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This is not always the case with paper mail. • The message content is introduced in a clearly defined area. • Electronic files can be attached in their ‘native’ form without modification. 36 Information Management Food for thought E-Mail as document manager? Electronic mail is sometimes used as a ‘lightweight’ search and retrieval tool for documents: users often remember from whom or to whom a document has been sent – most commonly as a message attachment – as well as the subject matter, and can define an approximate timeframe.

XML content is transported in the same way as HTML, using the main, tried-andtested, protocols that drive the Internet and the Web, TCP/IP and HTTP. As those standards are in the public domain, you will not have to worry about the cost of keeping your information moving around, as was the case in many Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) initiatives that relied on proprietary and private networks. • XML is sufficiently similar to HTML to offer an accessible entry point and shallow learning curve to new users, unlike other ‘heavyweight’ vendor-specific systems.

Your average programmer is not a ‘Web team’ graphic designer, an author, journalist, editor or proofreader as well, and certainly not a librarian or information manager. Specialized profiles were needed for specialized tasks. There are two major problems, however, with a ‘Web team’ approach: • Each of the team players may have their own ‘language’ and tools, often limiting the possibilities of working together smoothly. • The team itself may be cut off or downstream from the mains flow of corporate information and content generation – producing a Web-page version of such content was still an afterthought to the production of the paper-based original.