1. PNDS Architecture - an overview
Neil Smith
knowledge integration ltd
© 2005 knowledge integration ltd

2. What is it?
Single interface allowing access to multiple content types:
Cultural Sector (esp. Sense of Place)
eGoverment
Community Information
Learning Resources
Ready-Reference
Extensible and Adaptable
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3. Multiple Levels of Integration
Shallow
eGovernment
Deep
SeamlessUK
Sense of Place Projects
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4. How does it work? 3 major components: Search / Discovery Subsystem
Repository Subsystem
Web Application
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5. High Level Architecture (user perspective)
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6. Search Protocols
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7. Local Repository
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8. How do I make my resources available to the PNDS?
2 Main Options:
Harvesting metadata into the Repository
OAI-PMH
‘Live’ Cross – Searching
Z39.50
SRU/W
Other protocols by negotiation ….
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9. Searching – Pros & Cons Pro: Con:
Ensures very latest results are returned
Resource owner determines what is searchable
No storage overhead on gateway
Con:
Can slow overall performance
Relies on good connectivity
Places unknown performance overhead on your server.
© 2005 knowledge integration ltd

10. Harvesting – Pros & Cons
Better search performance for end users
Efficient & resilient use of network bandwidth (after initial data load)
Potential for re-indexing on gateway
Con:
Not live - users search a ‘snapshot’ of the resource
Issues over what gets harvested – metadata, thumbnails, resources …
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11. Recommendation
All Cultural Sector Contributors should make their resources available to PNDS via OAI-PMH unless either:
A search interface has already been implemented Or
The collection is extremely volatile with availability changing throughout the day
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12. Issues to be addressed How do I implement OAI-PMH?
What gets harvested?
How do I describe my resources?
Metadata Schema
Controlled Vocabularies
How do I describe my collection?
Service Registries
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13. What might it look like? www.k-int.com
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