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their learning or how they might be reflecting on the content by using a portfolio. The shiftfrom proprietary teaching materials and tools to a Web based and multipurpose usage ofdifferent kinds of resources, such as a digital archive, is, however, to the purpose. Forexample, the notion of “resource-based teaching” might be useful to elaborate since itseems to signify a convergence of pedagogy and research, by offering solutions whereresources might be separated from their manifold and involves highly changeable uses. 38On the relation between research and educational practices – scholarly usesof digital archivesAbove I have argued that there is a need for archives of content modules on the web - easyto share, to navigate, and to combine and reuse in new contexts. If such archives are to bebeneficial in various educational settings, and if they are to stimulate freedom of choice inhigher education, it is crucial that the content is adapted to emerging internationalagreements and standards on mark-up languages and metadata. Else, the content will belocked into proprietary platforms and applications. My aim is therefore grounded in astandpoint on the benefits of multiple uses of digital content and flexible content design, ofe.g. original sources and research material in higher education, as an important alternativeto teaching materials which are predefined and predestined for specific courses orsituations. Then, the question here is; how might teachers and students benefit fromemerging mark-up and metadata recommendations and standards?My standpoint incorporates an notion of student learning and working which is more alikeresearch. 39 That is: to provide opportunities for students to find “[...] a closerapproximation of the thing itself” 40 . While confronting a wholly or partially unknown“body of knowledge” 41 is a challenge in reality for many teachers and researchers, thesituation is opposite for many students in higher education, a challenge which is effectivelyavoided by an extensive emphasis on syllabi. I want to emphasize that I am not advocatinga “teacher-less education” or something alike. On the contrary, the teacher’s role should bestrengthened by giving opportunities to teach in a context reminding of research work. Theteacher might provide judicious points of departure, suggest possible strategies, and guidestudents in their exploration of content and materials.In a situation when educational systems and resources proliferate, the need forstandardization becomes apparent. Like in any standard driven initiatives, standardizationapplied to educational settings and research is focused towards enabling, reusing andinteroperability among heterogeneous computer platforms and software systems. Toachieve this, consensus is needed on a number of issues e.g. architectures, services,protocols, data models, classification schemes and interoperability between differentstandards - whether they are de facto or established by the ISO standardisationorganisation. This is an active, continuously evolving process that will last for years tocome and a complex process, which occurs at several levels and is supported by manydifferent related and standalone initiatives.Among the most important general standardization efforts when it comes to mark-uplanguages and metadata, which has to serve as the prerequisite for research and educationalpractices described in this paper, are SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language, ISO38 See e.g. Chambers, 2000, Spaeth & Cameron, 2000.39 Cf. Broady, 1995; 1997; 2001, Bourdieu 1996a&b, Illich, 1970 & Flanders, 2002. Although inspiration hasbeen gained through readings of disparate texts and authors I here focuses discussions on the usage of contentor teaching material although the issue is somewhat differently argued and discussed40 Flanders, 2002:50.41 Ibid.pm-030505.doc utkast avh.pm. Monica Langerth Zetterman 9(34)