailing list
> microformats-discuss at microformats.org
> http://microformats.org/mailman/listinfo/microformats-discuss
>


-- 
Chris Messina
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