Conclusions
To conclude:
- Standards are important, especially for national initiatives, such as eLib
- Proprietary solutions are often tempting because:
- They are available
- They are often well-marketed and well-supported
- They may become standardised
- Solutions based on standards may not be properly supported by applications
- Intermediaries may have a role to play in deploying standards-based solutions
- Opportunity for involvement with standards bodies (e.g. W3C Working Groups)