Gateway standardization: a quality assurance framework for metadata

Library Trends, Spring, 2005 by Brian Kelly, Amanda Closier, Debra Hiom

ABSTRACT

As digital library services develop from project demonstrators to mature, mission-critical services, it becomes necessary to develop and implement systematic procedures that will ensure the quality of the content, the functionality of the service, accessibility to a wide range of users and devices, and interoperability with other services. This article describes a quality assurance methodology that has been developed to support digital library programs in the United Kingdom higher and further education sectors. The article describes the approaches taken by the SOSIG subject gateway service in developing and maintaining a national service that is dependent on quality metadata. The article then outlines a quality assurance framework, which has been developed to support the Joint Information Systems Committee's (JISC) digital library programs in the UK and its application to metadata. The article concludes by describing a self-assessment toolkit that can be used by service providers to ensure that they have addressed the key areas.

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The Web has now established its importance for providing access to scholarly resources in teaching and research. As digital library services develop from project demonstrators to mature, mission-critical services, it becomes necessary to develop and implement systematic procedures that will ensure the quality of the content, the functionality of the service, accessibility to a wide range of users and devices, and interoperability with other services. In the UK we have been working toward this end by developing a "quality assurance (QA) methodology" to support digital library programs in the UK higher and further education sectors. This article describes the approaches taken toward developing and maintaining a national service that is dependent on quality metadata. The self-assessment toolkit we have developed can be adopted by subject gateway service providers to ensure that they have addressed the important issues facing digital library services--standardization and quality control.

BACKGROUND

In the UK the Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), which funds a range of networked services for the higher and further education communities, has played a key role in the development of digital library services. The JISC established the eLib program (eLib, 2001) in the mid1990s, providing an opportunity for experimentation in multiple areas, including a strand for the establishment of pilot subject gateways. Following the success of the eLib program and the recognition of the Web as the key delivery platform for scholarly resources, the JISC subsequently established a strategy for accessing these resources seamlessly. Initially known as the DNER (Distributed National Electronic Resource) but later renamed the JISC Information Environment (IE), the implementation of this strategy is based on a number of JISC programs that fund the development of a wide range of projects. These projects will, together with related JISC service developments, help to provide the IE's content and technical infrastructure.

An example of one of JISC's national services is the Resource Discovery Network (RDN), which provides access to scholarly resources in various subjects. The RDN is an ambitious subject gateway system made up of eight area (or hub) subject gateways. These services (as indicated below) are hosted at particular universities throughout the UK and draw upon the expertise of over seventy educational and research organizations, including the Natural History Museum and the British Library. A summary of the RDN hubs is given in Table 1.

The RDN is now recognized as one of the Web's most reputable scholarly resources, with clear missions and interfaces set in place. Although, inevitably, there will continue to be a need for experimentation as new formats and protocols are developed and different types of services are evaluated, there is now a need to ensure that project deliverables can be deployed into a service environment with ease. In other words, once a gateway is built, it is necessary to establish systematic maintenance procedures, as well as continue to add resources to it. What follows is a description of a quality assurance (QA) framework for maximizing digital library services.

QUALITY ASSURANCE FRAMEWORK

The SOSIG case study (explained in detail below) outlines a practical approach for ensuring the quality of the service's metadata and hence maintaining the quality of the service. With the success of SOSIG's quality assurance procedures, it became clear that these methods could be implemented on a wider scale--to other JISC-funded services. In this section we describe how the JISC has funded the development of a quality assurance methodology for its digital library programs and how this methodology can be applied to the creation and management of metadata.

QA Focus

In 2001 the JISC issued a call for a "Digitisation and QA Focus" service (Joint Information Systems Committee, 2001). The call recognized that "Past digitisation programmes tended to operate in an environment where technologies were relatively immature and unstable, therefore suggesting a research-orientated approach to the management of digitisation activity." Following a successful bid the project (which was renamed "QA Focus") was provided initially by UKOLN (a national center of expertise in digital information management based at the University of Bath) in conjunction with the Institute of Learning and Research Technology (ILRT) based at the University of Bristol (ILRT is the host organization for the SOSIG service.) UKOLN and ILRT are located close to each other and have been involved in a number of joint activities, including the EU-funded DESIRE project (DESIRE, 2000a). One deliverable from the DESIRE work was an Information Officer's Handbook (DESIRE, 2000b), which describes best practices to support libraries and other organizations interested in setting up large-scale information gateways on the Internet. This handbook, which was jointly authored by staff at ILRT and UKOLN (and others), helped develop both organizations' expertise and knowledge of quality assurance processes for metadata and, indirectly, led to the work described in this article.