1. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 1 “A Visual Toolkit For Information Retrieval” Authors: Antony Corfield, Matthew Dovey, Richard Mawby & Colin Tatham Presented by Antony Corfield & Richard Mawby

2. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 2 Presentation will consist of: Introduction & Overview Technical Description Contacts & Information

3. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 3 Background JISC/DNER – Funding the two-year project under the DNER Programme. Z39.50 – “A computer-to-computer communication protocol designed to support searching and retrieval of information – - full-text documents, bibliographic data, images and multimedia – - in a distributed network environment. Based on client/server architecture and operating over the internet..” – Quote taken from William Moen, the ANSI/NISO Z39.50 Protocol [www.cni.org/pub/NISO/docs/Z39.50-brochure]

4. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 4 Background (Continued) JAVA – This programming language ensures suitability for eventual audience as software is platform independent.

5. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 5 Aims Easy to use Visual Open Source – Encouraging ongoing development & maintenance of the software. Aims Components enabling users to build portals without dealing with intricate technical aspects.

6. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 6 Components JAFER has two basic components Components 1. ZClient 2. ZServer Software based on Client/Server architecture. Written in Java and uses XML. Components used separately or in various combinations.

7. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 7 ZClient Uses Reading List Generator – Using Z39.50 a web page reading list can be built. Servlet – A link from a reading list to a record indicating the location of an item. JSP (Java Server Pages) – Create dynamic web pages from Z39.50 sources.

8. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 8 Collaborations RSLP (Research Support Libraries Programme) Book History And Design Project RSLP Mapping Asia Project HUMBUL Humanities Hub (a part of RDN - Research Discovery Network) Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre GFIS (Global Forest Information Service)

9. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 9 Collaborations (Continued) (USGS) US Geological Survey Microsoft EU One-2 Project JISC & NSF (National Science Foundation) Project - OMRAS (Online Music Recognition And Searching) Possibly: Join-Up Programme & ILRT (Institute for Learning and Research Technology)

10. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 10 JAFER Toolkit Project Software Developers – Antony Corfield – Colin Tatham Topics – Design & Technologies – Visual Configuration

11. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 11 Toolkit – Basic Components ZClient – Development of Portals for Access to Z39.50 Information Sources ZServer – Provides Access to Non-Z39.50 Information Sources

12. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 12 JAVA Portable – “Write Once, Run Anywhere” Flexible – Object Oriented Approach JavaBeans – Component Architecture allows Visual Configuration of Properties Java Server Pages (JSP) – simple technology for building HTML pages with Dynamic Content

13. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 13 XML Handles information in a way that is easy to Read, Process and Generate Can be Transformed using Extensible Stylesheet Language (XSL) Shares common goals of JAVA JAVA + XML = portable CODE, portable DATA

14. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 14 ZClient Architecture

15. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 15 XML query Based on ‘Search’ mechanism developed by Global Information Locator Service (GILS) Boolean Queries (Z39.50 type 101) represented as XML Search Z39.50 Attributes can be defined by Default Search Profile e.g. Bath Profile

16. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 16 Query example ATTRIBUTES 4 title 3 any position Macbeth search term ….

17. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 17 Query example (cont.) …. ATTRIBUTES 1003 author 3 equals Shakespeare search term

18. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 18 Records – XML Serializers XML Generated from retrieved Records MARC to XML conforms to Open Archives Initiative (OAI) schema for MARC records GRS to XML conforms to GILS schema for GRS1 records

19. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 19 MARC to XML example MARC 21 Field 260 260##$aNew York, N.Y. : $bElsevier, $c1984. New York, N.Y. : Elsevier, 1984

20. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 20 XSL Transformations Stylesheet used to Transform ‘raw’ XML to a form tailored to the user’s needs e.g. New York, N.Y. : Elsevier, 1984

21. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 21 JSP – Providing Dynamic Content Specify & Submit Query query.submit ( query.and ( “Macbeth”, “use title”, “Shakespeare”, “use author” )) Save Query saveCurrentQuery ( “query.xml” )

22. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 22 JSP – Providing Dynamic Content Display Results setRecordCursor (n); record = getCurrentRecord () record.get( “title” ).getValue () record.get( “author” ).get( “name” ).getValue ()

23. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 23 Configuration of ZClient Visual Configuration – Builder Tools (developers) – Graphical User Interface (simple) XML Configuration – XML file in Web Server (administrators)

24. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 24 Visual Configuration – Builder Tools ZClient is a Java Bean Java Beans have Properties which can be configured by using Visual Builder Tools ZClient Bean properties include – Host or Target, Password etc. – Preferred Record Format, XML generation

25. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 25 Configuration - JBuilder

26. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 26 Simple, does not require Builder Tools Bean Properties set using Tabbed Panes in User Interface Visual Configuration using GUI

27. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 27 Configuration via GUI

28. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 28 Configuration via GUI

29. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 29 XML Configuration target library.ox.ac.uk Properties set by specifying parameters – e.g. web.xml file in Tomcat servlet container

30. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 30 ZServer Component Architecture Configuration of Components provides different functions – Access to non-Z39.50 Information Sources – Distributed Searches (re-uses ZClient components)

31. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 31 Access to non-Z39.50 DataBase ZServer DB ClientHost (target)

32. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 32 Distributed Searches Client Z39.50 ZServer + ZClient Non - Z39.50 Host

33. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 33 ZServer Handler ZServer – Manages Connections – Query Translation – Record Generation Handler – Maps Attributes to DataBase Tables – Appropriate DataBase Driver ZServer Components

34. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 34 ZServer - Visual Configuration Server configuration – IP Address & Port binding – IP Validation & User Authentication e.g. ATHENS Data Source configuration – Attribute mapping to Tables – Mapping between Tables and Record Fields

35. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 35 Server Configuration

36. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 36 Attribute Configuration

37. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 37 Downloads – org.jafer package ZClient – Stable builds available as self-expanding Web Application Archive (WAR file) – Java code (Open Source) for developers ZServer – Available from November 2001

38. JAFER Toolkit Project Oxford University 38 Contacts & Information Project Director Matthew.Dovey@las.ox.ac.uk Project Administrator Richard.Mawby@las.ox.ac.uk Project Developers Antony.Corfield@las.ox.ac.uk Colin.Tatham@las.ox.ac.uk Development Website www.jafer.org/ - Downloads - Join mailing lists General Website www.lib.ox.ac.uk/jafer/