DELOS/NSF Working Group on
"Reference Models for Digital Libraries: Actors and Roles"
Final Report
(23 July 2003)
Working group coordinators:
José Borbinha (DELOS)
John Kunze (NSF)
DELOS members:
Hans-Jörg Lieder
Michel Mabe
Peter Mutschke
NSF members:
Howard Besser
Becky Dean
Larry E. Dixson
Angela Spinazzé
DCMI member:
Warwick Cathro
Index
1. Introduction................................................................................................................................ 3
2. Related work.............................................................................................................................. 4
3. The process................................................................................................................................ 5
3.1 Main players in Digital Libraries: A simple model.................................................................. 5
3.2 Use cases and Relation Boards: An analysis tool.................................................................. 7
4. Scenarios.................................................................................................................................... 8
4.1 Scenario 1: Digital Libraries for Science and Technology...................................................... 8
4.1.1 Case 1.1 - A traditional case....................................................................................... 9
4.1.2 Case 1.2 - A possible emerging case........................................................................... 9
4.1.3 Comparative analysis................................................................................................... 9
4.2 Scenario 2: Discovery services based on harvesting............................................................ 10
4.2.1 Case 2.1 - Harvesting structured metadata................................................................. 10
4.2.2 Case 2.2 - Harvesting unstructured data.................................................................... 10
4.2.3 Comparative analysis................................................................................................. 11
4.3 Scenario 3: Libraries for Preservation................................................................................ 11
4.3.1 Case 3.1 - A conventional library collection............................................................... 12
4.3.2 Case 3.2 - An archive based on generic Web harvesting............................................ 12
4.3.3 Comparative analysis................................................................................................. 12
4.4 Scenario 4: Collaborative Digital Libraries.......................................................................... 13
4.4.1 Case 4.1 - A Digital Library for a closed community.................................................. 13
4.4.2 Case 4.2 - A Digital Library for an open community................................................... 13
4.4.3 Comparative analysis................................................................................................. 14
5. Research issues and conclusions................................................................................................ 14
6. References................................................................................................................................ 16
This report summarizes the discussion of the DELOS/NSF Working Group on "Reference Models for Digital Libraries: Actors and Roles".
In the Digital Library arena, neither the traditional nor the new roles of actors are clearly understood. Identification and relevance of these roles are still open questions. Conceptualizations and definitions are biased by traditional views that are not automatically transferable to the digital world, nor are they appropriate for some new emerging environments. At the same time, definitions given to new roles depend too often on the narrow, subjective perspective of a local context. The current situation makes it difficult to understand objectively the key actor/role issues that arise in individual cases, and also to perform comparative analysis between different cases.
The lack of a means of formal expression becomes apparent in several scenarios, such as when Digital Library use case descriptions are disseminated to large audiences, shared with evaluators or potential adopters, or compared by researchers. Without sufficient means to formally express the attributes and behaviors of a network of actors related by specific services there will continue to be misunderstanding with regard to actors in terms of stating problem requirements, designing solutions, and evaluating results.
This Working Group reviewed current research and existing practice to better understand the ways in which actors and their roles are perceived within the Digital Library community; how actors interact and communicate within the scope of existing and potential Digital Library models; and the roles that actors play in the context of existing and anticipated services. The result of this investigation brought to light several issues that warrant further research and underscored the community’s need for formal and objective reference models for the description of actors and their roles in digital libraries.
This report is structured in four major sections. Section two presents, in brief, references to related work (almost all of these references are, intentionally, for on-line resources). The third section describes the process and tools used and developed by the Working Group to support discussion of the issues. Section four includes several examples that illustrate the use of the tools. The fifth, and final section of the report, provides a summary of findings and a set of recommendations.