Since 1998, more than 40 W3C Recommendations have been issued. XML, notably the most important of this group, has served as the basis for many of these specifications, collectively known as the XML family of standards. This session begins with a brief overview of the types of standards that newcomers will encounter. Of course there are the Recommendations of the W3C. There are also specifications by industry groups such as IDEAlliance, Docbook.org, OASIS, UN-EDIFACT, Air Transport Association, Society of Automotive Engineers and many more. Then there is a set of specifications that come from open developer communities. And finally there are the "standards" set by vendors.

The primary focus of this session will be to help the attendee organize and gain a basic familiarity with the key specifications that work with XML. The approach will be to separate specifications based on their origin and their role. The Recommendations of W3C will be the primary focus. The speaker will organize these specifications by the domain of W3C where each specification originated. So for example, the style sheet specifications will be discussed together as these were all developed out of the Document Formats domain of W3C. And XML, XML Schemas, Web Services, and the DOM will be discussed together as these were all developed out of the Architecture domain of W3C. XML Encryption, XML Key, XML Signature, and the Semantic Web will be grouped as these originated within the Society and Technology domain of W3C. This presentation will briefly highlight other important standards activities, including those of IDEAlliance, OASIS, ISO and NISO as well.