Web Annotations
Web annotations can be defined as a manner to attach information to a resource which is like an image or webpage. In this regard, those additional information can be thought as an upper layer on resource, which does not alter resource itself and this additional information can be seen by other people utilizing same tool.
A web annotation consists of two distinct parts, body and target according to data model suggestion of W3C. A variety of web annotations is created by changing content of these parts.
The Web Annotation Data Model is defined using the following basic principles:
- An Annotation is a rooted, directed graph that represents a relationship between resources.
- There are two primary types of resource that participate in this relationship, Bodies and Targets.
- Annotations have 0 or more Bodies.
- Annotations have 1 or more Targets.
- The content of the Body resources is related to, and typically "about", the content of the Target resources.
- Annotations, Bodies and Targets may have their own properties and relationships, typically including creation and descriptive information.
- The intent behind the creation of an Annotation or the inclusion of a particular Body or Target is an important property and represented by a Motivation resource.
The suggested data model standardizes a format called JSON-LD for representation of web annotations. Thanks to this standardized model, different clients can consume them in an appropriate way. For further information about protocol, this page can be visited. Following example is basic usage scenario of format.
As it said before, annotations are defined on different resource types. These types are not only a web page or a chain of text on content of that page, but also they can be a video file, a mp3 file or a sequence in those resources. That is, this partial definition of annotations were defined as follows by W3C.
- A specific area within drawn boundaries of an image resource.
- A specific time interval of a mp3 or video resource.
- A specific part of a longer text resource.
Serialization of JSON-LD format for being creating several web annotations can be seen through the following link.
There exist various types of web annotation tools. Some of them are listed in below:
To start using it, user is required to enter URL of a webpage and Bounce will then create an image of it allowing you thus to add text and annotate it. Also, users can be able to share their annotated content via a unique URL. Here is the bounceapp link for demo use.
This tool allows users locate little yellow squares of digital paper anywhere in a webpage.
This tool allows users to bookmark and annotate web service. It allows users to save a web page and annotate it the way they want via adding comments in text boxes or highlighting important parts. It also has a social ingredient in it in that users can share their annotated content with each other.
JIRA is a commonly used issue tracking software, vreated by Atlassian. Capture is a tool offered by JIRA. With Capture, one can add testing and review actions on top of annotations and it is also possible to create issues in JIRA. The issues created as annotations by Capture can be sorted, prioritized and tracked by the team.
The annotations added by using BugHerd can be filed as issues and be tracked by the team members. BugHerd is installed as an extension to browser and adds screen shots for the annotations automatically. BugHerd also sends notifications to the team members to make it possible for them to track and manage the issues. It also provides a task board where all the annotations can be organized.
PageProofer acts as a virtual sticky note on the website. The team members can annotate and add feedbacks to the created annotations. These annotations created by PageProofer can be given priorities and be assigned to team members. One downside with PageProofer can be that it can only work as embeeded into the HTML code.
UseSnap lets user capture the screen and annotate on the captures. It also can be used as a bug tracking and feedback tool. UserSnap has wide range of integrations available, such as Trello and Slack integration. Annotations created by using UserSnap can be assigned to team members and given priorities.
ZipBoard enables adding annotations just by entering the URL to the website. All team members can annotate in collaboration, then track these annotations as issues and assign them to team members. Tags and priorities can be added to the annotations created by using ZipBoard. ZipBoard also has a wide range of integrations available, such as JIRA and Slack integrations.
Diigo provides a personal library that all annotations on websites and PDF can be saved while browsing. These annotations can then be sharedi bookmarked and archived. Diigo works as an extension and offers business plans where collaboration features available.
