> I assume most authors don't actually format their documents by selecting a > font size for every single heading and so on.
This is a tempting assumption to make, especially if you come from computer science / maths / physics and related disciplines (as I do). But my experience in the life sciences is that authors do 'paint' their manuscripts by hand, painstakingly selecting the font and format for every bit of their document. Even using the 'semantic' features of wordprocessors (such as 'Heading 1') is something that's not commonplace. So before we get too carried away with expecting people to write HTML / LaTex or even markup, we'll need to take into account the working practises of the vast majority of academics outside of the more 'semantically aware' bits of science. > They work in a format that utilizes semantically meaningful information about > the work: to identify a title, headings, math blocks, illustrations, plots, > etc. No, they really don't. I wish they did. But, outside of a certain area of science, they don't. Steve
