metadata+
The National e-Science Centre worked with Edinburgh University Library to develop a testbed of machine services for metadata discovery and aggregation.
Full Project Title
Machine Services for Metadata Discovery and Aggregation
Summary
Web services have the potential to improve resource discovery, enabling separate digital libraries, portals, and virtual learning environments (VLEs) to be more open and interoperable. The National e-Science Centre (NeSC) was developing training and digital library environments for two large EU projects on grid computing and wanted to use the service-oriented approach for resource discovery. They needed to develop ‘machine services’ that would work behind the scenes to aggregate metadata from many sources and present it to users in different ways for different purposes.
In this 2006 project, NeSC collaborated with Edinburgh University Library to develop a testbed of machine services for metadata discovery and aggregation. The core of the testbed was a Fedora repository containing 15,000 metadata records with machine services for searching (SRU) and linking (OpenURL). A demonstrator on the metadata+ project web site shows how the SRU protocol can be used for discovering and aggregating metadata (local and remote) and repurposing it for different contexts. For example, it can be mapped to MODS for use in a digital library, or to IEEE LOM for use in a VLE. It also demonstrates a novel use of the SRU protocol to map the metadata to containers for export, e.g. to dynamically create e-learning content packages (SCORM), digital library metadata collections (MODS collection), and news feeds (RSS).
Outcomes
The project demonstrates how publisher metadata can be aggregated from multiple sources and then presented to users in different contexts. Several digital libraries initiatives are using the testbed infrastructure in innovative ways. For example, the SRU RSS service has been used extensively by two digital libraries to provide new services like podcasting and alerts for new content. Both libraries are piloting novel wiki approaches for content management that permit users to edit and enrich metadata, e.g. add reviews, ratings, and recommendations. The RSS service is therefore useful as a tool to monitor content changes.
Outputs
All project outputs are available from the metadata+ project web site.
Demonstrator
The testbed comprising the Fedora repository and the machine services is based at NeSC and is being used to provide metadata discovery and aggregation services for several digital library projects. The demonstrator on the project web site gives examples of how the machine services are used.
Reports
The project’s Final Report (PDF) to JISC explains the project work in detail, including metadata procurement, development of the Fedora repository, and development of the machine services. It provides use cases and explains how the testbed is being used by live digital library projects.
Tools
The project modified the Fedora web services and source code to overcome four issues related to searching. The modifications are described in the project’s final report and are available from the project web site.
Publications
This paper explains the background to the project and why developing the machine services was a logical solution for NeSC’s projects on grid computing.
Further Information