Collaborative Systems and Tools: Renardus case study Lesly Huxley, Leona Carpenter, Marianne Peereboom

Renardus: a case study n Project aims, concepts and rationale n Collaborative systems and tools to support: n Data modelling, cross-mapping, metadata sharing n System architecture and technical infrastructure n Organisation and collaboration: now and in future n Implementation examples

Aims, concepts and rationale

What is Renardus? n An EU-funded project (1 Jan June 2002) under the Information Society Technologies programme (5th framework) n Collaboration between 7 European countries, representatives of 11 existing subject gateways

Principle aim To build the “Renardus Broker Service” to support European academic and research communities … an academic subject gateway in Europe

Principle concepts n Collaboration (not limited to national organisations) n Integrated views of metadata for heterogeneous Internet-accessible resources n Cross-search and cross-browse functionality n A single interface but no central data repository n Interaction with existing distributed subject gateways and other Internet-accessible collections across Europe

Rationale n There are already many useful quality-controlled gateways across Europe BUT … n Sustainability of projects (now services) is an issue No one country or service can identify, describe and organise all available Internet resources to support the academic and research communities of Europe n Collaboration is needed to maintain quality, improve users’ access and develop sustainable services

Benefits for users/intermediaries n One interface to use/learn n Access to broader collections covering more subjects, countries, languages n Discover resources not necessarily available through local services n European perspective on global resources

Benefits for participating gateways n Shared costs of development and best practice could potentially accelerate development of new services and avoids duplication of effort n Easier to achieve ‘critical mass’ in gateways’ size and number / range of users n Collaboration demands consistent application of agreed technical standards, in turn leading to improved interoperability for gateways

Implementation Timescales, participants, coverage

Implementation timescales n January-May 2001: Alpha and beta systems developed n June-November 2001: Pilot service released for evaluation n March 2002: Showcase preview of operational service n June 2002: Move from project status to service

Partners from 7 EU countries n Netherlands: Koninklijke Bibliotheek National Library (KB) n Denmark: Technical Knowledge Center and Library of Denmark (DTV) n Finland: n Center for Scientific Computing (CSC); n Jyväskylä University Library, Finland (JyU): n Viiki Science Library (ALUH) n France : Bibliothèque Nationale de France (BNF) n Germany: n Die Deutsche Bibliothek (DDB) n Niedersächsische Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, Göttingen (SUB) n Zentralstelle für Agrardokumentation Und - information (ZADI); n Sweden: NetLab (University of Lund) n United Kingdom: n Institute for Learning & Research Technology (ILRT); n UK Office for Library and Information Networking (UKOLN)

Renardus gateways (pilot) n DutchESS - Dutch Electronic Subject Service (KB-NL) n SSG-FI - Special Subject Guides (Geoguide, Mathguide, History Guide, Anglistik Guide (SUB, Göttingen) n DAInet - Deutsches Agrarinformationsnetz (ZADI) n DEPOSIT.DDB.DE Document server (DDB) n Resource Discovery Network (UKOLN) n Finnish Virtual Library (Jyväskylä University Library, Finland) n EELS - Engineering Electronic Library, Sweden n NOVAgate - Nordic Gateway to information in Forestry, Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences (Viikki Science Library, Finland)

Coverage (pilot) n 11 subject-specific services covering engineering, maths, social sciences, literature, life sciences, agriculture, fisheries, forestry, geography, history n 2 services covering all subjects, 1 electronic theses n All gateways provide English-language metadata n Some gateways focus on native resources but the majority have worldwide coverage

Language coverage n Limited scope in project timescales/resources n Pilot interface and help texts all translated into Dutch, Finnish, French and German n Translation toolkit developed based on ‘tagged’ templates n Each tagged element of English content replaced with translated words and phrases n Easily updated across all languages

Renardus pilot service home page

Metadata modelling, mapping and sharing Issues and collaborative systems and tools

A common metadata model n To support consistent retrieval and presentation of integrated data from heterogeneous services n Eight elements derived from gateways’ existing data models (survey) n All but one are Dublin Core elements n No Renardus-specific refinements

Renardus data model (pilot) n Mandatory elements: n DC.Title n DC.Description n DC.Identifier n DC.Subject n Recommended or optional elements: n DC.Creator n DC.Language n DC.Type n DC.Country Two administrative elements: SBIG ID, Full Record URL

Classification cross-mapping n Cross-browsing: pinpointed as key functionality n Achieved by mapping local classification systems to common universal classification scheme: Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) n OCLC research license allows mapping of top levels of DDC n License also obtained for other language versions of DDC top levels to support multilinguality

Classification cross-mapping n Five levels of relevance mapped: n fully equivalent n narrower equivalent n broader equivalent n major overlap n minor overlap n Mapping tool (CarmenX) adapted from CARMEN project to assist mapping

CarmenX mapping tool

Experiments in metadata sharing n Not intended to support planned functionality for pilot BUT... n Explore potential for future exploitation of collaborative framework n Using geographical subject headings as testbed

Renardus Metadata Sharing Tool n Developed from work in the SSG-FI project n Comprises database, import/export routines, replication module for exchanging data between partners n Still determining type/extent of collaboration n Enriching existing metadata n Developing workflow routines n Implementing tailored search profiles for partners

System architecture and technical infrastructure Issues and collaborative systems and tools

A distributed broker system n Renardus is based on a distributed, decentralised architectural model n Requires participating gateways to implement a local Renardus server using Z39.50 (server kit available) n Interoperability achieved through normalization to a common metadata model

Renardus architectural model

Normalization Toolkit n Imports metadata from originating gateways n including cross-mapping relationships n Adds acronym and logo (and full record URL) n based on administrative data n Exports records in format compliant with Renardus application profile n including DDC subject entries added automatically on basis of CarmenX cross-mapping tables

Example of cross-browsing functionality

Example of graphical navigation overview

Example of integrated browse results

Monitoring and maintenance n Gateways required to monitor quality of records and performance of servers n Z-server status tool forwards standard simple/advanced queries daily to participants’ Z-servers and presents response time and number of records retrieved for each query n Spong tool is a simple systems monitoring package presenting basic server status information

Organisation and sustainability Issues and outcomes

Organisational infrastructure n Shift of focus from coordinating role of national libraries and other national initiatives towards other forms of collaboration n If the service is to survive post-project, need to identify: n Tasks and costs of service provision if fully-funded n Subset of tasks to enable continued service provision on a “lightweight model”

(Potential) players n Renardus Consortium (existing partner organisations) n National and international funding bodies, advertisers, sponsors n Intermediaries offering Renardus services to their customers and users

Central organisation n Management group to support Consortium administration, policy making / business strategies, service provision, financial management; legal and rights management n Formed before the end of the project to facilitate transition from project to service, even if under lightweight model n Currently exploring options with various potential partners for pilot service maintenance and/or further development

Central organisation n Service Provision and Maintenance Group n Maintenance of technical infrastructure; technical support; addition of new gateways, innovation/development; gathering of statistical data; maintenance of datamodel and Mappings n PR Group n Web site, promotion/marketing, user support, support for (potential) service providers; gathering user feedback and statistics; facilitate communication

Dissemination and Support n User Guidelines for potential participants n Workshop for potential participants (all materials available online) n News Digest newsletters n Web site project archive n All available from in the About us … section

Follow the fox!