Changes between Version 5 and Version 6 of DiscoveryComponents


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Timestamp:
29/04/10 11:52:51 (11 years ago)
Author:
mpritcha
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  • DiscoveryComponents

    v5 v6  
    44This guide aims to describe in simple terms the components of the discovery service. 
    55 
    6 Last updated 2010/04/08 by Matt Pritchard 
    7  
    8 == Components == 
    9  * Discovery ingest 
    10  * Discovery index database 
    11  * Discovery web service (API) 
    12  * Discovery front end (portal) 
    13  * Vocab server 
    14  * Data providers OAI info editor 
    15  
    16 (Diagram TODO) 
     6Last updated 2010/04/29 by Matt Pritchard 
    177 
    188== Overview == 
    19 '''Data Providers''' create documents describing '''data resources'''. These documents are '''metadata records''', and are "published" by each data provider to make them available for others to access. An '''automatic process''' gathers these documents from each data provider and puts them into a '''database''' where they are stored alongside those from other data providers. 
    20 A '''web service''' carries out searches of this '''database''' in response to search requests received from a '''search interface''', and returns results back to the search interface, for presentation to the '''user'''. '''Search tools''' included in the search interface help the user construct search requests based on time periods, geographic areas and text terms from '''standard vocabularies'''. 
     9 
     10The following diagram shows the components of the discovery service: 
     11 
     12[[Image(DiscoveryComponents.png, 60%)]] 
     13 
     14'''Data Providers''' create metadata documents describing '''data resources'''. These are '''published''' by each data provider to make them available for others to access. An '''automatic process''' gathers or "harvests" these documents from each data provider, and '''ingests''' them into a '''database''' where they are stored alongside those from other data providers. Data providers have control over their publishing tool via an '''admin interface'''. 
     15A '''web service''' carries out searches of this '''database''' in response to search requests received from a '''search interface''', possibly hosted by a third party as part of a '''web portal'''. The web service returns results back to the search interface, for presentation by the search inteface to display to the '''user'''. '''Search tools''' included in the search interface help the user construct search requests based on time periods, geographic areas and text terms from '''standard vocabularies''', provided by a '''vocab server'''. 
    2116 
    2217== Definitions == 
    … …  
    3126   The act of putting metadata records in a system that exposes them for external access over the internet. This is done using OAI, a software toolkit installed at each Data provider site. The "OAI Provider" function of this software simply exposes a collection of metadata records in a standard way, ready for harvesting. Each data provider is in control of his/her OAI Provider software and should register the details of their "node" using the "OAI Providers' interface". 
    3227 
    33  '''OAI Providers Interface''':: 
     28 '''OAI Admin Interface''':: 
    3429   A web-based tool for Data providers to enter the details (URL plus some other configuration options) of their "node", so that the automated harvesting process knows where to go to harvest metadata records. 
    3530 
    36  '''Harvesting''':: 
     31 '''OAI Harvesting''':: 
    3732   A process by which metadata records are collected (via OAI-PMH : Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting) centrally from all participating data providers. 
    3833 
    39  '''Discovery Index Database''':: 
     34 '''Discovery Database''':: 
    4035   Harvested metadata records are processed centrally and added to the discovery index database, which stores the documents in their entirety (to enable full-text searching), but also pulls out pre-defined fields within them to enable specific types of searhes (e.g. spatial extent, time periods). The database is held as a set of relational database tables within a database server. 
    4136 
    42  '''Web service''':: 
     37 '''Discovery Web service''':: 
     38    
     39 
     40 * Discovery ingest 
     41 * Discovery index database 
     42 * Discovery web service (API) 
     43 * Discovery front end (portal) 
     44 * Vocab server 
     45 * Data providers OAI info editor 
     46 
     47