- From: Jim Whitehead <ejw@cse.ucsc.edu>
- Date: Fri, 26 Oct 2001 11:45:47 -0700
- To: "WebDAV" <w3c-dist-auth@w3.org>
I'm organzing the following workshop on the topic of how best to achieve interoperability of metadata among eletronic records management (ERM) systems, especially government ERM systems. Members of the WebDAV community are welcome to attend. I believe this topic is of crucial importance to enabling the freedom of government records. If a standard mechanism for representing electronic records management metadata in XML could be developed, it would allow WebDAV properties to record this metadata. This, in turn, would allow government agencies to use a DAV server to control the entire lifecycle of their documents, from the initial point of authorship to its archiving and perhaps destruction (according to a records disposition plan). While important for government electronic records management, these capabilities are important for a wide range of document management scenarios, and the existence of interoperable ERM metadata will dramatically increase the value of WebDAV servers in many document management scenarios. An ERM schema increases the freedom of records by making it much easier for government agencies to process public requests for their records. In the US, a standard mechanism is a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request -- this metadata will make it much easier to process these requests. As well, it opens the possibility that agencies could regularly open up a many of their records for public review, since these processes could be increasingly automated with better metadata support. For background reading, the 5015.2 standard can be found here: http://jitc.fhu.disa.mil/recmgt/ Details on the workshop follow: Workshop on Metadata Interoperability for Electronic Records Management Date: November 15, 2001, 1-5PM Location: National Archives Building, College Park, Maryland, Lecture Room E Directions: http://www.nara.gov/nara/dc/Archives2_directions.html. Description: As governments, businesses, and organizations around the world increasingly convert their information flows from paper-based to digital, there is an increasing need for electronic records management. In the United States, the functionality standard, DoD 5015.2, "Design Criteria Standard for Electronic Records Management Software Applications" provides a detailed specification of the capabilities required of document management systems to meet government electronic records management needs. DoD 5015.2 is used by the DISA Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) to perform certification testing to ensure that systems can meet the requirements stated in the standard. DoD 5015.2 lists numerous metadata items, covering such issues as content disposition, bibliographic metadata, formatting, email-specific metadata, and others. While 5015.2 provides a detailed description of the semantics of each metadata item, it does not describe the format of their contents. As a result, even if two document management systems both meet the 5015.2 standard, there is no guarantee that values from one system can be easily transferred or compared with another. Since 5015.2 only specifies functionality, it is not a solid foundation for interoperability among electronic records management systems. The purpose of this workshop is to begin efforts to create an interoperability standard for electronic records management metadata. Topics for discussion at the workshop include: * What is the scope of the effort? - Just 5015.2 metadata items, or is other standardization necessary? - What are the specific requirements? * Which standards development organization should host the effort? - OASIS, NARA, NIST, ANSI, AIIM :: what are pros/cons of each? * What technologies should be employed? - XML, RDF * How to coordinate with efforts in Australia, UK, and elsewhere? - Do we gain any traction by making this an international effort? * How does this effort interact with existing technologies? - GILS/Z39.50, WebDAV, DASL * Who will lead the effort? Who will participate? - Will this be an open or closed project? If you are planning on attending, please send an email to Jim Whitehead <ejw@cse.ucsc.edu>. There is no charge to attend this event.
Received on Friday, 26 October 2001 14:49:42 UTC