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VRA Core 4.0 Beta now available for testing and feedback The VRA Data Standards Committee (DSC) is happy to announce that the VRA Core 4.0 Beta Draft documents and XML schema are now available for review. You can access these documents from the DSC home page at http://www.vraweb.org/datastandards/VRADS_Main_page.htm or more directly at http://www.vraweb.org/datastandards/VRA_Core4_Welcome.html There you will find the following Core 4.0 related documents: Introduction, Element Outline, Element Description, and the VRA Core XML Schema and Examples page. This last page, beautifully designed by our schema author Esme Cowles, has links to two XML schemas (one lax and one strict) and a number of examples submitted by DSC members. Each example has 2 data "views," created by xslt stylesheets to illustrate how the XML data may be formatted for different kinds of display, in addition to a raw XML data view. At the bottom of this page are links to an XML validator, some XML information sites, and the stylesheets and java source code used to format the examples. We are currently looking for brave beta testers to put the XML schema through its paces by testing it against real-world data and applications. An Online Discussion Forum has been set up where anyone can post, read, and/or reply to comments, questions, and suggestions. It is accessible from http://www.vraweb.org/datastandards/VRA_Core4_Welcome.html You do not need to be a VRA member to read, post, or reply to this forum. Just click on the Online Discussion Forum link, pull down the Community menu (top left), choose Bulletin Board, then click on the VRA Core 4.0 Beta link. If you are not a VRA member, please be sure to include your name and institutional affiliation along with your post so we know who's talking! The success of the XML schema depends on testing its limits in a variety of settings and with different kinds of collection data. All of these documents represent working drafts that may change at any time, based on input received via the Discussion Forum so don't be shy about making yourself heard. Your suggestions and findings will help shape this into a truly useful tool. Please try to send your comments and/or test results to the Online Discussion Forum by January 31, 2006 Jan Eklund Chair, VRA Data Standards Committee [log in to unmask] [posted on behalf of the VRA Data Standards Committee]