Designing an automated prototype tool for preservation quality metadata extraction for ingest into digital repository

We present a viable framework for the automated extraction of preservation quality metadata, which is adjusted to meet the needs of, ingest to digital repositories. It has three distinctive features: wide coverage, specialisation and emphasis on quality. Wide coverage is achieved through the use of a distributed system of tool repositories, which helps to implement it over a broad range of document object types. Specialisation is maintained through the selection of the most appropriate metadata extraction tool for each case based on the identification of the digital object genre. And quality is sustained by introducing control points at selected stages of the workflow of the system. The integration of these three features as components in the ingest of material into digital repositories is a defining step ahead in the current quest for improved management of digital resources

Long term digital preservation

The field of digital preservation is being defined by a set of standards developed top-down, starting with an abstract reference model (OAIS) and gradually adding more specific detail. Systems claiming conformance to these standards are entering production use. Work is underway to certify that systems conform to requirements derived from OAIS. The fundamental goal of these systems is to ensure that the information they contain remains accessible for the long term. We develop a parallel set of requirements based on observations of how existing systems handle this task, and on an analysis of the threats to achieving that goal. On this basis we suggest disclosures that systems should provide as to how they satisfy their goals

Pathways: Augmenting interoperability across scholarly repositories

In the emerging eScience environment, repositories of papers, datasets, software, etc., should be the foundation of a global and natively-digital scholarly communications system. The current infrastructure falls far short of this goal. Cross-repository interoperability must be augmented to support the many workflows and value-chains involved in scholarly communication. This will not be achieved through the promotion of single repository architecture or content representation, but instead requires an interoperability framework to connect the many heterogeneous systems that will exist. We present a simple data model and service architecture that augments repository interoperability to enable scholarly value-chains to be implemented. We describe an experiment that demonstrates how the proposed infrastructure can be deployed to implement the workflow involved in the creation of an overlay journal over several different repository systems (Fedora, aDORe, DSpace and arXiv).Comment: 18 pages. Accepted for International Journal on Digital Libraries special issue on Digital Libraries and eScienc

Access Interfaces for Open Archival Information Systems based on the OAI-PMH and the OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services

In recent years, a variety of digital repository and archival systems have been developed and adopted. All of these systems aim at hosting a variety of compound digital assets and at providing tools for storing, managing and accessing those assets. This paper will focus on the definition of common and standardized access interfaces that could be deployed across such diverse digital respository and archival systems. The proposed interfaces are based on the two formal specifications that have recently emerged from the Digital Library community: The Open Archive Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) and the NISO OpenURL Framework for Context-Sensitive Services (OpenURL Standard). As will be described, the former allows for the retrieval of batches of XML-based representations of digital assets, while the latter facilitates the retrieval of disseminations of a specific digital asset or of one or more of its constituents. The core properties of the proposed interfaces are explained in terms of the Reference Model for an Open Archival Information System (OAIS).Comment: Accepted paper for PV 2005 "Ensuring Long-term Preservation and Adding Value to Scientific and Technical data" (http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/events/pv-2005/

Content related rights transmission with MPEG-21 in the educational field

One of the main issues affecting educational content distribution and sharing is to ensure that the terms and conditions defined by the content owners are respected by the others, such as distributors and consumers. Authorship and the content integrity are the most basic rights that authors want to preserve in the educational field. To ensure that content and associated rights are protected, cryptographic techniques and mechanisms are applied to content, rights, protection keys and related metadata that are packaged in a digital object. ARMS is a new platform that was developed to preserve author rights in the educational field applying the MPEG-21 standard concepts. A web based services interface is established with the educational Academic Management System of the Academic institution in order to verify the user eligibility in this domain. After obtaining the usage license the user can send the license to other users, if that privilege has been granted. Our proposal uses MPEG-21 concepts in order to enable rights transmission among the main participants in the educational environment but with a mechanism where the inheritance rights established by the author are uphold. Through the integration between ARMS and the Academic Management Information System hosted in the educational institutions, user academic data can be retrieved in order to verify his eligibility.info:eu-repo/semantics/submittedVersio

Reminiscing About 15 Years of Interoperability Efforts

Over the past fifteen years, our perspective on tackling information interoperability problems for web-based scholarship has evolved significantly. In this opinion piece, we look back at three efforts that we have been involved in that aptly illustrate this evolution: OAI-PMH, OAI-ORE, and Memento. Understanding that no interoperability specification is neutral, we attempt to characterize the perspectives and technical toolkits that provided the basis for these endeavors. With that regard, we consider repository-centric and web-centric interoperability perspectives, and the use of a Linked Data or a REST/HATEAOS technology stack, respectively. We also lament the lack of interoperability across nodes that play a role in web-based scholarship, but end on a constructive note with some ideas regarding a possible path forward