Metadata:%20SCHEMAS%20and%20other%20European%20projects

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Metadata SCHEMAS and other European projects

• Michael Day
• UKOLN the UK Office for Library and Information
  Networking, University of Bath
• m.day_at_ukoln.ac.uk
• First Austrian Metadata Seminar,
• Vienna, 18 May 2001

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Presentation overview

• European metadata developments
• Introduction to metadata
• Interoperability
• Subject gateways
• Resource Discovery Network
• Renardus project
• Digital preservation
• SCHEMAS Forum project overview

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An overview of European metadata developments
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What is metadata? (1)

• Definitions
• Data about data
• Structured data about resources that can be used
  to help support a wide range of operations, e.g.
  resource description and discovery, information
  management, digital preservation, etc.
• Term can be applied to descriptive data about
  both digital and non-digital resources
• Cross-domain

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What is metadata? (2)

• Large number of standards and formats in use,
  e.g.
• ISBD, MARC21,
• ISAD(G), EAD, RKMS
• CIMI DTD, AMICO
• MPEG-7, SMEF
• GILS, AGLS, FGDC CSDGM
• IMS, IEEE LOM
• OAIS
• UDDI
• Dublin Core, OAI

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Uses of metadata

• Resource description and discovery
• e.g. Dublin Core
• Many domain specific initiatives, e.g., for
  educational content, cultural heritage,
  Geospatial information, etc.
• Interoperability
• Information management
• e.g. rights management
• Long-term preservation

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Interoperability (1)

• Interoperability is at the heart of the Dublin
  Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI)
• Metadata crosswalks
• Library of Congress
• MARC21 to DC crosswalk
• Nordic Metadata Project
• DC and Nordic MARC mappings
• BIBLINK project (FP4)
• BIBLINK Core and UNIMARC mapping
• http//www.ukoln.ac.uk/metadata/interoperability/

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Interoperability (2)

• Development of broker systems
• UK
• MODELS initiative
• Agora project
• AHDS catalogue (arts and humanities)
• Telematics for Libraries (FP4) projects
• Aquarelle (cultural heritage)
• EULER (mathematics)
• DECOMATE II (European Digital Library for
  Economics)

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Subject gateways (1)

• Definition - based on Koch (2000)
• Internet services that support systematic
  resource discovery
• Provide links to resources (usually those
  accessible via the Internet)
• The service is largely based on human-created
  resource descriptions (metadata)
• The services allow both searching and browsing
  via a subject structure
• Serve specific communities - usually
  subject-based
• Services select Internet resources according to
  some pre-defined quality criteria
• http//www.lub.lu.se/traugott/OIR-SBIG.txt

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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 (sustainability)

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RDN structure (1)

• The 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)

• 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 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 Structure (3)

• The current Hubs
• Biome (medical and biological sciences)
• PSIgate (physical sciences)
• EEVL (engineering, computing and mathematics)
• Humbul (arts and humanities)
• SOSIG (social sciences)
• New hubs planned
• creative arts industries
• tourism, leisure hospitality
• environment geography

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RDN broker (1)

• RDN provides a central broker service that can
  access resource descriptions in all gateways
• Service currently based on Whois cross-search
• Moving 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 (2)
SOSIG
SOSIG
BIOME
RDN Broker ResourceFinder
Humbul
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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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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., EELS, NOVAgate, DutchESS, SSG-FI gateways,
  FVL, RDN, etc.
• Support
• e.g., DESIRE project, IMesh, 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 SUB Göttingen
• Based on Dublin Core
• Organisational and business issues
• Sustainability, branding, IPR, etc.
• Metadata sharing

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Renardus broker (1)

• Development of pilot broker
• Cross-search
• Based on Z39.50 cross search
• Renardus data model
• Cross-browsing
• based on mapping the Dewey Decimal Classification
  to all subject schemes used by local gateways
• Mapping guidelines published (2001)
• Evaluation

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Renardus broker (2)
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Preservation metadata (1)

• 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
  
• General metadata framework
• Reference Model for an Open Archival Information
  System (OAIS)

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Preservation metadata (2)

• OAIS Model - taxonomy
• Content Information
• Digital Object
• Representation Information
• Preservation Description Information
• Reference
• Context
• Provenance
• Fixity
• http//ssdoo.gsfc.nasa.gov/nost/isoas/ref_model.ht
  ml

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Preservation metadata (3)

• Library-based initiatives
• Mostly use the OAIS Model
• National Library of Australia
• NEDLIB project (Telematics for Libraries)
• Cedars project (eLib)
• RLG/OCLC Working Group on Preservation Metadata
• Recordkeeping initiatives, e.g.
• Australian Recordkeeping Metadata Schema (RKMS)

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IST projects overview

• COLLATE (Collaboratory for Annotation, Indexing
  and Retrieval of Digitized Historical Archive
  Material)
• COVAX (Contemporary Culture Virtual Archive in
  XML)
• ETB (The European Schools Treasury Browser)
• METAe (Metadata Engine)
• Renardus Academic Subject Gateway Service Europe
• SCHEMAS Forum for Metadata Schema implementers

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The SCHEMAS project

• Forum for Metadata Schema Implementers

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Partners

• PricewaterhouseCoopers Technology Consultants
  (PwC)
• German National Research Centre for Information
  Technology (GMD)
• UK Office for Library and Information Networking,
  University of Bath (UKOLN)

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Audience

• Who?
• Metadata schema designers
• Projects under the EUs IST programme (Multimedia
  Content and Tools) and national initiatives
• What for?
• Information, guidance and tools for the
  description of Web resources of all kinds
• Helping designers to use what is already there

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Domains

• Cultural heritage
• Publishing and rights management
• Audio-visual production and distribution
• Education

• Research
• Academic services
• Geospatial information
• Industry
• Other (e.g. Government)

• Not just Dublin Core
• No best way of doing things

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Needs

• General need for
• Standard methods for content description
• Multiplicity of schemas, mixing and matching
  general and specific sets
• But
• There is some duplication of effort, competition
  between standards and schemas
• Potential confusion for implementers

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Re-use

• Why re-use existing schemas?
• Not re-inventing wheels
• Potential use of standard tools
• Higher potential interoperability
• End result
• Reduction of cost, now and in the future
• Enlarging the potential audience
• Interoperability

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The information gap

• Metadata schemas already identified
• Over 200 implementation activities
• Around 90 standardisation activities
• Very different levels of information
• Conclusions
• Good information about schemas is badly needed
• Need for mutual understanding, hopefully leading
  to harmonisation

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SCHEMAS provides ...

• Information provision
• Metadata Watch Reports
• Standards Framework Reports
• Workshops
• Implementation of a SCHEMAS Forum Registry
• Schemas, application profiles, people, projects,
  standards, tools, guidelines

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SCHEMAS results

• Workshops (3)
• Bath, UK, June 2000
• Bonn, Germany, November 2000
• Budapest, Hungary, May 2001
• The Hague, Netherlands
• http//www.schemas-forum.org/workshops/
• Metadata Watch Reports (3)
• http//www.schemas-forum.org/metadata-watch/
• Standards Framework Reports (1)
• http//www.schemas-forum.org/stds-framework/

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SCHEMAS Registry

• Experience with prototype metadata registry
  developed by DESIRE II project
• The registry is the place to publish metadata
  schemas
• namespace schemas
• application profile schemas
• As well as other information about schemas, e.g.
• standards, projects, people, tools, etc.

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Thick registry
Namespace schema
App profile
Mapping
Thick Registry
Usage guide
Sample data
Software tools
Users
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Thin registry
Namespace schema
App profile
Mapping
Sample data
Usage guide
Thin Registry
Software tools
Users
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Registry approach

• The SCHEMAS registry is
• initially, a thick registry with schemas
  registered at a central location
• it will be able to develop into a thin registry
  in the future, with pointers to distributed
  schemas on the Web
• The technical basis is
• RDF Schemas
• EOR toolkit

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EOR Toolkit
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Registry functions

• Registration
• schemas from European projects and initiatives
• information and reviews from SCHEMAS domain
  correspondents (Metadata Watch)
• Searching
• Finding application profiles for re-use
• Finding related information and guidance

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Application profiles

• What is an application profile?
• a schema identifying the use of elements from one
  or more namespaces in a particular application,
  with additional constraints
• What is it used for?
• To publish this information for a human audience
• To help software configure
• http//www.ariadne.ac.uk/issue25/app-profiles/

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SCHEMAS Contacts

• Makx Dekkers
• mail_at_makxdekkers.com
• Rachel Heery
• r.m.heery_at_ukoln.ac.uk
• Tom Baker
• thomas.baker_at_gmd.de
• Web site
• http//www.schemas-forum.org/

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SCHEMAS Web site
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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/