Overview of content related to 'interoperability'

Editorial Introduction to Issue 58: People Still Matter

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Richard Waller introduces Ariadne issue 58.

Having returned once more to the fray somewhat chastened by the experience of eye surgery, alone and without a general anaesthetic (with apologies to Rumpole and the late lamented John Mortimer [1] ), but hugely impressed by the ministrations of the NHS, I am struck once again by the enormous importance of people, both within the community that Ariadne serves as well as those domains beyond, and in which all are nonetheless increasingly, but quite naturally, dependent on technology for their success.

Assessing FRBR in Dublin Core Application Profiles

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Talat Chaudhri makes a detailed assessment of the FRBR structure of the Dublin Core Application Profiles funded by JISC.

Efforts to create standard metadata records for resources in digital repositories have hitherto relied for the most part on the simple standard schema published by the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) [1], the Dublin Core Metadata Element Set, more commonly known as 'simple Dublin Core' [2].

The European Film Gateway

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Georg Eckes and Monika Segbert describe a Best Practice Network funded under the eContentplus Programme of the European Commission, which is building a portal for access to film archival resources in Europe.

The European Film Gateway (EFG) [1] is one in a series of projects funded by the European Commission, under the eContentplus Programme, with the aim of contributing to the development and further enhancement of Europeana - the European digital library, museum and archive [2]. Officially launched on 20 November 2008, the prototype Europeana service provides access to about four million digital objects from archives, audio-visual archives, museums and libraries across Europe.

Time to Change Our Thinking: Dismantling the Silo Model of Digital Scholarship

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Stephen G. Nichols argues that humanists need to replace the silo model of digital scholarship with collaborative ventures based on interoperability and critical comparison of content.

There is no longer anything exotic about digital humanities projects. Almost every humanities faculty has at least one. But like humanities disciplines themselves, digital projects too often exist in lonely splendour, each in its own sub-disciplinary silo. Classicists have their project(s), Middle English scholars post Chaucer and Langland manuscripts, while French medievalists have sites for major genres or authors from the troubadours to Christine de Pizan, and beyond. The situation is not appreciably different for digital humanities projects dealing with modern topics.

dev8D: JISC Developer Happiness Days

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Julian Cheal reports on the 5-day JISC's Developer Happiness Days event held at Birckbeck College, London over 16 - 21 February 2009.

Firstly some background as to why dev8D came about. David Flanders (JISC) and Ben O'Steen (Oxford University Library Services) over the years have attended many conferences: what they found were that the places and talks from which they benefited most were outside the programmed seminars and presentations. It was during conversations between sessions at these events with other developers, managers, delegates that they felt learned most.

Data Preservation and Long-term Analysis in High-Energy Physics

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Richard Mount reports on the First Workshop on Data Preservation and Long-Term Analysis in High-Energy Physics, held at DESY (Deutsche Elektronen-Synchrotron), Hamburg, Germany, on 26-28 January 2008.

Preservation and Archiving Special Interest Group (PASIG) Fall Meeting

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Paul Walk reports on the Sun-PASIG winter meeting held in Baltimore, USA on 18-20 November 2008.

I had managed to miss the previous two PASIG (Preservation and Archiving Special Interest Group)[1] meetings, so was delighted to find myself finally able to participate by attending the Fall meeting. Conveniently the event was arranged to follow immediately the SPARC Digital Repositories meeting [2], also held in Baltimore, and which I also attended.

Book Review: Integrating Geographic Information Systems Into Library Services

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Sylvie Lafortune reviews a much needed work on offering GIS services in libraries.

No one will dispute that geographic information is an integral part of contemporary life. Who has not looked up driving directions on MapQuest or used Google Earth to look at a city of interest on their personal computer? And most cars manufactured in the last few years can come equipped with GPS technology. Interestingly enough, though, most users of these tools have only a vague idea that they are based on digital geospatial data such as satellite imagery and digital elevation models (DEM).

Book Review: Making Sense With Metadata

editor — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Emma Tonkin takes a look at an impressive new book on the topic of metadata design, implementation and evaluation in theory and practice.

The casual visitor to the area of digital library research could be forgiven for feeling overwhelmed by the sheer mass and complexity of the world of metadata, not to mention the speed at which things move on. It is in no sense a rare occurrence, even for those taking an active role in the field, to find that something else has changed and that one has, as they say in other walks of life, 'missed a memo'.