Why standards matter

Abstract

When the portal editors suggested I coordinate a regular feature focussing on standards I was enthusiastic. Standards are too often an afterthought rather than a starting point, so I welcome the opportunity to explain - over time, to a wide and influential audience - why standards must be front and center, rather than on the periphery. My plan for this feature is to begin with an overview of the standards landscape, and in subsequent features to invite practitioners to tell their standards stories and explore the role of standards in a variety of contexts. Standards have a reputation for being mind-numbing and making the eyes glaze over. Life experience has taught me, however, that any topic, no matter how fascinating, can have that same effect. So, I make no apologies for standards. The story is all in the telling and I will do my best to hold your interest. Copyright © 2001 by The Johns Hopkins University Press.