1. A computer-readable storage media embodying a schema comprising: multiple nodes arranged in a hierarchical structure, wherein the hierarchical structure describes a peripheral device's properties and capabilities; wherein individual nodes are associated with device properties or data values, wherein one property node comprises a device information node that pertains to data that is associated with the device, and wherein the device information node comprises a child manufacturer node associated with a device manufacturer; and wherein the schema is protocol-independent allowing one or more standardized schema queries to be constructed by one or more devices to query the peripheral device for information associated with its properties and capabilities, wherein each of the one or more schema queries is defined by the schema, at least one schema query being directed to discovering a particular data value by having syntax identifying the particular data value.