Terminology
In preparation for the meeting on “Augmenting interoperability across scholarly repositories,”
the presenters have identified a set of core terms that are likely to be used throughout the
discussion. Here is a list of those terms and definitions, as well as associated graphics that
will likely appear in presentations and diagrams. For a PowerPoint file containing the
terminology and graphics, click here. For a printable version in Word, click here.
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Term |
Description |
Graphic |
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Digital Object (aka Document) |
A Digital Object is a data structure whose principal components are digital data and key-metadata. Digital data can be a Datastream or a Digital Object, i.e. a Digital Object may have one or more other Digital Objects as nested components. Key-metadata must include an identifier for the Digital Object.
Note: Digital Object as used here is similar to the Kahn/Wilensky Digital Object.
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Datastream |
A Datastream is an ordered sequence of bytes. |
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Data Model |
A Data Model is an abstraction for Digital Objects such that each Digital Object can be seen as an instance of the class defined by a Data Model. Example Data Models include the Pathways Core model, the MPEG-21 Digital Item Declaration model, etc. |
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Surrogate |
A Surrogate is a serialization of a Digital Object according to a Data Model.
The motivation for having a Surrogate is the need for a common way of expressing Digital Objects at the Repository interfaces (Obtain, Harvest, Put) such that they can be accessed and leveraged by cross-repository services.
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Repository |
A Repository is a networked system that provides services pertaining to a collection of Digital Objects.
Example Repositories include: Institutional repositories, Publisher's repositories, Dataset repositories, Learning Object repositories, Cultural Heritage repositories, etc.
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Obtain interface |
An Obtain interface is a Repository interface that supports the request of services pertaining to individual Digital Objects (including their component Datastreams). |
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Harvest interface |
A Harvest interface is a Repository interface that exposes Surrogates for incremental collecting/harvesting. |
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Put interface |
A Put interface is a Repository interface that supports submission of one or more Surrogates into the Repository, thereby facilitating the addition of Digital Objects to the collection of the Repository. |
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