Key Standards Updates

Ray Denenberg
Senior Networked Engineer
Library of Congress

Rob Sanderson
Lecturer in Computer Science, SRU Senior Editor
University of Liverpool

Brian Lavoie
Senior Research Scientist
OCLC, Inc.

Rebecca Guenther
Senior Networking and Standards Specialist
Library of Congress

Robin Dale
Program Officer
RLG, Inc.

Update on the SRU Protocol and the Common Query Language, CQL (Denenberg, Sanderson)

The SRU/SRW/CQL (version 1.1) suite of specifications has been stable for two years. During that time its implementation and use have yielded insight into how a search/retrieve protocol and query language should be constructed. As a result several enhancements are proposed, in areas such as proximity, sorting, and bibliographic searching. A meeting of the SRU implementors group discussed these proposals in early March. This session will report on decisions from that meeting. We expect to propose the suite as input for a standardization initiative which might pull together other specifications in this area, including Amazon’s OpenSearch and Google API. OASIS is contemplated as the standards body, and is often used as a neutral ground to promote industry consensus, unite disparate efforts, and merge competing de facto standards into an industry standard.

Web Site:
http://www.loc.gov/standards/sru/

The PREMIS Data Dictionary: Overview, Current Status, and Implementation (Lavoie, et al)

Released in May 2005, the award-winning PREMIS Data Dictionary for Preservation Metadata defines and describes implementable, core preservation metadata with broad applicability to digital repositories. This project briefing will provide 1) a brief overview of the Data Dictionary, including its assumptions, data model, and technical neutrality; 2) an update on progress since the Data Dictionary’s release, including several follow-on projects currently underway, and the current status of the PREMIS Maintenance Activity; and 3) a discussion of some of the implementation choices to be made with PREMIS, with a particular focus on the PREMIS XML schema and issues to be considered when implementing PREMIS in a METS context. A brief update on PREMIS implementation work taking place at various institutions around the world will also be provided.