WebServices is like a CareerLanguage. There are always enhancements, see for example 
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/wse/html/gxaconmajorfeaturesofwebservicesenhancements.asp

Start with an overview. Try http://webservices.xml.com/lpt/a/ws/2002/02/12/webservicefaqs.html.
and 
http://internet.about.com/library/aa_webservices_031202.htm?terms=soap+toolkit

And since WebServices started before Soap, get to know a bit of RestArchitecturalStyle and XmlRpc as well.
* ''Building WebServices the REST way''  http://www.xfront.com/REST-Web-Services.html
* See also KissWebServices

''For people interested in book reading, a sample WebServices chapter from "Semantics in Business Systems" is available at http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/searchWebServices/downloads/McComb_13.pdf

Next get to know a bit about related standards. Interview on standards is located at http://searchwebservices.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid26_gci1000776,00.html 
* And perhaps check out WebServicesSpecifications

Get to know a bit about WebServicesDescriptionLanguage (WSDL), which is used to describe the details of a WebService available to be linked up.

Learn a bit about SimpleObjectAccessProtocol (Soap), check out IwannaLearnSoap.
* OTOH, there are higher performing XmlRpc, or simpler HTTP based RestArchitecturalStyle alternatives available. See http://www.developer.com/services/print.php/1383941

Security is hot these days, so visit WebServicesSecurity.

Now check out about Redmonds recommendation for beginners, at http://msdn.microsoft.com/webservices/understanding/webservicebasics/default.aspx

Interested in seeing how other people do it? See result and code at http://www.xmlme.com/GoogleApi.aspx

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'''Free book online'''

''Real World Web Services'' at http://www.learnxmlws.com/book/

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For a handson setup, I would suggest get the Microsoft SoapToolkit going and work through a few simple samples. See http://groups.google.com/groups?th=935336380e3de7a0 for a discussion on experiences in usenet. Any better suggestions?

* OReilly site example using SoapToolkit and VbClassic at 

* An MS example of Soap messaging with ADO recordset is located at http://www.xml.com/pub/a/2000/07/12/soap/mssoaptutorial.htmlhttp://msdn.microsoft.com/archive/default.asp?url=/archive/en-us/dnarxml/html/soapguide_ado.asp

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RubyOnRails, a popular framework, has a fairly unique approach to web services. On the one hand, the sites that Rails generates are RESTful in many ways. The entire url-to-action "routes" paradigm ensures this. At the same time, it also offers a trivially simple mapping between XML-RPC (and SOAP) and Ruby classes. This helps ensure code reuse. Since the code you use to build your XML-RPC or SOAP backend is often the same code you use to build your RESTful website. 

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