Prototype digital archive under development

The NDLP is working with the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI) to develop a prototype archive using a Handle Server for the address lookup, and a Repository for managing the digital objects.

The Handle Server is a mechanism for supporting URNs (Uniform Resource Names) across the Internet. It is not limited to objects stored at LC or in the LC digital archive. It is one of a number of URN mechanisms being encouraged by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Compared with the other candidate mechanisms, the Handle Server scheme emphasizes the long-term persistence of names. The Handle Server is already being used in conjunction with several projects involving archives of digital information, including the CORDS project for the U.S. Copyright Office at LC.

The Repository is a new type of information management structure, a concept under development and refinement in a joint project involving LC and the Corporation for National Research Initiatives (CNRI). CNRI also developed the Handle Server. The Repository structure is to be incorporated into the CORDS project in early 1996.

During 1996, selected items, primarily from the Coolidge Collection, will be added to a pilot repository at CNRI, which will be tested and refined. The statement of work (12/21/95) calls for an initial prototype repository using the RS6000 UNIX environment at the Library of Congress by late 1996. This prototype will support: input and update of digital objects and related metadata; recognition that an object may be part of another object or consist of several parts stored as individual objects; and retrieval and display using Netscape and WebExplorer, the graphical browsers in use at LC for World Wide Web access. Further functionality will be added, including access control, after the initial phase.

Delve deeper for further discussion of:

• The CNRI Handle Server
• The CNRI Repository Prototype
• The CORDS project at the U.S. Copyright Office, which will enable copyright applicants to prepare copyright applications and deposit materials in machine readable formats.

Related reading from outside the Library of Congress:

Key Concepts in the Architecture of the Digital Library, William Y. Arms, D-Lib Magazine, July 1995. [At http://www.dlib.org/dlib/July95/07arms.html].

In this article, based on a presentation at the April 1995 meeting of the Coalition of Networked Information (CNI), Bill Arms of CNRI introduces the handle-server and repository in simple terms and diagrams. For a much more formal description of the concepts behind the repository architecture, follow the link to the cited article by Kahn and Wilensky.

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(12/27/95)