Defining Image Access - Technical Plan

Summary of some key technical features of the Defining Image Access project.

The general goal is given as: facilitating interoperable access to research images

Name: DEFImage? (Dspace, Eprints, Fedora Images)

The Web allows new publication possibilities

The web makes possible publication of images and other "particulars" (cf. mention of "distributed personal data publication" in David's kick-off meeting slides ref)

To maintain full access to and control by existing repositories - a data web is not a new repository
To work with existing repository and metadata formats as we find them - adding value rather than changing existing deployments
Use the power of the World Wide Web as an integrating platform
Loose coupling - easy replacement of components
Avoid development complexity
Use existing software tools wherever possible
Use existing metadata standards wherever possible
Provide a higher point of departure for new applications (cf. Tim O'Reilly in "What is Web 2.0": "The right to remix") - not attempting to solve all user requirements in a single system

We will focus on:
- Information design
- Software selection
We will survey:
- Repository software systems - Dspace, Eprints, Fedora
- Metadata deployment
- Software tools
Isolate common metadata themes - towards a core ontology
Synthesize a system with minimum new code - use existing software for "heavy lifting", and use the Web as a platform for integration