DL.org Workshop: Digital Libraries: Interoperability, Best Practices and Modelling Foundation
October 1 2009, Corfu, Greece.

Read the workshop on Dlib Magazine here.

Workshop Overview:

Global Digital Library infrastructures resulting from the federation of regional, national and international interoperable Digital Library (DL) systems and Digital Repositories (DR) will significantly advance cross-domain research through universal access to a broad spectrum of resources. DL interoperability, which is a multi-perspective concept encompassing technological, legal and policy aspects, is a complex process, fraught with difficulties.  The DL.org Coordination Action addresses two important highly inter-related Digital Library aspects: laying the DL modelling foundations through the consolidation and enhancement of the DELOS DL Reference Model and Digital Library Interoperability.

The Reference Model has identified the fundamental entities of discourse within the universe of Digital Libraries. In particular, it has defined the main concepts characterising digital libraries and digital library systems, that is, architecture, content, functionality, quality, policy, and user. Given the widely distributed nature of future digital libraries, heterogeneity is expected to be the norm in all these six fundamental concepts of the Reference Model. Hence, techniques for interoperability will be crucial in reconciling different approaches in systems regarding any one of these concepts. DL.org follows an innovative approach as it intends to systematically address digital library interoperability issues from the perspectives of any of the six main DL characterising concepts.

The DL.org approach to the DL interoperability is carried out by six Working Groups, one for each of the above fundamental concepts and composed of 6-9 internationally renowned experts on the topic. By harnessing the expertise that exists in these areas on a global level, DL.org is playing an instrumental role in integrating current efforts and fostering a new approach and methodology for achieving interoperability among Digital Libraries. The activities of the Working Groups are helping to bring into sharp relief solutions for interoperability, best practices and shared standards.

The Workshop will put the spotlight on new research directions in the DL interoperability domain and present the findings of the six Working Groups through a series of focused talks by experts. Further insight into interoperability and its foundation in standards will be offered in a keynote delivered by Stefan Gradmann, Humboldt University in Berlin, with particular reference to Europeana, built on the multilateral interoperability of many independent partners and platforms. A concluding interactive discussion on key issues and new directions in the DL arena from multiple perspectives will open up the floor to representatives from DL research and application communities, as well as other scientific communities.

The DL.org workshop aims to continue the discussion which took place during the three Workshops on "Digital Library Foundations", organized by the DELOS project and which can be considered as precursor events for this Workshop. For more information on the "Digital Library Foundations" Workshops, please visit the related web page.

Chairs:

Donatella Castelli, CNR-ISTI, Italy
Yannis Ioannidis, University of Athens, Greece
Seamus Ross, University of Toronto, Canada

Programme Committee:

Marianne Backes, Luxembourg-based Centre Virtuel de la Connaissance sur l'Europe
Stephen Griffin, National Science Foundation, Division of Information & Intelligent Systems, USA
Geneva Henry, Rice University Digital Library Initiative
Dagobert Soergel, University of Maryland, USA

Related webpages:

Workshop's External Site