Digital Library in a Box
Ming Luo, Hussein Suleman,
Edward Fox
Virginia Tech
Subcontract to Collaborative Project
led by University of Florida
(also with NCSA at UIUC)
List of DL in a Box components (1)
Name
Source
Status
Description
IRDB Search
Engine
VT
Available
A search engine based on an OAI-accessible data archive, with a pseudo-OAI (ODLSearch) interface for submitting queries and
retrieving results.
DBBrowse
Browse Engine
VT
Available
A indexing system to partition a data source by multiple categories(flat and
hierarchical) based on the metadata, where the data source is an OAI or ODL archive
and the interface to request subsets of the data is pseudo-OAI (ODL-Browse). In
effect, this provides a mechanism to browse based on categories in the metadata.
OAI/ODL
Harvester
VT
Available
Harvest data from one or more archives. This is a template that does nothing useful
besides printing the records to stdout - it is intended that the Harvester class will be
subclassed to perform more useful functions.
OAIB
NCSA
Available
OAIB (Open Archives "in a box") is a component for exporting metadata stored in a
relational database management system (RDBMS) over the Open Archives Initiative
protocol for metadata harvesting.
DBUnion
Archive Merger
Component
VT
Available
Merge together different OAI-accessible archives into a single
archive for local storage and processing, with a pseudo-OAI (ODL-Union) interface
for access.
List of DL in a Box components (2)
XML Filebased OAI
Data Provider
VT
Available
This is a data provider module that operates over a set of
XML files which contain the metadata. The requirements are
meant to require a minimal effort while retaining all the
flexibility of the OAI protocol
OAI-PMH2
Data provider
VT
Available
This toolkit implements the skeleton of the OAI-PMH v2.0 in
an object-oriented fashion, thus hiding the details of the
protocol from code that is derived from the predefined class.
Submit
Archive
Component
VT
Available
Archive with an almost standard OAI interface,
supplemented with one additional "PutRecord" verb to allow
addition, modification, and deletion of records. In effect, this
component creates an abstract view of a database by "filling
in the gaps" in the OAI protocol to make this possible.
WhatsNew
Engine
VT
Available
List a random sample of the most recently harvested records
from a specific OAI or ODL source.
Threaded
Annotation
Engine
VT
Available
Manage an archive of external annotations that may be
threaded and attached to arbitrary resources in a collection.
This may be used for feedback for items or for general
purpose discussions.
MDEdit XML
Schema-based
Metadata Editor
VT
Available
This is a data provider module that operates over a set of
XML files which contain the metadata. The requirements are
meant to require a minimal effort while retaining all the
flexibility of the OAI protocol.
List of DL in a Box components (3)
Grunk
NCSA
Available
Grunk (for GRammar UNderstanding Kernel) is a library for
parsing and extracting structured metadata from semistructured text formats. It is based on a very flexible parsing
engine capable of detecting a wide variety of patterns in text
formats and extracting information from them.
Recommend
Component
VT
Under
Development
To exploit the similarity among people and resources.
Recommend recourse to user based on those similarities.
Rate
Component
VT
Under
Development
Allow users to assign numerical ratings to an item, the
average of which is subsequently displayed to other users as a
trivial peer review mechanism.
Review
component
VT
Under
Development
This component use an appropriate set construction to allow
more efficient indexing of the review component’s data and to
generate metadata specifically filtered for particular users or
resources.
Autoclassification
component
VT
Under
Development
This component automatically classify the input metadata into
different categories so the user can browse the metadata.
filter
component
VT
Planned
This component acts as a filter when harvesting based on the
rules or result of classification.
DL-in-a-box -> OCKHAM
• Hussein Suleman’s dissertation on Open
Digital Libraries (ODL)
• Lightweight protocols: OAI -> XOAI
• Components: Digital library construction
by connecting selected elements from pool
• Add idea of lightweight reference models
• Add peer-to-peer communication
Needs addressed by
the OCKHAM Project
• The NSDL has extraordinary resources and
services for scientific education.
• However, there has been limited integration and
deployment of NSDL into the traditional library
community - a valuable dissemination channel.
• Learning communities would realize many
benefits from a coordinated set of networked
services for dissemination of NSDL resources
through traditional library protocols.
OCKHAM Project Goals
1. Reference Model Development
2. Middleware and Testbed Services
Development
3. Evaluation
4. Dissemination and Networking
OCKHAM Library Network
• P2P network of interoperable web services
using:
– SOAP,
– WSDL,
– UDDI, and other protocols
• Project collaborators:
– Emory,
– Virginia Tech,
– Arizona, and
– Notre Dame (soon to include Oregon State)
OCKHAM Library Network
NSDL
Services
NSDL
OCKHAM
Library
Network
OCKHAM
Services
Library
Services
Teachers
Learners
Librarians
OCKHAM Testbed Services
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
…
Interoperation Service
OAI-PMH-to-Z39.50 Searching Service
Alerting Service
Browsing Service
Conversion Service
Cataloging Service
Pathfinding Service