UKOLN Metadata Projects: Subject Gateways and Preservation Metadata

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UKOLN Metadata Projects Subject Gateways and
Preservation Metadata

• Michael DayUKOLN, University of
  Bathm.day_at_ukoln.ac.uk
• Electronic Resources Definition, Selection and
  Cataloguing,Rome, 26-28 November 2001

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Presentation overview

• This presentation
• Will describe some of the many collaborative
  projects in which UKOLN is a partner
• Subject gateways
• Resource Discovery Network (RDN)
• Renardus project
• Digital preservation metadata
• Cedars project

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Subject gateways
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Subject gateways (1)

• Definitions (Koch, 2000)
• Quality-controlled subject gateways
• Support systematic resource discovery of Internet
  resources
• Collection development management (e.g.,
  published selection criteria)
• Rich resource description (metadata)
• Enhanced subject access, e.g.
• browsing subject classification hierarchies
• use of controlled vocabularies for subject
  indexing
• Use of standards

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Subject gateways (2)

• Early developments
• SOSIG (Social Science Information Gateway) set up
  in 1994
• UK Electronic Libraries (eLib) Programme
• Funded some gateway services EEVL, OMNI, SOSIG,
  etc.
• Also software and support ROADS project
• Wider European developments
• EELS (Engineering Electronic Library Sweden)
• DutchESS (Dutch Electronic Subject Service)
• The DESIRE projects (Telematics for Research)

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RDN (1)

• The Resource Discovery Network
• A UK service
• Funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee
  (JISC)
• Launched in November 1999
• http//www.rdn.ac.uk/

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RDN (2)

• Objectives
• To extend coverage to subject areas not covered
  by the original eLib gateways
• To integrate access to existing gateways
• To develop subject based portals for educational
  communities
• To establish new organisational and business
  models (for sustainability)

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RDN structure (1)

• RDN Centre (RDNC) -
• Part of JISCs DNER (Distributed National
  Distributed Resource) Office
• Roles
• Promoting and developing the network
• Establishing frameworks to ensure quality,
  consistency, and interoperability across the RDN
• Presenting gateways in various views to exploit
  their interdisciplinary and cross-sectoral value

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RDN structure (2)

• RDN Hubs -
• Faculty-level (for higher education)
• Some based on eLib subject gateways, others newly
  established
• Made up of one or more gateways
• Catalogue resources using a variety of metadata
  schema
• Offer gateway data for a central cross-searching
  service

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RDN structure (3)

• Current hubs
• Biome (health life sciences)
• EEVL (computing, engineering mathematics)
• Humbul (arts humanities)
• PSIgate (physical sciences)
• SOSIG (social sciences, business law)
• In development
• Altis (tourism, leisure hospitality)
• Creative arts industries
• Environment geography

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RDN ResourceFinder

• RDN provides a central broker service that gives
  access to resource descriptions in all gateways
• Simple cross-search
• Previous versions based on Whois and Z39.50
  protocols - performance issues
• Current version is based on sharing records
  through the OAI (Open Archives Initiative)
  protocol
• Single search box interface ...

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RDN interoperability

• Cataloguing guidelines
• Defines mandatory fields, schemes and qualifiers
• Draft rules for content based on DCMES
• Minimum set includes Title, Subject,
  Description, Type, Identifier and Language.
• Shared list of types
• Common subject approach for cross-browsing
• co-operation with Renardus and HILT

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Renardus project (1)

• General information
• Renardus Academic Subject Gateway Service Europe
• IST programme (FP5)
• 12 partners from 7 European countries led by the
  National Library of the Netherlands (KB)
• January 2000 - June 2002
• http//www.renardus.org/

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Renardus project (2)

• Objectives
• To build upon existing European subject gateway
  activity
• Services
• e.g., DAINet, DutchESS, EELS, NOVAgate, FVL, RDN,
  SSG-FI gateways, etc.
• Support
• e.g., ROADS, DESIRE, IMesh collaboration, etc.
• Development of pilot broker service
• Sustainability through collaboration

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Renardus project (3)

• Main background issues
• Architecture for broker service
• Technical standards and solutions
• Data model (metadata schema)
• WP led by Goettingen State and University Library
• Based on Dublin Core
• Organisational and business issues
• Sustainability, branding, IPR, etc.
• Metadata sharing

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Renardus pilot (1)

• Cross-search
• Based on implementation of the Z39.50 protocol
• Renardus profile
• Common data model, based on DCMES
• Title (M), Title.Alternative (O), Creator (R),
  Description (M), Subject (M), Subject with scheme
  Renardus-DDC (M), Identifier (M), Language (R),
  Type (R), Country (R)
• Various schemes defined
• ISO 639-2 (Language), ISO 3166-1 (Country)
• Allows for advanced searching

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Renardus pilot (2)

• Cross-browsing
• Dewey Decimal Classification used as a switching
  language
• DDC terms mapped to the subject schemes used by
  local gateways
• OCLC Forest Press research license
• Mapping report and guidelines published (2001)
• Mapping for most partner gateways completed by
  Autumn 2001

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Renardus other issues

• Sustainability of service
• organisation
• business model
• Looking to the future
• Metadata sharing
• Classification mapping

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Digital preservation metadata
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Digital preservation (1)

• The problem
• ... ensuring that digital information of
  continuing value remains accessible and usable -
  (Hedstrom, 1998)
• about access, not just long-term storage
• is a technical problem
• but is also a huge organisational and managerial
  problem

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Digital preservation (2)

• Preservation strategies
• Technology preservation - museums of hardware and
  software
• Emulation
• Migration
• All strategies depend to some extent on the
  creation and maintenance of metadata

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Preservation metadata

• Metadata is an important part of any digital
  preservation strategy
• Within a digital repository, metadata
  accompanies and makes reference to each digital
  object and provides associated descriptive,
  structural, administrative, rights management,
  and other kinds of information. (Lynch, 1999)
• http//www.dlib.org/dlib/september99/09lynch.html

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The OAIS model (1)

• Reference Model for an Open Archival Information
  System (OAIS)
• Consultative Committee on Space Data Systems
  (CCSDS)
• Red Book, Issue 2 (June 2001)
• Establishes a common framework of terms and
  concepts which comprise an OAIS
• Facilitates the description and comparison of
  archives
• A basis for further standardisation (ISO DIS
  14721)
• A basis for conformance

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The OAIS model (2)
Preservation Planning
CONSUMER
PRODUCER
Descriptive info.
Data Management
Descriptive info.
Access
queries
Ingest
result sets
SIP
orders
Archival Storage
AIP
AIP
DIP
Administration
MANAGEMENT
OAIS Functional Model (Figure 4-1)
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The OAIS model (3)

• Information Package (e.g., an AIP)
• Content Information
• The information that is the primary object of
  preservation. Containing a Digital Object and any
  Representation Information (technical metadata)
  needed to transform this object into meaningful
  information
• Preservation Description Information (PDI)
• other information which will allow the
  understanding of the Content Information over an
  indefinite period of time
• Terms defined in CPA/RLG report (1996)

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The OAIS model (4)
Preservation Description Information
Preservation Description Information
Reference Information
Provenance Information
Context Information
Fixity Information
OAIS Information Package Taxonomy (Figure 4-14)
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Cedars project

• CURL Exemplars in Digital Archives
• Led by the Consortium of University Research
  Libraries (CURL)
• Funded by the JISC, initially as part of phase 3
  of the eLib Programme
• First phase, 1998-2001
• Extension, to March 2002
• Main partners Universities of Cambridge, Leeds
  and Oxford support from UKOLN for the work on
  metadata
• http//www.leeds.ac.uk/cedars/

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Cedars metadata (1)

• Review of preservation metadata initiatives
  (1998)
• Draft metadata schema (2000)
• Adopted OAIS as framework
• Included
• Content Information (including Representation
  Information)
• Preservation Description Information

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Cedars project (3)

• Preservation Description Information
• Reference Information
• Resource Description
• Title, Creator, etc.
• Reference labels
• Existing metadata
• Context Information
• Reason for Preservation
• Related Information Objects

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Cedars project (4)

• Provenance Information
• History of Origin
• Management History
• Use History
• Known Operating Environments
• Rights Management
• Fixity Information
• Checksum

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Cedars project (5)

• Project extension
• practical focus
• dissemination
• guidance documents on various topics (including
  preservation metadata)
• workshop
• CAMiLEON
• JISC/NSF International Digital Libraries
  Programme
• testing emulation strategies

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OCLC/RLG working groups

• Preservation Metadata Working Group
• White Paper - Preservation metadata for digital
  objects a review of the state of the art (March
  2001)
• Cedars, NEDLIB NLA
• Content Information (October 2001)
• PDI (still under discussion)
• Digital Archive Attributes Working Group
• Draft paper - Attributes of a trusted digital
  repository (August 2001)
• http//www.oclc.org/digitalpreservation/

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UKOLN

• UKOLN is funded by Resource the Council for
  Museums, Archives Libraries (the organisation
  that succeeded the Library and Information
  Commission), the Joint Information Systems
  Committee (JISC) of the UK higher and further
  education funding councils, as well as by project
  funding from the JISC and the European Union.
  UKOLN also receives support from the University
  of Bath where it is based.
• http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/