Copyright (c) Robin Cover 1994-97. Last modified April 29, 1997.
This document http://www.sil.org/sgml/news.html is part of the SGML Web Page. Support for development and maintenance of the SGML Web Page is provided in part by SoftQuad, Inc. and by the Summer Institute of Linguistics, to whom gratitude is acknowledged.
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The Usenet Newsgroup comp.text.sgml is probably the most valuable information resource for SGML currently on the Internet. A description of its history and current operation is available from the SGML Repository's general-info file.
Archives of the Newsgroup have been kept at the SGML Repository [through February, 1996] and mirror sites since about 1991, and are searchable via WAIS and other methods. The primary archive site is the SGML Repository, but mirrors will also be found. The CTS news articles through mid-1994 are published on SoftQuad's "SGML World Tour" CDROM.
A highly valuable resource is the comp.text.sgml shadow archive, created and maintained by Arjan Loeffen. The archive is hosted by Utrecht University, Department of Computer & Arts. As of February 1997, the comp.text.sgml shadow archive, archiving the comp.text.sgml Usenet newsgroup, contains all submissions to comp.text.sgml dated from September 14, 1990 to January 31, 1997. There are 16,009 messages about 6041 subjects. Arjan Loeffen's Home Page contains other information of interest, including description of SGML-related Ph.D. research. Other addresses: Arjan Loeffen, Dept. of Humanities Computing, Faculty of Arts, University of Utrecht, Achter de Dom 22-24, 3512JP, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Phone work ++31+30536417, Home ++31+206656463, Fax work ++31+30539991; Email: Arjan.Loeffen@let.ruu.nl
If you do not have local access to Usenet News, you may be able to read the submissions to CTS (but not submit postings) by accessing a site like MSU:
[Historical note: Erik Naggum supported a valuable service in providing mail-based access to comp.text.sgml for several years [ceased 01-March-1996]. . . The digests are [were?] archived, and accessible via FTP to ftp://ftp.naggum.no/pub/digest (or possibly: ftp://naggum.no/pub/digest).]
The SGML Web Page officially provides no news service, but the section entitled "What's New, Relatively New, or New in the 'SGML Web Page'?" contains a list of announcements and notices relating to SGML events that have come to the attention of the author. Updates are typically made each week, or more frequently. These "news" entries are arranged in chronological order.
Avalanche sponsors an email-based news service for SGML products, conferences, etc. Between March 1993 and October 1994, approximately 126 announcements were broadcast. To subscribe to the Newswire service (it is free), send email to the SGML NEWSWIRE LIST MANAGER at sgmlinfo@avalanche.com with a request for subscription. To receive a listing of archived announcements via email, send the instruction send toc in the body of an email message to the same address. A sample 'Table of Contents' from Newswire is available here. If you are a subscriber, send the message send all to the list manager to receive all articles as email files.
All back issues of Newswire are also accessible (more economically) via FTP from the SGML Repository, where they are archived: Newswire via the SGML Repository. See the online Table of Contents.
See the description of SGML Newswire on the Interleaf/Avalanche WWW server [mirror copy, partial links only, July 1995]. Link to the welcome message or link to the SGML Newswire Table of Contents.
Other relevant contact addresses: SGML NEWSWIRE LIST MANAGER: Sue Martin-Gamble, Interleaf, 4999 Pearl East Circle, Ste 100, Boulder, Colorado 80301, VOX 303/449-5032 x 109, FAX 303/449-3246. Email: sue@avalanche.com