Optimising metadata workflows in a distributed information environment

1
Optimising metadata workflows ina distributed
information environment

• R. John Robertson Jane BartonCentre for
  Digital Library ResearchUniversity of
  Strathclyde, UK

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Overview

• Introductions definitions
• Metadata, workflow optimisation
• Diversity the distributed information
  environment
• Models and frameworks
• Generic models repositories, objects metadata
• Existing models frameworks
• Developing a metadata lifecycle model
• Using the metadata lifecycle model tooptimise
  workflow
• Moving forward

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Metadata, workflow optimisation

• Metadata good quality metadata metadata that
  meets repository requirements
• Metadata workflow quality assured metadata by
  design metadata creation QA processes
  designed to meet repository requirements with
  available resources
• Metadata workflow optimisation refining
  metadata workflow to improve quality enhance
  metadata
• Critical to functionality, interoperability
  sustainability of repositories

4
Optimising metadata workflow
Barton, J. Robertson, R.J. Designing workflows
for quality assured metadata. CETIS Metadata
Digital Repositories SIG Meeting, Edinburgh, 10th
March 2005.
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Diversity the dIE

• In the wider environment, there is considerable
  diversity
• of purpose
• of metadata requirements
• of metadata creation processes priorities
• Diversity presents challenges for
  interoperability between repositories
• Diversity also offers potential for refinement of
  metadata workflow among repositories
• Assumes/requires persistent object identifiers

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Optimising metadata workflow in the dIE

• Workflow optimisation requires a model of the dIE
• to facilitate strategic partnerships
• to inform allocation of resources
• to foster holistic approach to creation,
  augmentation enhancement of metadata
• To achieve this, two conditions must be met
• local workflow must be articulated
• local workflow must be placed in context of
  wider environment

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Reference models for workflow optimisation

• Ecology of repositories
• provides a typology of repositories associated
  services
• models the relationships between them between
  their domains
• Object lifecycle model
• profiles objects within repositories their
  movement, transformation adaptation within the
  dIE
• Metadata lifecycle model
• profiles metadata within repositories its
  movement, augmentation enhancement within the
  dIE

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Existing models frameworks

• Existing models that relate to (parts of) the
  reference models
• the E-Learning Framework
• McLean Blincos cosmic view
• the JISC Information Environment
• CORDRA
• the work of Gonçalves et al

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The E-Learning Framework (ELF)

• A common approach to service oriented
  architectures for education via
• a definitional model of service components
• standards tools to support their
  interoperability
• Addresses a specific domain provides a typology
  of functions within that domain
• (The E-Learning Framework. http//www.elframework.
  org)

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McLean Blincos cosmic view

• A service domain typology of repositories
• more comprehensive than ELF but less detailed
• highlights potential for cross-domain approach
• identifies need for better articulation of
  context methodologies to deal with complex
  contextual issues
• (McLean, N. The ecology of repository services a
  cosmic view. ECDL, 2004. http//www.ecdl2004.org/p
  resentations/mclean/)

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The JISC Information Environment

• Provides convenient access to a comprehensive
  collection of scholarly educational materials
• can be viewed as a specific implementation of ELF
• provides a superstructure to inform co-ordinate
  technical infrastructure development
• focuses on technical solutions to support
  structural syntactical interoperability
• taking a lead in addressing unresolved issues in
  the object lifecycle
• (JISC. Strategic activities Information
  Environment.2004. http//www.jisc.ac.uk/about_inf
  o_env.html)

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CORDRA

• Enables access to wide range of learning object
  repositories through federated searching
• high common denominator for participating LORs
• creates community of repositories behind
  interoperability boundary
• assumes federation as method of interaction, with
  metadata integration rather than
  interoperability, so little potential for
  metadata workflow optimisation
• (Kraan,W. Mason,J. Issues in federating
  repositories a report on the first
  International CORDRA Workshop. D-Lib Magazine,
  11(3), 2005.)

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Gonçalves et als 5S

• Complex formal taxonomy of repositories
• comprehensively catalogues repositories from five
  perspectives
• engages with all three reference models but does
  not engage with interactions offers only a
  static view
• (Goncalves,M.A. et al. Streams, structures,
  spaces, Scenarios, societies (5S) a formal model
  for digital libraries. ACM Transactions on
  Information Systems, 22(2), 2004.)

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Existing models frameworks

• In general, existing models
• address structural syntactic interactions to a
  degree but do not address semantic interactions
• provide voices, vocabularies grammar for
  repositories
• could usefully be extended to profile not only
  what repositories do but how they might interact
  with each other

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Developing a metadata lifecycle model

• A metadata lifecycle model (MLM) must
• include profiles of each repositorys metadata,
  ideally at element level, more realistically in
  terms of structure, semantics syntax
• distinguish between local requirements those of
  the wider community
• enable clusters of similar repositories to be
  identified relationships established
• include processes carried out as a result of
  these relationships, formal or informal

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Components of the model
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Using the MLM to optimise workflow

• MLM enables repositories to optimise workflow by
• exploiting known metadata sources elsewhere in
  the dIE via intelligent import or harvesting
• exploiting formal metadata relationships between
  repositories services via negotiation
  establishment of minimum standards
• provides a framework for assessing the
  cost/benefit of eg implementing particular
  metadata elements or participating in consortia

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Using the MLM example

• The NSDL is a centralised service harvesting
  metadata from multiple sources
• breaks harvested metadata into elements assigns
  provenance metadata to them
• creates optimum records by combining metadata
  elements from various sources
• creates metadata profiles of sources to enable
  these processes to be automated
• demonstrates that metadata workflow optimisation
  intelligent harvesting can yield real benefits

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Using the MLM use cases

• LOR using LOM wants to harvest metadata records,
  has crosswalks mappings for structure syntax,
  seeks repositories with similar semantic approach
• federated search service wants to dynamically
  select search targets that can support MESH
• departmental repository enhances its metadata
  byre-harvesting general subject terms from its
  IR specialist subject terms from a subject
  repository
• centralised service augments metadata
  automatically original source re-harvests
  improved record

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Moving forward

• In context of rapid repository development with
  limited resources, must use available resources
  as effectively as possible
• Optimising metadata workflow across the dIE can
  enable repositories to
• expand element sets without compromising on
  quality
• expand functionality
• improve ingest processes
• support more automatic metadata transformation
  enhancement

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Moving forward

• Development of the MLM to support metadata
  workflow optimisation requires
• standard way of profiling repositories at
  repository, object metadata level
• integration with registry projects for
  repositories, standards, application profiles
  vocabularies
• at individual repository level, a method for the
  design of metadata workflows that makes reference
  to exploits workflows elsewhere in the dIE

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Optimising metadata workflow
Barton, J. Robertson, R.J. Designing workflows
for quality assured metadata. CETIS Metadata
Digital Repositories SIG Meeting, Edinburgh, 10th
March 2005.