[microformats-discuss] Definition of "microformat"?

Fri Sep 16 09:18:49 PDT 2005

Hi all,
I can never resist a good etymological workout. :-) Here's my take:
Microformats are
 terse conventions
 for using existing tags
 and brief, descriptive class names
 that assign precise semantics
 for a single, well-defined problem domain
 within HTML/XHTML/XML documents
In short, "Microformats are terse conventions that assign precise 
semantics."
-- Ernie P.
"Keep things as vague as possible -- but no vaguer"
(Dr. Ernie's First Law of Marketing)
On Sep 16, 2005, at 6:22 AM, DuCharme, Bob (LNG-CHO) wrote:
> Stephen Downes wrote:
>>> "Microformats are descriptions of types of data that can be expressed
>> in a consistent manner and which can be part of, or embedded in,
>> larger data elements. When the consistent expression of a microformat
>> is defined and widely employed, this data may be reliably extracted
>> from these larger data elements, thus allowing the microformat 
>> data to
>> assist in the characterization and indexing of the larger data
>> elements."
>> I think the emphasis on embedding microformat data elsewhere for later
> aggregation adds (and explains) a lot. Shouldn't a complete 
> definition of
> microformats mention the re-use of existing schemas, though? As I 
> understand
> it, making up your own elements and attributes is not the typical
> microformats approach.
>> Otherwise, substituting "RDF" for "Microformats" above would still 
> make your
> paragraph a true statement!
>> Bob
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