the marine metadata interoperability project overview and roadmap

The Marine Metadata InteroperabilityMarine Metadata Interoperability

Project

Overview and Roadmap

http://marinemetadata.org

LOOKING 2005.05.17 Marine Metadata Interoperability <http://marinemetadata.org>

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Aim(s) of the MMI Project

Solve the metadata problem.Solve the metadata problem.Make data systems work together. Make data systems work together.

Help users manage data using metadata. Help users manage data using metadata. Improve data management and interoperability.Improve data management and interoperability.

Solve the“meta” part of the data interoperability problem.Solve the“meta” part of the data interoperability problem.


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Aim of the MMI Project

Solve the metadata problem.Solve the metadata problem.


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Aim of the MMI Project


What does that mean?What does that mean?What metadata problem?What metadata problem?


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The Metadata Problem: OneProtocols and Content Standards

• All these systems working together.

• How do they communicate?

Protocols

• What do they talk about?

Content Stds


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The Metadata Problem: TwoSemantic Interoperability

• Simple matter of language.


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• Simple matter of language. And knowledge.


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• Simple matter of language. And knowledge.


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“You Can’t Do That!”


Actually, we think we can Actually, we think we can (or at least, come pretty close).(or at least, come pretty close).


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How Will the MMI Project Do That?


• Create and support a marine metadata community• A growing community of contributors and users

• Establish a marine metadata information center• A place that has marine metadata answers• We can’t be totally expert, but we can know who is

• Target the community’s technology needs• Guides; Vocabularies; Content Standards; Protocols;

Tools; Demonstrations and Examples


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Community Web Sitehttp://marinemetadata.org

• Easily navigate and locate content• Browse content to find useful standards and tools

• Search for specific terms or descriptions

• Find how-to information on using metadata

• See comparisons of existing standards, tools


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Community Web Sitehttp://marinemetadata.org

• Users can contribute their work and knowledge• Registered users easily create site content (plone)• Content approval and publication happens quickly

• Example: Support for domain vocabulary efforts• MMUG metadata workshop working groups• Environmental Observatories Data Mgt Collaboration• MBARI Standard Naming exercise• COTS development (tbd)


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Mailing Lists

• Public lists ([email protected])• Think of this service as free consulting• Should serve, stimulate, and engage community• Open to any inquiries; moderated as needed• Others: [email protected] (newsletter),

[email protected] (workshop info)

• MMI-internal lists


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Lots of Public Outreach

• Meetings• Conference presentations• Attendance and support at conferences

• Email• Announcements on other lists• Announce our latest services on our own list

• Links from other sites• May consider collaborations with some sites

• Documents and handouts


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“That Won’t Be Enough.”


But wait! There’s more!


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Metadata Projects• Metadata-Centric Interoperability Demo

(MBARI wanted this)

• Scientific Domain Vocabularies Work(Some in MMI wanted this)

• Workshop (We needed one)

• Web Services (The next thing for LOOKING)


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Our Model

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are needed to see this picture.


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DTDDTD

Comma Comma Separated Separated

ValuesValues

HTMLHTMLTab Tab Separated Separated

ValuesValues

Relational Relational DatabaseDatabase

XML/XSDXML/XSD

RDFRDF

Vocabulary Harmonization


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DTDDTD

Comma Comma Separated Separated

ValuesValues

HTMLHTMLTab Tab Separated Separated

ValuesValues

Relational Relational DatabaseDatabase

XML/XSDXML/XSD

RDFRDFOWLOWL

Vocabulary Harmonization


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Vocabulary Mapping

AlignmentMapping

Source: Mena, E., Kashyap, V., Illarramendi, A. and Sheth, A. (1996). Managing multiple information sources through ontologies: relationship between vocabulary heterogeneity and loss of information. Knowledge Representation Meets Databases, Proceedings of the 3rd Workshop KRDB'96, Budapest, Hungary, Technical University of Aachen.


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Vocabulary Web Services




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1) Vocabulary Harmonization

2) Vocabulary Mapping

3) Vocabulary Services

4) Access to Data

Metadata Demonstration


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Is That It?(Yes and No.)


• We will map and publish a few vocabularies.• The “side effects” are valuable

• Documented processes, training, and tools.• Common, central access to many vocabularies.• Functional services useful in applications.• Possibly, a standardized semantic framework.• Community of metadata-aware domain experts.


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Longer-Term Activities

• Get more visitors, members (100), contributors

• Demonstrate usable results and systems

• Hold 2005 Marine Metadata Workshop• Will harmonize domain-specific ontologies

• Will entrain multiple small groups (experts in each)

• Address governance issues• This is (hopefully!) a long-term community activity

• Get funding!


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Prognosis

• Technical• Talented people starting to create useful products• Big world with lots of needs—what should we fill?

• Funding• One-Year Program (through September 2005)• Prospects for finding money decent, but not definite

• Organizational• Need to create sustaining governance and financing• For external communities, MMI might be example,

consultant, or member organization, as appropriate


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Credits

• National Science Foundation1

• SURA, the Southeastern Universities Research Association (http://www.sura.org),

• ONR, the Office of Naval Research (http://www.onr.navy.mil),

• NOAA (including the Coastal Services Center),

• OceanUS and regional IOOS systems.

1 NSF Grant ATM-0447031


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Demonstration

the marine metadata interoperability project overview and roadmap

Documents

metadata problem

marine metadata answerswe

marine metadata communitya

data interoperability

mmi projectsolve

data systems

contentbrowse content

content standardsall