1. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Standards For JISC's Development Programmes Brian Kelly UKOLN University of Bath Bath Email B.Kelly@ukoln.ac.uk UKOLN is supported by: http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/web-focus/events/meetings/jisc-development-2006-04/ Acceptable Use Policy Recording/broadcasting of this talk, taking photographs, discussing the content using email, instant messaging, Blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. Acceptable Use Policy Recording/broadcasting of this talk, taking photographs, discussing the content using email, instant messaging, Blogs, SMS, etc. is permitted providing distractions to others is minimised. This work is licensed under a Attribution- NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 licence (but note caveat) * Subject to confirmation at end of talk

2. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Contents Open standards are great … but don't always work Addressing the tensions – a contextual approach Using the model The JISC view [AT] Breakout groups Feedback from projects Developing & implementing policies Extending the coverage (Community response to model) Report back & general discussion

3. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Open Standards Are Great … JISC's development programmes: Traditionally based on use of open standards to: Support interoperability Maximise accessibility Avoid vendor lock-in Provide architectural integrity Help ensure long-term preservation History: eLib Standards document (v1 – 1996, v2 – 1998) DNER Standards document (2001) which influenced: NOF-digi Technical Standards.. Background

4. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk … But Don't Always Work There's a need for flexibility: Learning the lesson from OSI networking protocols Today: Is the Web (for example) becoming over-complex  "Web service considered harmful"  The lowercase semantic web / Microformats Lighter-weight alternatives being developed Responses from the commercial world What is an open standard? RSS – key standard for JISC development, but: RSS 1.0 hasn't really taken off and author admits has flaws RSS 2.0 is simpler but does Podcasting Neither is a ‘proper’ standard, but both provide very valuable services What should we do? (Atom's flaws may not yet be apparent) Background

5. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Compliance Issues What does must mean? You must comply with HTML standards  What if I don't?  What if nobody does?  What if I use PDF? You must clear rights on all resources you digitise You must provide properly audited accounts  What if I don't? There is a need to clarify the meaning of must and for an understandable, realistic and reasonable compliance regime Background 5/99 programme – 80% of project home page not HTML compliant

6. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk The Context There will be a context to use of standards: The intended use:  Mainstream  Innovative / research  Key middleware component  Small-scale deliverable Organisational culture:  HE vs FE  Teaching vs Research  Service vs Development  … Available Funding & Resources:  Significant funding & training to make use of important new standards  Minimal funding - current skills should be used … Background

7. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Quality Assurance External factors: institutional, cultural, legal, … The Layered Standards Model JISC JISC / project 3 rd Parties Owner Annotated Standards Catalogue PurposeGovernance MaturityRisks … Prog. nFundingResearchSector… Context: Policies ExternalSelf assessment Penalties Learning Context: Compliance JISC's layered standards model, developed by UKOLN

8. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Implementation How might this approach be used in practice? Programme XX Call / Contract Committees Advisers Programme Team Proposals must comply with XYZ standard Proposals should seek to comply with XYZ Proposals should describe approach to XYZ Projects audited to ensure compliance with … Projects should develop self-assessment QA procedures and submit findings to JISC Projects should submit proposed approach for approval/information Development Programme JISC Manager Report Contract Report must be in MS Word / … and use JISC template … Contextual Model

9. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk The Standards Catalogue The information provided aims to be simple and succinct (but document will still be large when printed!) Standard: Dublin Core About the Standard: Dublin Core is a metadata standard made up … Version: New terms are regularly added to … Maturity: Dublin Core has its origins in workshops held … Risk Assessment: Dublin Core plays a key role …. It is an important standard within the context of JISC development programmes. Further Information: DCMI, … Author: Pete Johnston, UKOLN Contributor: Date Created: 04 Oct 2005 Update History: Initial version. Example Note that as the standards catalogue is intended for wide use the contents will need to be fairly general

10. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Standards Catalogue Process There's a need for developing and enhancing the standards catalogue in order to: Update with new standards Learn from feedback and experiences Review Policies Context Compliance Support Infrastructure QA Framework User Experiences Funder's Experiences Standards … E-Framework The Standards Catalogue can be integrated with the E-Framework Feedback

11. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Accessing The Content Content available via the Digital Repositories Wiki http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/repositories/ digirep/index/DigRepStandardsHome http://www.ukoln.ac.uk/repositories/ digirep/index/DigRepStandardsHome Note we plan to move to a more general URL shortly

12. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Providing Feedback (1) Feedback from JISC Programme managers, funded projects, etc. is important The Discussion tab can be used by registered users to provide: Specific feedback on the standards entries Suggestions for further information (e.g. case studies you've written) More generic feedback on the model, its applications, etc. may be provided using other mechanisms Opportunity for discussion on best options.

13. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Providing Feedback (2) Issues: Little, if any, feedback received for eLib & DNER standards documents Feedback wanted on content and standards model; not on implementation issues – will be difficult to achieve Desirable (?) for feedback and general discussion to be focussed on a specific call Wiki can be useful for specific comments, but not for ongoing discussion Feedback

14. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Sustainability How do we Sustain, maintain and grow the standards catalogue? Develop a sustainable support infrastructure? Ensure that JISC supports learning organisations (and that JISC is a learning organisation) Suggestions: Build on QA Focus approach (briefing docs and case studies) Contractual requirement for projects to produce end-user deliverables and deliverables related to development process Feedback

15. A centre of expertise in digital information managementwww.ukoln.ac.uk Questions Any questions?