Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Research Project Report A Decade in Digital: New Directions for Managing and Preserving Digital Information ICA Congress 2008, Kuala Lumpur, 23 July 2008 The Clever Use of Metadata in eGovernment and eBusiness Recordkeeping Processes in Networked Environments Joanne Evans

2 Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project ARC Linkage Project mid Chief Investigator Professor Sue McKemmish, Monash University Partner Investigators Professor Anne Gilliland-Swetland, UCLA Mr Adrian Cunningham, National Archives of Australia Industry Partners and Collaborators National Archives of Australia State Records Authority of New South Wales Australia Society of Archivists, Committee on Descriptive Standards

3 Create once use many times How to enable recordkeeping metadata interoperability? Practical Perspectives Overcome barriers to implementation of recordkeeping and resource discovery standards Demonstrate the business case for recordkeeping metadata Research Perspectives Explore role of recordkeeping metadata in support of business and recordkeeping processes Impact on recordkeeping and archiving functions Requirements for meta-tools for recordkeeping metadata management

4 CRKM First and Second iterations First Iteration Establish and instantiate a scenario in which to explore metadata re-use Conceptualise application independent metadata translation – Metadata Broker Determine technical environment for the prototyping Action Use XML and XSL technologies to instantiate schemas and crosswalks Java implementation of translation services Reflection Sustainability requires moving beyond hand crafting crosswalks and hard wiring applications Constraints of records management and archival processes, technologies and tools developed for paper recordkeeping and in application-centric IT environments Observations Standards not as interoperable as assumed Complexity of recordkeeping metadata Limitations of current recordkeeping metadata standards Second Iteration Develop Metadata Broker as a cluster of web services Revise scenario processes in line with continuum and service oriented perspectives Test use of Broker within such a framework Develop business case for recordkeeping metadata in such a framework Source: Kemmis and McTaggert 1988 Observations Problems with robustness and rigour of emerging open source web services Metadata unavailable for re-use Further exposition of limitations of metadata standards Reflection Evolve recordkeeping processes and tools for interoperability

5 CRKM Metadata Broker Records Management Application Archival Management Application Subject Portals Community Archives Web Management Systems Archival Gateways and Desktop Applications Metadata Broker Business Information Systems

6 CRKM Metadata broker Records Management Application Archival Management Application Subject Portals Community Archives Web Management Systems Archival Gateways and Desktop Applications Metadata Broker Business Information Systems

7 Translation service Second iteration CRKM Broker Registry Authoritative information on metadata schemas, metadata elements and crosswalks in human readable and machine processable forms Target metadata Request for Schema Schema information Registration Source metadata Validation service Crosswalk compilation service Repository Machine processable representations of metadata schemas and crosswalks Registry services

8 Problem Areas 1.Robustness and rigour of web services technologies 2.Interoperability constraints of records management and archival processes, technologies and tools developed for paper recordkeeping and for application- centric IT environments 3.Limitations of recordkeeping metadata standards

9 Designing for recordkeeping Design recordkeeping into systems Design recordkeeping metadata into systems Design interoperability into systems

10 Service oriented architectures (SOA) Recordkeeping Services

11 Recordkeeping in SOA Metadata Broker

12 To participate in SOA … Confront barriers to interoperability in recordkeeping processes and tools –Overcome dominance of paper paradigm –Move beyond static resource discovery metadata models –Standards for machine rather than human processability

13 Standards and interoperability Standards compliance does not guarantee interoperability –Recordkeeping metadata standards are just a part of an infrastructure for interoperability  Balance between standardisation activities for best current practice versus standardisation activities to deliver better next generation practices

14 Standards and interoperability (cont.) Standards development activities in the recordkeeping domain must:- –be aware of standardisation activities in the IT sector in general, understand the forces driving their development, and be compatible with these activities, –address ontological and machine processability issues, and –seek an optimal balance between practical imperfections and theoretical models.

15 Desktop Applications Business Systems Web Management System Implementing recordkeeping metadata Records Management Application Archival Management Application Subject Portals Community Archives Archival Gateways Schema Crosswalk Schema Records Management Application Archival Management Application Subject Portals Community Archives Web Management Systems Archival Gateways and Desktop Applications Metadata Broker Business Information Systems Metadata Broker

16 Next decade in digital Recordkeeping Services

17 For more information Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project Website arch/groups/rcrg/crkmhttp:// arch/groups/rcrg/crkm Joanne Evans