Metis Workflow System Kenneth M. Anderson University of Colorado, Boulder

Workflow in Digital Libraries Digital Library workflows are the processes used by the stakeholders of a digital library –librarians, authors, editors, reviewers, students, etc. to coordinate their shared activites –such as reviewing new submissions, indexing the current collection, etc.

Problems However, most digital libraries do not provide workflow services to their stakeholders –As such, most workflows are performed in an ad hoc manner Furthermore, traditional workflow systems make assumptions that just do not hold in the digital library context, such as: –All stakeholders belong to the same organization –All stakeholders have the same working styles –All stakeholders use the same computing platform

The Metis Approach The Metis workflow system has been designed to address the workflow needs of the digital library domain –Event-based workflows Workflows are defined in terms of shared, community-defined events Each stakeholder can specify their actions/responsibilities with respect to an event independently –Web-based Metis provides access to workflow services via a Web browser to humans and via an XML-RPC API to programs

The Metis Architecture

Metis Tools Events and workflows are defined using servlets; event and workflow definitions are stored as XML files Actions can be associated with events to help automate event processing –Such as downloading a URL or sending to a particular person when an event arrives Active workflows can be monitored with the workflow montior; the execution engine is responsible for registering for events and performing actions when the events arrive –We use an event notification system (Sienna) to distribute events across the Internet

More Information Or, send to Plus, I have sent a draft copy of a paper describing Metis in more detail to your instructor –Ask him for a copy if you are interested; please do not cite this paper or place it on-line