From ross@cgl.ucsf.EDU  Thu Mar 17 03:42:02 1994
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From: ross@cgl.ucsf.EDU (Bill Ross )
To: Leif.Laaksonen@csc.fi, ross@cgl.ucsf.EDU
Subject: Re: CCL:Example of Web abstract with pictures
Cc: chemistry@ccl.net


	>This may be of interest as an example of Web scientific
	>publishing; it's like an abstract with popup color plates.
	>
	>        http://neuron.arc.nasa.gov/papers/spie_abstract.94/.index.html

	Making Web publications is not that simple. 

Still, for something simple, the above example is pretty darn 
impressive. Certainly, the more infrastructure, the better.
What would it take to start an electronic journal that, _purely 
on content_, all who read this email would value to the extent 
of paying something for? 

	I don't believe that one can use ordinary text and put links 
	into that. 

It's like a black-and-white movie: good info is good info & you
get it the easiest way available, and just scanning in the current
literature and automatically mapping references would be nothing
to sneeze at.

	I believe that the whole text should be written from an other 
	point of view where the links come in more logically. 

Absolutely. I don't claim that the current WWW culture, which seems 
barely months old, has even begun to ripen. The language of links is 
at the stage of early cinema. There are some excellent examples of
organized productions (easy to find, since more people's pages have
pointers to them).

	The text around the links should clearly show WHAT is behind
	the link. Other aspects like type of file behind the link, file 
	sizes and so on should also be seen from the link. We are still 
	living in a world with slow network connections, after all.

Amen. I tried playing the tetraamine movie on the Australian site,
and nothing came up after an hour of downloading. 

	This whole WWW concept is quite difficult to accept by very many because
	the way we compete each other is through the publications, more or less.
	Giving the publishing away to a neutral publisher we maintain a sort of
	neutral territory. Now when the whole business is more up to ourself
	it's difficult to find a new neutral territory which could be at neutral

So, what would it take? Would an established neutral party in the
form of, say, a commercial or society publisher have to bless it, or
could a new, for-this-purpose organization overcome this barrier?

Bill Ross