LSID Annotation and Link-out

Fri Apr 21 11:15:44 CEST 2006

One of the topics identified under the "LSID Infrastructure Working Group"
umbrella relates to "GUID Annotation and Link-out Mechanisms" (no other
comments associated with this topic at this point).  So far no-one has
expressed any interest in doing any work on this topic.

Basically the question is whether we should adopt any mechanisms and best
practices for how a third-party data provider should serve annotations and
additional data fields to be related to a data object with its own LSID and
served by some other data provider.  During GUID-1 Ben Szekely mentioned the
annotation interfaces that had been proposed for use with LSIDs.  This is a
mechanism for a data provider using LSIDs to expose an interface which a
third-party data provider may invoke to notify the first data provider that
they are serving such annotations.  It is then up to the first data provider
to decide whether or not to include a reference to these annotations as part
of the metadata for the LSID in question.

This is a collaborative approach which could be useful but which relies on
special software at both ends, in addition to any basis LSID resolution
stack.  Unless a high proportion of data providers serving LSIDs install
software to accept notifications of annotations and to store the appropriate
external references, I do not believe that third-party data providers will
find it worthwhile to establish their end of the interaction.  Does anyone
think otherwise?

There would seem to be two other fairly obvious approaches we could follow
to manage external annotation of LSIDs:

1.      We could rely simply on passive discovery of the links by crawler
applications such as the GBIF data indexer - when indexing the third-party
data, it would be possible to store a reference to the relationship between
the objects and to offer a service allowing users to check for "additional
information" on any LSID.  This relies on good coverage by the crawler tools
- in particular it assumes that the data objects offered by the third-party
data provider belong to classes which are themselves of interest to the
crawler.
2.      We could establish a central service which can be invoked by anyone
to assert relationships between any two LSIDs.  This would take the burden
of handling these notifications away from the original data providers and
would provide the foundation for establishing an "additional information"
service.

I therefore have two questions:

1.      Are any of these options likely to be valuable enough that we should
consider clarifying them, implementing any required software and services,
and defining best practices?
2.      (Even more importantly) Is there anyone who is sufficiently
interested to take ownership of this topic?

Thanks,

Donald

---------------------------------------------------------------
Donald Hobern (dhobern at gbif.org)
Programme Officer for Data Access and Database Interoperability
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat
Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
Tel: +45-35321483   Mobile: +45-28751483   Fax: +45-35321480
---------------------------------------------------------------

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<div class=3DSection1>

One of the topics identified under the =
&#8220;LSID Infrastructure
Working Group&#8221; umbrella relates to &#8220;GUID Annotation and =
Link-out
Mechanisms&#8221; (no other comments associated with this topic at this =
point).
&nbsp;So far no-one has expressed any interest in doing any work on this =
topic.<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

Basically the question is whether we should =
adopt any
mechanisms and best practices for how a third-party data provider should =
serve
annotations and additional data fields to be related to a data object =
with its
own LSID and served by some other data provider. &nbsp;During GUID-1 Ben
Szekely mentioned the annotation interfaces that had been proposed for =
use with
LSIDs. &nbsp;This is a mechanism for a data provider using LSIDs to =
expose an
interface which a third-party data provider may invoke to notify the =
first data
provider that they are serving such annotations. &nbsp;It is then up to =
the
first data provider to decide whether or not to include a reference to =
these
annotations as part of the metadata for the LSID in =
question.<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

This is a collaborative approach which could =
be
useful but which relies on special software at both ends, in addition to =
any
basis LSID resolution stack. &nbsp;Unless a high proportion of data =
providers
serving LSIDs install software to accept notifications of annotations =
and to
store the appropriate external references, I do not believe that =
third-party data
providers will find it worthwhile to establish their end of the =
interaction. &nbsp;Does
anyone think otherwise?<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>There would seem to be two other fairly =
obvious
approaches we could follow to manage external annotation of =
LSIDs:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<ol style=3D'margin-top:0cm' start=3D1 type=3D1>
 <li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3D2 =
face=3DArial><span
     lang=3DEN-GB style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>We could =
rely simply
     on passive discovery of the links by crawler applications such as =
the GBIF
     data indexer &#8211; when indexing the third-party data, it would =
be
     possible to store a reference to the relationship between the =
objects and
     to offer a service allowing users to check for &#8220;additional
     information&#8221; on any LSID.&nbsp; This relies on good coverage =
by the
     crawler tools &#8211; in particular it assumes that the data =
objects
     offered by the third-party data provider belong to classes which =
are
     themselves of interest to the =
crawler.<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
 <li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><font size=3D2 =
face=3DArial><span
     lang=3DEN-GB style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>We could =
establish a
     central service which can be invoked by anyone to assert =
relationships
     between any two LSIDs.&nbsp; This would take the burden of handling =
these
     notifications away from the original data providers and would =
provide the
     foundation for establishing an &#8220;additional information&#8221;
     service.<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ol>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>I therefore have two =
questions:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<ol style=3D'margin-top:0cm' start=3D1 type=3D1>
 <li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2'><font size=3D2 =
face=3DArial><span
     lang=3DEN-GB style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Are any =
of these
     options likely to be valuable enough that we should consider =
clarifying
     them, implementing any required software and services, and defining =
best
     practices?<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
 <li class=3DMsoNormal style=3D'mso-list:l1 level1 lfo2'><font size=3D2 =
face=3DArial><span
     lang=3DEN-GB style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>(Even =
more
     importantly) Is there anyone who is sufficiently interested to take
     ownership of this topic?<o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ol>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Thanks,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Donald<br>
&nbsp;<br>
---------------------------------------------------------------<br>
Donald Hobern (<a =
href=3D"mailto:dhobern at gbif.org">dhobern at gbif.org</a>)<br>
Programme Officer for Data Access and Database Interoperability <br>
Global Biodiversity Information Facility Secretariat <br>
Universitetsparken 15, DK-2100 <st1:place w:st=3D"on"><st1:City =
w:st=3D"on">Copenhagen</st1:City>,
 <st1:country-region =
w:st=3D"on">Denmark</st1:country-region></st1:place><br>
Tel: +45-35321483&nbsp;&nbsp; <st1:City w:st=3D"on"><st1:place =
w:st=3D"on">Mobile</st1:place></st1:City>:
+45-28751483&nbsp;&nbsp; Fax: +45-35321480<br>
---------------------------------------------------------------</span></f=
ont><font
size=3D2 face=3DArial><span lang=3DEN-GB =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p=
>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
lang=3DEN-GB
style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

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