Neil Smith reports on how two Research & Technology Development (RTD) projects in the Digital Library arena - UNIverse and PRIDE – have been driving the development of marketplace products in two key areas of the digital library picture – ILL/document delivery and authentication and security.
Libraries are moving into the Digital Library age – an environment where technology is leading change and where libraries need to integrate a range of components in order to build their own landscape. New information resources, the internet and networking boom, the emergence of e-commerce and increasingly sophisticated users are all dictating the shape of the digital library of the future.
FDI [1] is recognised as an international supplier of information management solutions, enabling technology and associated services. FDI solutions portfolio consists of a range of standards-based component products that are designed to integrate with each other and with other components within the digital library landscape.
Since 1993 the company has been active in a number of leading edge Research & Technology Development (RTD) projects and implementation groups in wide area services and distributed information management. Fretwell-Downing is lead partner in a number of these undertakings including the DALI and UNIverse projects, funded under the Telematics for Libraries programme.
Involvement with these RTD projects has influenced FDI's development ethos and product set by enabling:
The UNIverse project [2] was a large-scale project based on the concept of a virtual union catalogue for libraries. As well as linking a number of catalogues, the project offered a series of advanced library services to both end-users and librarians. Because the project involved many different libraries and systems it was developed using emergent open standards. These included the ANSI Z39.50 standard to allow search and retrieval from remote databases, the ISO 10161 Inter Library Loan protocol for ordering documents and the GEDI Recommendation for electronic document delivery. The project built on the work of previous EC-funded projects, particularly DALI [3], and addressed many of the issues relating to service distribution and globalisation currently facing the library and information community.
The project delivered many 'technology firsts'. These included:
The outcomes of the UNIverse project are being maximised in three main ways - as commercial products; as technology transfer; and as the basis of information services. In accordance with the remit of the project, FDI have further developed two commercially available products - VDX and WebView - which have been developed and enhanced from components of the UNIverse system.
The Virtual Document eXchange (VDX) software brings together Search and Retrieve, Inter Library Loan and Electronic Document Delivery. VDX has been implemented in a range of libraries to meet a range of marketplace requirements including:
WebView provides an intelligent WWW / Z39.50 gateway based environment to allow libraries to present a single gateway or ‘portal’ onto multiple heterogeneous databases. It is incorporated as the end-user access component on all digital library products available from FDI.
WebView provides intelligent support for the search – locate – request – deliver paradigm for information delivery, with features including:
Further research and/or development work, which may result in other products arising from the project, is also being conducted by other partners. This includes:
Z39.50 Harvesting Agent – this software utility collects bibliographic catalogue-related metadata from publicly available catalogues and stores them in the explain-proxy database of a UNIverse type system. This is being developed by Kyros.
Java Web Interface – an end-user client interface based on the Java language. The Technical Knowledge Centre and Library of Denmark have undertaken the work-to-date on this product.
Character Set Software - a general Character Set translation tool that converts any character set from/to Unicode. Ex Libris undertook the work on this module.
The wide interest in the UNIverse type of architecture for library services provision has also led to further technology transfer projects. UNEX, led by University College Dublin and funded under the INCO-COPERNICUS programme, involves pilot service operation of the UNIverse system in the Russian Academy of Science Library in St. Petersburg. The project involves a series of dissemination workshops throughout the countries of the former Soviet Union.
The (ongoing) PRIDE [4] project seeks to implement and demonstrate the use of a combined directory service that has integrated support for both Patron Information (e.g. information about people and organisations) and Service Information (e.g. information needed to contact remote networked services). FDI are the lead technical partners in the consortium and have prime responsibility for delivery of the PRIDE demonstrator.
The PRIDE demonstrator comprises:
The PRIDE Directory, based on combination of X.500 and LDAP standards, underpins the demonstrator. Information which is of critical importance to all the players involved in the distributed system is held in a form which enables it to be accessed and replicated simply, using open standards. The information included in the directory includes:
Although the PRIDE project is not yet complete FDI are already researching and planning ways in which these directory based services can be integrated into the VDX product.
The projects described above are influencing the development of enabling library technology that is designed to meet the changing needs of libraries as they move towards the digital library age. The Digital Library environment consists of a number of components:
 Figure 1: The Digital Library Jigsaw |
In designing products for this environment, vendors need to take into account a range of generic factors which would apply to any networked information service. However, due to the tight relationship required between traditional library service provision and networked information services, many issues faced are specific to the library sector. This is a topical theme; a series of workshops were dedicated to this at the Online 1999 Conference.
This blend of specific and generic factors leads to a requirement for solutions developed from the integration of a large number of open system components. Some of these components (e.g. ILL, Library Automation) are library specific, whilst other components (e.g. Authentication, Encryption and e-payments) are generic information technology that require knowledgeable application to the library domain. Only by applying and integrating domain specific and generic technologies will the digital library evolve to be a coherent, integrated environment as opposed to a random amalgam of resources.
UNIverse and PRIDE have contributed to the development of understanding and the practical application of solutions that make up some of the key components of the digital library.
Within generic WWW terminology a ‘portal’ is typically an entry point allowing personalised searching of web indexes and sites. Within the digital library context portals are provided through sophisticated WWW/Z39.50 gateways that allow personalised cross-database and domain searching. UNIverse contributed to FDI's WebView product, which is designed to meet this need.
Delivery of any ‘document-like object’ e.g. books, journal articles, images, electronic publications, to institutions or users. Delivery mechanisms can vary from traditional postal delivery of physical items, through ‘scan on demand’ delivery of journal articles to full online delivery of digital material. VDX, which uses the experiences of UNIverse, including its integration with RLG's Ariel TM software, is designed with this mind.
Generic industry solutions exist to the problem of strong authentication of users. Within the digital library domain these are required to guarantee the authenticity of the user for rights management issues and to secure financial transactions across an open network. PRIDE is currently addressing these issues.
Traditional inter-library loans extends into the digital domain as a mechanism for resource sharing and transaction tracking (for both financial and copyright management), was one of the concepts behind UNIverse. The digital library environment provides interfaces for transactions between libraries/information suppliers as well as transactions with end users and ISO 10161 compliant ILL is at the core of the VDX product.
Increasingly there is a requirement for integration of network web-based resources into the digital library. Some of these resources carry embedded meta-data, such as Dublin Core. Information harvesting technologies such as web crawlers allow the automated construction of catalogues of web resources. By presenting these catalogues through Z39.50 interfaces they can be tightly integrated with traditional media. This a central part of the PRIDE demonstrator.
The traditional library service of SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) can be applied across the heterogeneous and distributed data set managed by the digital library. This can be used to generate a more holistic ‘information push’ service. Again, this is being addressed as part of PRIDE.
Industry standard encryption technology is required for strong authentication, secure payments and digital watermarking. Another component of the PRIDE demonstrator.
EU and National level funded projects are driving lead edge research into new models for information management and delivery. In order to fully maximise the impact of these RTD projects, a key aspect of the remit is to deliver the results to the marketplace, in the form of practical solutions.
The marketplace products that are being designed by Fretwell-Downing Informatics, using the experiences of UNIverse and PRIDE, are component based and are designed to fit into an emerging component-based picture of the Digital Library environment.
As technological, environmental and commercial factors impact further on the development of the Digital Library vision, FDI will to continue to seek partnerships with others who share this vision, including suppliers, national bodies and user organisations. Fretwell-Downing Informatics will also continue to conduct innovative R&D which will, in turn, hopefully lead to new standards based products which will benefit the library community as a whole.
Neil Smith
Project Manager
Fretwell-Downing Informatics
The Portergate
257 Ecclesall Road
Sheffield
S11 8NX
URL: <http://www.fdgroup.com/fdi/>
Email: Neil.Smith@fdgroup.com
Neil Smith is Project Manager for Fretwell-Downing Informatics. His role includes responsibility for managing FDI's RTD programme and he was Project Manager for UNIverse project.
For citation purposes:
Neil Smith, "Inside The Digital Library",
Exploit Interactive, issue 5, April 2000
URL: <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue5/fd/>
[HTML Validation] - [Accessibility check]
|
Issue Home | Editorial | Features | Regular Columns | News and Events | Et cetera | ||
|
| ||
| Go to Top |
A UKOLN Service. Contact Us. Copyright © 1999 |
Last Updated: 7 April 2000 |