VREs: Are portals the right way?

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VREs Are portals the right way?

• Graham Klyne
• Research Technology Service
• Oxford University Computing Service
• ltgraham.klyne_at_oucs.ox.ac.ukgt

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Where I am Coming From

• Commercial software development
• Internet and Web standards
• Supporting genetic research in Oxford
  Universitys Zoology department

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VRE ! VLE
Knowledge
VRE
VLE
Knowledge
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VRE ! VLE

• Scaling requirements
• how many users?
• Information source requirements
• what range of sources?
• Social dynamics researchers vs students
• researchers will have clear ideas of what is
  important in their work
• working with established patterns

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DTGED Experimental Data Flows
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Portal technology

• Portal approach developed for VLEs?
• Integration of presentation, not data

One night, a neighbor strolling by Nasrudin's
house found him outside under the street lamp
brushing through the dust. "Have you lost
something, my friend?" he asked. Nasrudin
explained that he had lost his key and asked the
neighbor to help him find it. After some minutes
of searching and turning up nothing, the neighbor
asked him, "Are you sure you lost the key here?"
"No, I did not lose it here. I lost it inside the
house," Nasrudin answered. "If you lost the key
in the house, Nasrudin, why are you looking for
it out here?" "Well, there's more light out here,
of course," Nasrudin replied.
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Another approach
External datasets and services
RSS/ATOM feed
Local processes and datasets
Display/query

• RSS/ATOM used to carry spine metadata
• Combine raw data, not presentation
• Agility small pieces, loosely coupled
• Use existing widely-deployed tools and standards