Ariadne Collection Registry
Contents |
Introduction
This implementation of the collection registry has been created and deployed in the context of the ASPECT project.
Ariadne Registry is based on the Ariadne Repository software.
The Ariadne Registry aims to support two big use cases:
- Organizations looking for exposing their services to the learning resources community
- Organizations looking for a service to manage their services inside their communities.
Releases
You can download latest version here
You can also download sources from Sourceforge
Requirements
Consult the requirements of the Ariadne Repository software
More info
Supported model
IMS LODE Registry is represented by a schema that contains three main elements Content Collection, Metadata Collection and Protocol.
- Content Collection contains information about access rights, authoring, title description, keywords, etc. This is information about the content itself.
- Metadata Collection contains information about how the metadata is ex- posed. Here, the content provider has to define which specification are used to expose metadata. This part of the specification has an element for defining the specification called Protocol Implementation Description which is used for defining extra information like the query language supported by an SQI interface or sets supported by an OAI-PMH interface.
- Protocol contains specific information about the specification used like the URL of the schema, namespace or the binding location.
Registry architecture
The implementation of the registry enables ARIADNE to build a federation of registries, to provide access to collection information using SQI and to publish new content collections using SPI.
A registry can contain metadata collections (MC in the figure 1) or content collections (CC). The latter contain metadata collections (MC).
The final goal of the registry is to create a network of networks of repositories, similar to current DNS functionality on the internet. All the registries are synchronized so if a harvester or a federated search service queries a registry, they can access all the content collections or metadata collections in the different networks. This approach is important: it allows automated discovery, decreases time spent managing repository information, and allows automated widespread updates.
This architecture shows how the registry can be synchronized with other registries. The registry exposes its contents using OAI-PMH so that other registries can harvest its content. In addition, the registry exposes its updates also using the RSS 2.0 specification, so that registries can be synchronized also with RSS feed readers. This RSS system can be used as a notification system, as it contains all the targets published.
The registry uses SQI for querying because it is neutral in terms of query language or results formats. Consequently, all SQI clients can query the registry. The registry supports different query languages like PLQL, VSQL and Lucene Query Language.
Finally, the registry implements an SPI interface for publishing content collections. For instance, when other content collections are harvested, they are inserted using SPI to publish content by reference, because the metadata in this case defines a content collection already published elsewhere.
One of the main advantages of this implementation is that ARIADNE Registry is based on the ARIADNE Repository. This software is a flexible implementation that allows different models of metadata. For instance, it supports LOM, ILOX, Dublin Core and this paper explains how it supports IMS LODE Registry specification. The idea behind this software is that we can index all kind of xml document. However, the final goal is that we can built combined queries, for instance, using PLQL, based on the content of different tags.
Integration with the ARIADNE harvester. How it works
More info about how you can configure the ARIADNE harvester to work with the registry here
The following sequencing diagram shows how a sys- tem administrator can configure the harvester using the current implementation where the system administration can query the registry and add the targets that he/she is interested in.
Related papers
Santos, J., Klerkx, J., Duval E. The Ariadne Registry of LORs . Proceedings of the Fourth International Workshop on Search and Exchange of e-le@rning Materials 2010 (SE@M'10) Vol. 681. P. 13-22
J. Klerkx, Bram Vandeputte, Gonzalo Parra, J.L. Santos, F. Van Assche and Erik Duval, How to Share and Reuse Learning Resources: the ARIADNE Experience. Accepted for publication in Proceedings of EC-TEL, Barcelona, September 2010.
Related Slides
Presentation at SE@M'10 Workshop
Small presentation at ASPECT Consortium meeting
How to Share and Reuse Learning Resources: the ARIADNE Experience
