What is lacking in the current social software world is a kind of integration of the different kinds of content that goes beyond mere linking. Integration in this context means to be able to connect content in ways that carry more meaning than just linking using e.g. hyperlinks or user interface level inclusion using e.g. HTML img tags or “mashups”.

For example, traditional linking means that a user is able to link from a blog post in the Digital Photography School (DPS) to an image uploaded onto Flickr by means of e.g. an HTML img tag, meaning that the image is included in the blog post, but only on the user interface level in the user’s browser.

In contrast, integration would mean that the photo on Flickr becomes an integrated part of the DPS blog system with all information available, e.g. EXIF metadata about shutter speed, aperture, and photographer, tags added by users, annotations, associated comments, etc. Instead of being limited to the system where it has been added, context information about the content is available anywhere the content is used.

Note that this does not necessarily rule out that the content still resides in another system. Although not foreseen in the KiWi project, content integration could also be realised by providing appropriate adapters to external content that access e.g. a Web Service to retrieve content and associated information from other sites (which must of course support this).

Beyond the integration of existing content as described above, the KiWi system also supports the representation of content whose shape and schema is still emerging or even currently not planned at all. For example, a user profile might currently consist of name, age, email, address and phone, but in a later stage of the system, it might turn out to be interesting to also add coordinates for the current location of the user to display him on a map (as e.g. in Plazes ).

Based on semi-structured  Semantic Web technologies like RDF and OWL, representing such kinds of “evolving knowledge” is supported by the KiWi system without requiring to completely redesign the application’s database schemas, user interface, or APIs.

The KiWi system is thus also “breaking information boundaries”.

Next article in this section:

Putting the User in the Centre

Image source: Jean-Jacques MILAN on Wikimedia Commons