Vergottini: XML, HTML, JSON – Choosing the Right Format for Legislative Text

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has posted XML, HTML, JSON – Choosing the Right Format for Legislative Text, at Legix.info.

Here are excerpts:

I find I’m often talking about an information model and XML as if they’re the same thing. However, there is no reason to tie these two things together as one. Instead, we should look at the information model in terms of the information it represents and let the manner in which we express that information be a separate concern. In the last few weeks I have found myself discussing alternative forms of representing legislative information with three people – chatting with Eric Mill at the Sunlight Foundation about HTML microformats (look for a blog from him on this topic soon), Daniel Bennett regarding microdata, and Ari Hershowitz regarding JSON.

I thought I would try and open up a discussion on this topic by shedding some light on it. If we can strip away the discussion of the information model and instead focus on the representation, perhaps we can agree on which formats are better for which applications. Is a format a good storage format, a good transport format, a good analysis/programming format, or a good all-around format? [...]

Several examples are given. Then, Grant writes:

[...] There are many different ways of representing the same legislative model – each with its own strength and weaknesses. Different consumers have different needs. While XML is a good all-around format, it also brings with it some degree of sophistication and complexity that many information consumers simply don’t need to tackle. It should be possible, as a consumer, to specify the form of the information that most closely fits my need and have the legislative data source deliver it to me in that format. [...]

What do you think?

For more details, please see the complete post.

HT @arihersh

Vergottini on Legal Reference Resolvers

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has posted Legal Reference Resolvers, at Legix.info.

The post addresses redirection, making references canonical, a repository service, and resolver routing.

For more details, please see the complete post.

HT @grantcv1

Vergottini: Automating Legal References in Legislation

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has posted Automating Legal References in Legislation,” at Legix.info.

This is a quite detailed post, with examples, describing a new legal URI standard or pattern, based on URN LEX and Akoma Ntoso References.

I believe Akoma Ntoso References is being developed by the OASIS LegalDocumentML Technical Committee.

For more details, please see Grant’s complete post.

HT @grantcv1

Vergottini: Legal Informatics Glossary of Terms

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has posted Legal Informatics Glossary of Terms, at his Legix.info Blog.

Here is an excerpt:

I work with people from around the world on matters relating to legal informatics. One common issue we constantly face is the issue of terminology. We use many of the same terms, but the subtly of their definitions end up causing no end of confusion. To try and address this problem, I’ve proposed a number of times that we band together to define a common vocabulary, and when we can’t arrive at that, at least we can understand the differences that exist amongst us.

To get the ball rolling, I have started a wiki on GitHub and populated it with many of the terms I use in my various roles. Their definitions are a work-in-progress at this point. I am refining them as I find the time. However, rather than trying to build my own private vocabulary, I would like this to be a collaborative effort. To that end, I am inviting anyone with an interest in this to help build out the vocabulary by adding your own terms with definitions to the list and improving the ones I have started.

My legal informatics glossary of terms can be found in my public legal Informatics project at:
https://github.com/grantcv1/Legal-Informatics/wiki/Glossary

The wiki is a public project on GitHub. Right now, anyone can contribute. [...]

For more information, please see the complete post.

HT @grantcv1

Vergottini on Improvements to AKN/Editor, HTML-5 Based XML Editor for Legislation

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has posted A Pluggable XML Editor, at his Legix.info blog.

In this post, Mr. Vergottini describes changes he has recently made, or plans to make in the near future, to AKN/Editor, his HTML-5 based XML editor for legislation. The editor was originally designed for use with the Akoma Ntoso legal XML standard. (Click here for tutorials on using the editor.)

These changes include making the editor “pluggable.” Mr. Vergottini explains that this means rendering the editor “capable of allowing different information models to be used” and “allow[ing] modules to be built that can provide optional functionality to the base editor.” According to Mr. Vergottini, “if you have a different document information model, and it is capable of being round-tripped in some way with an editing view, then I can probably adapt it to the editor.” He notes that he is “using XSL Transforms, designed specifically for round-tripping.”

He adds:

Along with these mechanisms I am also allowing for pluggable command structures, CSS styling rules, and, of course, the schema validation.

Mr. Vergottini writes that the next set improvements will include:

modules like change tracking / redlining, metadata generation (including XBRL generation), and multilingual support following this pluggable architecture.

For more information, please see the complete post.

Hendler on Organizing and Accessing Code-like Legal Materials

Alex M. Hendler, Esq., of ontolawgy LLC, has posted How to eat legislative sausage, on the ontolawgy Blog.

In this post, Mr. Hendler describes methods for organizing digital versions of codified statutes or regulations, citing Tom Bruce’s recent post on legislative identifiers and Grant Vergottini’s response to Tom’s post. Mr. Hendler explains how his cloud-based legal analysis and knowledge management system, called ontolawgy, which uses Semantic Web technology, addresses the issues raised in those posts.

In the second part of his post, Mr. Hendler argues that digital full-text versions of U.S. federal statutes and regulations currently available from the U.S. Government are flawed, particularly respecting indentation. He writes:

If anyone has some insight about how to get the government to bring useful and accurate indentation to its official publications, please get in touch, I would be thrilled to work with you to help make this happen.

For more information, please see the complete post.

Posts and Resources About International Legislation Unhackathon

Here are links to posts and other resources (that I’ve been able to identify) about the International Legislation Unhackathon, held 19 May 2012. (If you know of other posts or resources about the event, please tell us about them in the comments):

• Archived tweets from the event, in .csv format (see other tweets about the event at hashtag #legalhacks)
• U.S. state legislation marked up during the event (click on a shaded state to see legislation from that state)
• National legislation marked up during the event (click on a shaded country to see legislation from that country)
• An overview of the event, and comments contributed during the event, available on the event’s Wiki
• Grant Vergottini’s summary post about the event, entitled Unhackathon Wrapup
• Ari Hershowitz’s summary post about the event, entitled International Legislative Unhackathon and G+ Hangout
• Videos shown during the event
• Grant Vergottini’s new HTML-based XML legislation editor, used during the event
• Grant Vergottini’s posts about the event (written before the event)
• Ari Hershowitz’s posts about the event (written before the event: here and here)
• Alex Hendler’s post looking forward to the event, entitled How to Eat Legislative Sausage
• Background information about the event

Click here for upcoming legal hacking events.

Find news about upcoming legal hacking events at hashtags #legalhack and #legalhacks.

Click here for posts and resources about other legal hacking events held recently.

May 19 International Legislative Hackathon

[Note: For follow-up information about the International Legislation Hackathon 2012 -- including legislation marked up during the event, archived tweets, and videos -- please see Posts and Resources About International Legislation Unhackathon.]

The International Legislative Unhackathon will be held 19 May 2012 at multiple locations:

• the University of California, Hastings College of Law, in San Francisco, California;
• Stanford University in Stanford, California;
• Denver, Colorado; and
• online.

The Twitter hashtag for the event is #legalhacks [Click here to access archived tweets from the event, in .csv format.]

Click here for the event’s Website.

The URL for the Google + hangout for the event is http://bit.ly/Ko6RI0.

Click here for the event’s registration site.

Click here for the event’s Wiki.

The event is being organized by Ari Hershowitz of Tabulaw and Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group.

Here is a description of the event from the event Website:

LEGAL HACKS is hosting an International Legislation UNHackathon sponsored by the Hastings Science and Technology Law Journal.

Participants will gather in groups and “mark up” existing laws into an XML format based on an international standard to promote transparency, accountability, democratic participation, and good governance. Working together, attorneys and technologists will identify the best methods to markup relevant laws into the XML standard.

Some of the key areas of focus will be Constitutions, Privacy laws, and Open Government Laws, but participants can choose to work on other areas of law too.

Don’t know what “mark up?” means? Don’t worry, it’s easy. Come, learn, and contribute!

Please be sure to bring your laptop with an up-to-date browser – either Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari!

AGENDA FOR MAY 19TH [All times are Pacific Time]

11:30 [a.m.] – 12:30 [p.m.] Registration and Lunch

12:30 – 1:00 [p.m.] Official Start: Ignite Speech, Grant Vergottini, Jim Harper.

(Google+ Hangout On Air)

1:00 – 1:15 Brief tutorial to explain XML standard and how marking up works

1:15 – 1:30 Brainstorm on areas of the law to mark up

1:00 – 5:00 Markup – Break – Discuss

5:00 – post-mixer (location TBA)

Share your thoughts here (Eventbrite) or on the Wiki we have set up for the occasion:

http://code.google.com/p/legal-hack/

For more information, please see the event’s Website.

Click here for Grant Vergottini’s post providing background information about the event.

Click here for the HTML5-based legislation editor that Grant developed for the event.

Vergottini Releases HTML5-Based XML Editor for Legislation, with Tutorial

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has released his new HTML5-based XML editor for legislation, called AKN/Editor, with a video tutorial, in his new post entitled An HTML5-Based XML Editor for Legislation!, at his Legix.info blog.

In the post, Mr. Vergottini explains his approach to developing this editor, in terms of three reasons:

• “The editor uses an open standard for storing legislative data.”
• “The editor is built upon open web standards.”
• “Cloud-based computing is the future.”

The editor will be used at the International Legislation Unhackathon, being held in San Francisco and Stanford, California, in Denver, Colorado, and online, on 19 May 2012.

For more information, please see the complete post.

Vergottini on BillTrack 50: All 50 States Legislation in a Common Format

Grant Vergottini of Xcential Group has posted Imagine All 50 States Legislation in a Common Format, at his Legix.info blog.

In this post, Mr. Vergottini discusses BillTrack50, a new U.S. state-level bill tracking service developed by Karen Suhaka of LegiNation. BillTrack50 provides access to pending legislative bills — in a common XML format, Mr. Vergottini’s SLIM XML format — for all U.S. state legislatures. BillTrack50 charges a fee for access.

For more information, please see the complete post.