Info Grid 2005 - Tuesday 27th, 11:40 - Overview of DEFF SOA activities

11:40
Overview of DEFF SOA activities
Mogens Sanfaer, Technical University of Denmark

they use Web Services interchangably with SOA

[diagram of 3-tier DEFF architecture 2000-]

* one common service infrastructure - many portals
* facilitating cooperation as well as competition
(services can compete)
* paving the way for a re-integration of library and otehr university infrastructure domains
e- publishing / libraries / research / learning / governance

[diagram about integration promise of web services]

[diagram that I don't understand about the b2b nature of the service landscape]

is it possible to distill common services out of current monolithic systems?

Implementation Roadmap
1. implement pilot web services
2. facilitate pilot exploitation
3. implement more web services
4. establish cross-domain scenarios
5. contribute to open source tools and international cooperation
6. bring vendors into the game

1. Pilot Web Services
- global eprints using Fedora
- digitised Danish journals based on Oracle
- XML to Z39.50 gateway ->

HTTP SOAP/REST Web Services gateway is open source, available for download

[diagram]

2. exploitation project Web Services Testbed (started this year)
- training courses, workshops, consultation
- explore technical means to ease exploitation such as WSRP, UDDI
- gather feedback - trying to find the killer app
- discuss business models issues

it may take a bit of time for library uptake of Web Services and SOA concepts and technologies

3. more Web Services

pull from DEFF e-learning

journals, books, everything as Web Services - for consumption by Blackboard, CampusNet, Open Source LMS...

*** projects trying to satisfy these needs

4. beyond the library domain

DEFF e-publishing is building a national research database and repository architecture based on XML Web Services

* The collaboration with the Danish Universities Digital Governance Project has created an opportunity
to integrate the admin and library domains e.g. systems to create reading lists

* would also like to be able to create a national portfolio system for students, to capture their work

(my note: another application that has been discussed for these systems is national research portfolio for scientists)

["complex" architecture diagram]

* Is there a simple architecture?

synchronize local student portfolios (using harvesting and aggregation) with national portfolio
requires standard person id

how do you scale to e.g. pan-European? intercontinental?

5. contribute to open source and international cooperation

* X2Z gateway released, more to follow
* Fedora as generic repository architecture
- contribute especially in the areas of search and preservation services
- Euro Fedora User Meeting

6. bring vendors into the game

* Library system vendors et al. are starting to show interest in Web Services

Perspectives for the next couple of years

* implementing more web services
- OAI-based cross-searching services for research databases and library catalogues
* facilitating more exploitation
- implement best-practice examples of portals based on Web Services and open-source software
* crossing library domain boundaries
- contribute to the development of e-Science infrastructures in Denmark
* open source
- continue Fedora cooperation
* bring in commercial vendors
* exploit VIEWS - Vendor Initiative for Enabling Web Services