Questions

Aren't syllabi too random for xml?

Syllabi vary widely in their structure. They are, after all, just documents. Trying to create generalized schema for unstructured documents is a famously bad idea. So, is this project doomed?

We would rather have a workable, simple schema than an unworkable, complete one. We believe the right way forward is to try to capture only particular types of information that are typical of syllabi, while leaving room for encapsulating the rest.

One of the fields captured can be a pointer to the online home of the entire syllabus. Another could be a blob for encapsulating a complete representation of the syllabus as, for example, a pdf.

Aren't syllabi copyrighted?

Sure. Everything humans fix in a medium is copyrighted by default, pretty much. There's no problem with creating a schema for copyrighted materials.

Further, SylliXml (at least so far) focuses on information within a syllabus that (arguably) is not copyrightable. Information itself cannot be copyrighted, although its expression can be. So, the fact that a course meets at a certain time or is within a certain department is not copyrightable. The list of readings is possibly not copyrightable, although the fact that it is a curated list might mean otherwise.

SylliXml should contain a license field.

But, you're probably worrying about whether there will be any use for SylliXml. We think there well might be. Some universities might want to adopt an open syllabus policy that creates a repository of syllabi for public access. SylliXml could make such repositories more useful. There may be commercial projects that want to aggregate syllabi, and that have made suitable arrangements.