Metadata and interoperability:

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Metadata and interoperability
The use of standards in the Resource Discovery
Network (RDN)
Michael Day UKOLN the UK Office for Library and
Information Networking University of
Bath m.day_at_ukoln.ac.uk http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/
Seminar Interoperability by Crossbrowsing
Subject Based Information Gateways, Oslo, 21
November 2000.
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Presentation outline

• A brief historical overview
• The eLib subject gateways and the ROADS project
• The Resource Discovery Network (RDN)

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SOSIG

• Social Science Information Gateway
• One of the first UK gateways (1994)
• Funded as a pilot project by the ESRC
• Based at the Centre for Computing in Economics
  (now Institute of Learning and Research
  Technology), University of Bristol
• A model for the development of other gateways

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Follett Report

• Joint Funding Councils Libraries Review Group
  (December 1993)
• Report commissioned by all four UK higher
  education funding councils
• Chaired by Sir Brian Follett
• Recommendation (one of many)
• JISC should fund the development of a limited
  number of top level networking tools in the UK to
  encourage the growth of local subject access
  tools and information servers

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eLib Programme

• Follett Implementation Group on Information
  Technology (FIGIT)
• Electronic Libraries Programme (eLib)
• 1995-2001
• Funded by Joint Information Systems Committee
  (JISC)
• 3 phases, funded 100 projects grouped together
  in various programme areas
• Programme area for Access to Networked
  Resources projects

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eLib subject gateways (1)

• The eLib-funded projects
• ADAM - Art, Design, Architecture and Media
• Biz/ed - Business education
• EEVL - Engineering
• History (previously IHR-Info)
• OMNI - Biomedical sciences
• SOSIG - Social sciences
• ROADS - enabling software and support

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eLib subject gateways (2)

• Main functions
• Serve specific communities - usually
  subject-based
• Select Internet resources according to
  pre-defined quality criteria
• Create resource descriptions (metadata)
• Display both search and browse interfaces
• Use of subject classification schemes and
  controlled vocabularies, links to thesauri

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OMNI interface (1998)
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ROADS project

• Resource Organisation and Discovery in
  Subject-based services
• Partners
• Department of Computer Studies, Loughborough
  University
• Institute of Learning and Research Technology
  (ILRT), University of Bristol
• UKOLN
• http//www.ilrt.bris.ac.uk/roads/

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ROADS objectives

• Main project objectives
• To develop a configurable software toolkit for
  distributed resource discovery services
• To support subject gateways (and interoperability
  between them) with other tools and guidelines
• To implement and test relevant standards
• To enable Web page authors to describe their own
  resources and supply this metadata to gateways

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ROADS standards (1)

• Metadata format
• ROADS/IAFA templates
• A metadata format based on IAFA (Internet
  Anonymous FTP Archive) templates
• Internet-Draft
• Simple
• Text based
• Pragmatic choice

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ROADS standards (2)

• Search protocol
• Whois search and retrieve protocol
• Internet standard (RFC)
• Simple (lightweight)
• Cross-searching across distributed services
• Query routing (centroids)

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ROADS interoperability

• Guidelines
• Template Registry
• Cataloguing guidelines
• Metadata mappings
• IAFA templates / USMARC / Dublin Core
• Experimental Z39.50/Whois gateway
• Project involvement in wider standardisation
  initiatives
• Dublin Core
• Resource Description Framework

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ROADS in use

• ROADS software toolkit still in use
• SOSIG
• Leeds University Library selected Web sites
• Finnish Virtual Library (FVL)
• Software still available
• Developed as an open-source software toolkit
• http//www.roads.lut.ac.uk/

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Taking eLib forwards ...

• Towards end of eLib funding
• A recognition that gateways were useful
• ... subject gateways have embedded themselves
  into professional practice very swiftly (1997)
• A need to consider sustainability
• Most gateways are not embedded in institutions
• Most gateways operate on a project basis,
  short-term funding, research culture
• Perceived to be in competition with each other
  and with private sector suppliers

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The RDN

• Resource Discovery Network
• Funded by the JISC
• Launched in November 1999
• Objectives
• To extend coverage to areas not covered by the
  eLib gateways
• To integrate access
• To develop subject based portals for educational
  communities
• To establish new organisational and business
  models (sustainability)

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RDN structure
BIOME
Hubs
SOSIG
SOSIG
RDN
EEVL

• Humbul
• PSIgate
• Creative Artsand Industries
• ...

Centre
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RDN co-ordination

• Co-ordination
• Part of JISCs DNER (Distributed National
  Distributed Resource) Office
• Based at Kings College London, with additional
  support from UKOLN
• 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 hubs (1)

• Hubs
• Faculty-level (higher education)
• Some based on eLib subject gateways, others newly
  established
• Made up of one or more gateways
• Catalogue resources using a variety of schema
• Offer Z39.50 targets for a central
  cross-searching service
• Maximise potential for strategic partnerships and
  commercial arrangements within subject domains

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RDN hubs (2)

• Currently five faculty-level hubs

HUMBUL
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OMNI interface (2000)
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RDN broker service (1)

• RDN provides a central broker service that can
  access resource descriptions in all gateways
• Currently based on Whois cross-search
• Plan to move to a Z39.50 based broker using the
  Bath Profile
• http//www.nlc-bnc.ca/bath/
• Experiments with new architectures
• e.g., based on sharing records through
  interoperability agreements defined by the Open
  Archives Initiative (OAI)

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RDN broker service (2)
SOSIG
SOSIG
BIOME
RDN Broker ResourceFinder
Humbul
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RDN broker service (3)
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RDN interoperability

• Cataloguing guidelines
• 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
• Ambition to provide common subject approach for
  cross-browsing
• co-operation with HILT project and Renardus

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RDN sustainability

• RDN currently has over 20,000 manually created
  records
• 70 staff involved at about 30 UK institutions
  (many part-time)
• New hubs planned
• creative arts industries
• tourism, leisure hospitality
• environment geography
• Is the RDN model sustainable?

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DNER Portals

• Extending gateways
• in breadth and depth
• customised user search tools and user profiling
• integration with teaching and learning
• ... while retaining the existing strengths of
  subject gateways ...

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RDN collaboration

• Imesh
• Informal community largely based in Europe, the
  US and Australia
• Collaboration with projects
• Renardus European networked subject gateway
  pilot service
• IMesh toolkit architecture and toolkit for
  distributed subject gateways
• SCHEMAS Forum for metadata schema implementers

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Summing up

• ROADS
• Interoperability based on common metadata format
  (ROADS templates) and cross-searching via Whois
  protocol
• RDN
• More diversity in metadata formats - broadly
  DCMES or ROADS
• Current ResourceFinder based on Whois
  cross-search
• Broker based on Z39.50 using Bath Profile

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Further information (1)

• Resource Discovery Network (RDN)
• Funded by the Joint Information Systems Committee
  (JISC) of the UK higher and further education
  funding councils with support from the Economic
  and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Arts
  and Humanities Research Board (AHRB).
• http//www.rdn.ac.uk/

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Further information (2)

• UKOLN the UK Office for Library and Information
  Networking
• 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/