Download 380E_SP16_Week7

Information Structures:
Standards
Week 7 Lecture notes
INF 380E: Perspectives on Information
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Standards
• Generally speaking, a standard is simply an
agreed-upon way of doing things
• What does this mean when it comes to:
– the communication of information
– information organization
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Communication standards
• Standardization is at the heart of our ability to
communicate.
• At one level, we agree upon the words for things.
– and the ways of putting words together into sentences
• At another level, we agree that make making
noises with our vocal chords is a way to send
information.
– as is making marks on paper
– as is making certain kinds of movements
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Communication over networks
• In order to communicate over electronic
networks, certain standard protocols have
been developed.
• As well as standardized models for how the
pieces of a network fit together.
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TCP
• The Transmission Control Protocol is a set of
rules for transmitting data in a reliable way
such that it can be transmitted over a
network.
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Internet addresses are standardized
• each internet address is a pattern of 128 bits
– this can be represented in a decimal notation
• the pattern gives a blocked structure to network
locations
– internet service providers are allotted blocks and
provide individual addresses to users
• there is then an addressing system that
associates a domain name that can be used to
access information at a particular network
address
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HTTP
• The Hypertext Transmission Protocol is a
particular way to package text-like information
and send/retrieve it over a network.
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HTML
• is a standardized way to encode text-like
information such that it is ready to be
transmitted across the web.
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Interoperability
• HIMSS
– interoperability is the ability of different
information technology systems and software
applications to communicate, exchange data, and
use information that has been exchanged
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Three Levels of Interoperability
(HIMSS)
1. foundational
• allows data exchange from one information technology
system to be received by another
• does not require the ability for the receiving
information technology system to interpret the data.
• System B can “receive” data from System A
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Three Levels of Interoperability
(HIMSS)
2. structural
• relies on the syntax of the data exchange.
• ensures that data exchanges between information
technology systems can be interpreted at the data field
level.
• system B can “read in” data from system A
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Three Levels of Interoperability
(HIMSS)
3. semantic
• ability of two or more systems or elements to
exchange information and to use the information that
has been exchanged
• relies on both the structuring of the data exchange and
the codification of the data -- including vocabulary -- so
that the receiving information technology systems can
interpret the data.
• system B can “understand” data from system A
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Activity
• Move into groups.
• Say hello to your group members and remind
each other of your names.
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Three Levels of Interoperability
1. foundational
• allows data exchange from one information technology system to be
received by another
• does not require the ability for the receiving information technology
system to interpret the data.
• System B can “receive” data from System A
2. structural
• relies on the syntax of the data exchange.
• ensures that data exchanges between information technology systems
can be interpreted at the data field level.
• system B can “read in” data from system A
3. semantic
• ability of two or more systems or elements to exchange information
and to use the information that has been exchanged
• relies on both the structuring of the data exchange and the
codification of the data including vocabulary so that the receiving
information technology systems can interpret the data.
• system B can “understand” data from system A
14
Development and implementation
• By developing shared standards we can have
more universal descriptions
• A standard is an agreed-upon way of making a
series of choices
– some technical
– some conceptual
• By documenting our choice of standards we
make our descriptions more useful
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Standards for Interoperability in
Science
• Bowker and Millerand describe the
development of a metadata system for
ecological data
• to support the “frictionless circulation of data
across diverse technical platforms,
organizational environments, disciplines, and
institutions”
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Challenges
• Local practices for describing ecological data
traditionally oriented around production of
scientific papers
– e.g. data recorded in units shaped for the research
project at hand
– organization and description of data by scientists
• Not around creation of shareable, universally
reusable datasets
– requires a system-level perspective
– and orientation around datasets as products
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Challenges of another sort
• Nunberg points to some problems in Google
Books metadata.
– This metadata is, in some sense, very
standardized.
– What are some of the problems?
– Where do they seem to come from?
• Is this an over-application of computational
thinking?
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Principles and Practicalities
Find partner and discuss:
• What are some of the principles discussed by
Duval, et al.?
• What types of metadata do they discuss and
how do those types interact with the desire
for standardization?
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The Europeana Data Model
• This data model for metadata is intended to
provide a structure that can address some of
the principles described by Duval, et al.
• The data model
– separates a resource from descriptions of the
resource
– allow many separate descriptions of the same
resource to be aggregated
– then users should be able to access the version of
the description that works best for them
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