The multi-faceted use of the OAI-PMH in the LANL Repository

This paper focuses on the multifaceted use of the OAI-PMH in a repository architecture designed to store digital assets at the Research Library of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and to make the stored assets available in a uniform way to various downstream applications. In the architecture, the MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration Language is used as the XML-based format to represent complex digital objects. Upon ingestion, these objects are stored in a multitude of autonomous OAI-PMH repositories. An OAI-PMH compliant Repository Index keeps track of the creation and location of all those repositories, whereas an Identifier Resolver keeps track of the location of individual objects. An OAI-PMH Federator is introduced as a single-point-of-access to downstream harvesters. It hides the complexity of the environment to those harvesters, and allows them to obtain transformations of stored objects. While the proposed architecture is described in the context of the LANL library, the paper will also touch on its more general applicability

BROA: An agent-based model to recommend relevant Learning Objects from Repository Federations adapted to learner profile

Learning Objects (LOs) are distinguished from traditional educational resources for their easy and quickly availability through Web-based repositories, from which they are accessed through their metadata. In addition, having a user profile allows an educational recommender system to help the learner to find the most relevant LOs based on their needs and preferences. The aim of this paper is to propose an agent-based model so-called BROA to recommend relevant LOs recovered from Repository Federations as well as LOs adapted to learner profile. The model proposed uses both role and service models of GAIA methodology, and the analysis models of the MAS-CommonKADS methodology. A prototype was built based on this model and validated to obtain some assessing results that are finally presented

Metadata quality issues in learning repositories

Metadata lies at the heart of every digital repository project in the sense that it defines and drives the description of digital content stored in the repositories. Metadata allows content to be successfully stored, managed and retrieved but also preserved in the long-term. Despite the enormous importance of metadata in digital repositories, one that is widely recognized, studies indicate that what is defined as metadata quality, is relatively low in most cases of digital repositories. Metadata quality is loosely defined as "fitness for purpose" meaning that low quality of metadata means that metadata cannot fulfill its purpose which is to allow for the successful storage, management and retrieval of resources. In practice, low metadata quality leads to ineffective searches for content, ones that recall the wrong resources or even worse, no resources which makes them invisible to the intended user, that is the "client" of each digital repository. The present dissertation approaches this problem by proposing a comprehensive metadata quality assurance method, namely the Metadata Quality Assurance Certification Process (MQACP). The basic idea of this dissertation is to propose a set of methods that can be deployed throughout the lifecycle of a repository to ensure that metadata generated from content providers are of high quality. These methods have to be straightforward, simple to apply with measurable results. They also have to be adaptable with minimum effort so that they can be used in different contexts easily. This set of methods was described analytically, taking into account the actors needed to apply them, describing the tools needed and defining the anticipated outcomes. In order to test our proposal, we applied it on a Learning Federation of repositories, from day 1 of its existence until it reached its maturity and regular operation. We supported the metadata creation process throughout the different phases of the repositories involved by setting up specific experiments using the methods and tools of the MQACP. Throughout each phase, we measured the resulting metadata quality to certify that the anticipated improvement in metadata quality actually took place. Lastly, through these different phases, the cost of the MQACP application was measured to provide a comparison basis for future applications. Based on the success of this first application, we decided to validate the MQACP approach by applying it on another two cases of a Cultural and a Research Federation of repositories. This would allow us to prove the transferability of the approach to other cases the present some similarities with the initial one but mainly significant differences. The results showed that the MQACP was successfully adapted to the new contexts, with minimum adaptations needed, with similar results produced and also with comparable costs. In addition, looking closer at the common experiments carried out in each phase of each use case, we were able to identify interesting patterns in the behavior of content providers that can be further researched. The dissertation is completed with a set of future research directions that came out of the cases examined. These research directions can be explored in order to support the next version of the MQACP in terms of the methods deployed, the tools used to assess metadata quality as well as the cost analysis of the MQACP methods

Metadata quality issues in learning repositories

Metadata lies at the heart of every digital repository project in the sense that it defines and drives the description of digital content stored in the repositories. Metadata allows content to be successfully stored, managed and retrieved but also preserved in the long-term. Despite the enormous importance of metadata in digital repositories, one that is widely recognized, studies indicate that what is defined as metadata quality, is relatively low in most cases of digital repositories. Metadata quality is loosely defined as "fitness for purpose" meaning that low quality of metadata means that metadata cannot fulfill its purpose which is to allow for the successful storage, management and retrieval of resources. In practice, low metadata quality leads to ineffective searches for content, ones that recall the wrong resources or even worse, no resources which makes them invisible to the intended user, that is the "client" of each digital repository. The present dissertation approaches this problem by proposing a comprehensive metadata quality assurance method, namely the Metadata Quality Assurance Certification Process (MQACP). The basic idea of this dissertation is to propose a set of methods that can be deployed throughout the lifecycle of a repository to ensure that metadata generated from content providers are of high quality. These methods have to be straightforward, simple to apply with measurable results. They also have to be adaptable with minimum effort so that they can be used in different contexts easily. This set of methods was described analytically, taking into account the actors needed to apply them, describing the tools needed and defining the anticipated outcomes. In order to test our proposal, we applied it on a Learning Federation of repositories, from day 1 of its existence until it reached its maturity and regular operation. We supported the metadata creation process throughout the different phases of the repositories involved by setting up specific experiments using the methods and tools of the MQACP. Throughout each phase, we measured the resulting metadata quality to certify that the anticipated improvement in metadata quality actually took place. Lastly, through these different phases, the cost of the MQACP application was measured to provide a comparison basis for future applications. Based on the success of this first application, we decided to validate the MQACP approach by applying it on another two cases of a Cultural and a Research Federation of repositories. This would allow us to prove the transferability of the approach to other cases the present some similarities with the initial one but mainly significant differences. The results showed that the MQACP was successfully adapted to the new contexts, with minimum adaptations needed, with similar results produced and also with comparable costs. In addition, looking closer at the common experiments carried out in each phase of each use case, we were able to identify interesting patterns in the behavior of content providers that can be further researched. The dissertation is completed with a set of future research directions that came out of the cases examined. These research directions can be explored in order to support the next version of the MQACP in terms of the methods deployed, the tools used to assess metadata quality as well as the cost analysis of the MQACP methods

An object query language for multimedia federations

The Fischlar system provides a large centralised repository of multimedia files. As expansion is difficult in centralised systems and as different user groups have a requirement to define their own schemas, the EGTV (Efficient Global Transactions for Video) project was established to examine how the distribution of this database could be managed. The federated database approach is advocated where global schema is designed in a top-down approach, while all multimedia and textual data is stored in object-oriented (O-O) and object-relational (0-R) compliant databases. This thesis investigates queries and updates on large multimedia collections organised in the database federation. The goal of this research is to provide a generic query language capable of interrogating global and local multimedia database schemas. Therefore, a new query language EQL is defined to facilitate the querying of object-oriented and objectrelational database schemas in a database and platform independent manner, and acts as a canonical language for database federations. A new canonical language was required as the existing query language standards (SQL: 1999 and OQL) axe generally incompatible and translation between them is not trivial. EQL is supported with a formally defined object algebra and specified semantics for query evaluation. The ability to capture and store metadata of multiple database schemas is essential when constructing and querying a federated schema. Therefore we also present a new platform independent metamodel for specifying multimedia schemas stored in both object-oriented and object-relational databases. This metadata information is later used for the construction of a global schemas, and during the evaluation of local and global queries. Another important feature of any federated system is the ability to unambiguously define database schemas. The schema definition language for an EGTV database federation must be capable of specifying both object-oriented and object-relational schemas in the database independent format. As XML represents a standard for encoding and distributing data across various platforms, a language based upon XML has been developed as a part of our research. The ODLx (Object Definition Language XML) language specifies a set of XMLbased structures for defining complex database schemas capable of representing different multimedia types. The language is fully integrated with the EGTV metamodel through which ODLx schemas can be mapped to 0-0 and 0-R databases

Implementing infrastructures for managing learning objects

Klemke, R., Ternier, S., Kalz, M., & Specht, M. (2010). Implementing infrastructures for managing learning objects. British Journal of Educational Technology, 41(6), 873-882. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01127.x PrePrint Version. Original available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8535.2010.01127.x Retrieved October 20, 2010.Making learning objects available is critical to reuse learning resources. Making content transparently available and providing added value to different stakeholders is among the goals of the European Commission's eContentPlus programme. This article analyses standards and protocols relevant for making learning objects accessible in distributed data provider networks. Types of metadata associated with learning objects and methods for metadata generation are discussed. Experiences from European projects highlight problems in implementing infrastructures and mapping metadata types into common application profiles. The use of learning contents and its associated metadata in different scenICOPER, Share.TEC, OpenScou

The Simple Publishing Interface (SPI)

Ternier, S., Massart, D., Totschnig, M., Klerkx, J., & Duval, E. (2010). The Simple Publishing Interface (SPI). D-Lib Magazine, September/October 2010, Volume 16 Number 9/10, doi:10.1045/september2010-ternierThe Simple Publishing Interface (SPI) is a new publishing protocol, developed under the auspices of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN) workshop on learning technologies. This protocol aims to facilitate the communication between content producing tools and repositories that persistently manage learning resources and metadata. The SPI work focuses on two problems: (1) facilitating the metadata and resource publication process (publication in this context refers to the ability to ingest metadata and resources); and (2) enabling interoperability between various components in a federation of repositories. This article discusses the different contexts where a protocol for publishing resources is relevant. SPI contains an abstract domain model and presents several methods that a repository can support. An Atom Publishing Protocol binding is proposed that allows for implementing SPI with a concrete technology and enables interoperability between applications.European Committee for Standardization (CEN), CEN/Expert/2009/3

BlogForever D3.2: Interoperability Prospects

This report evaluates the interoperability prospects of the BlogForever platform. Therefore, existing interoperability models are reviewed, a Delphi study to identify crucial aspects for the interoperability of web archives and digital libraries is conducted, technical interoperability standards and protocols are reviewed regarding their relevance for BlogForever, a simple approach to consider interoperability in specific usage scenarios is proposed, and a tangible approach to develop a succession plan that would allow a reliable transfer of content from the current digital archive to other digital repositories is presented

Supporting the Reuse of Open Educational Resources through Open Standards

Glahn, C., Kalz, M., Gruber, M., & Specht, M. (2010). Supporting the Reuse of Open Educational Resources through Open Standards. In T. Hirashima, A. F. Mohd Ayub, L. F. Kwok, S. L. Wong, S. C. Kong, & F. Y. Yu (Eds.), Workshop Proceedings of the 18th International Conference on Computers in Education: ICCE2010 (pp. 308-315). November, 29 - December, 3, 2010, Putrajaya, Malaysia: Asia-Pacific Society for Computers in Education.In this paper we analyse open standards for supporting the reuse of OER in different knowledge domains based on a generic architecture for content federation and higher-order services. Plenty OER are available at different institutions. We face the problem that the mere availability of these resources does not directly lead to their reuse. To increase the accessibility we integrated existing resource repositories to allow educational practitioners to discover appropriate resources. On top of this content federation we build higher order services to allow re-authoring and sharing of resources. Open standards play an important role in this process for developing high-level services for lowering the thresholds for the creation, distribution and reuse of OER in higher education.This paper has been partly sponsored by the GRAPPLE project (www.grapple-project.org) that is funded by the European Union within the Framework Programme 7 and the following European Projects funded in the eContentPlus Programme: MACE (ECP-2005-EDU-038098, portal.mace-orject.org), OpenScout (grant ECP-2008-EDU-428016, cf. www.openscout.net), and Share.TEC (ECP-2007-EDU-427015/Share.TEC, www.share-tec.eu)