New Task GroupCRIS Architecture & Development

Maximilian StempfhuberRWTH Aachen University Librarystempfhuber@bth.rwth-aachen.de

AgendaA view to research informationThe role of CERIF

As a data modelIn the CRIS development process

Why a new Task Group?Task Group’s Mission

Information & Research Process

Work programmWork programm

Project proposalProject proposal

ProjectProject

ResultsResults

TransferTransfer

Wealth creationWealth creation

Research organisationsResearch programmesResearch strategyState of the ArtProposal Management

Project management(Human)ResourcesInfrastructureExperimentsPublication managementCommunicationResearch dataSoftwarePrizes, patents

ExpertiseCommercial products

KnowledgeWealthExcellence

ResearchInform

ation

CRIS Semantic & Temporal Aspects

ProjectProject

Org. UnitOrg. Unit

FundingProgramme

FundingProgramme

PersonPerson

ExpertiseCV

ResultsResults

PublicationsEventsSoftwarePatents

Current Research Information System

CERIF A Data Model for CRISCommon European Research Information Format

Equipment

ProjectProject OrganisationOrganisation

Service

Funding Programme

Patent

Skills

CV

Product

Event

PersonPerson

Classification(Semantics )

Classification(Semantics )

Publication

CERIF A Data Model for CRISCommon European Research Information Format

• Entity Relationship Model• Generators for several DBMS• CERIF-XML as exchange format• Code of Good Practice

• Commercial software systems• Proprietary implementations

Same Model…… different results

Current ProcessRESPONSIBILITY PROCESS

RIS proposal

RISDesign

InformationProcessing

Reject

Reject

Reject

Accept

Accept

Accept

RTD-PromoterSteering Group

Development FunctionPublishing Function

RTD-PromoterSteering Group

Collection FunctionProduction FunctionMarketing Function

RTD-Promoter

ConceptAnyone

Project Manager

Reject

Accept

RTD-PromoterSteering Group

Publishing/Distribution

Maintenance

CONTROLS

RIS Proposal - Definition of Purpose - Identification of Users - Definition of Content

RIS Design Plan - Database Specification - Structure and Presentation - Classification and Indexing - Search and Navigation

RIS Information Processing Plan - Data Collection Plan - Collection Guidelines - Quality Control Plan - Acceptance Test Plan

Distribution PlanMarketing Plan (revisited)Economoic model (implementation)

Maintenance Plan /Acceptance

Concept Acceptance

RIS Proposal Acceptance

RIS Development Acceptance

Information processing acceptanceStructuredOutput

Ong

oing

Proc

ess

Rev

iew

Marketing Plan- Market Analysis- Cost benefit analysis/ economic model

Code of Good Practice• Organizational view• Covers whole process• Waterfall-like

Missing Aspects• (Software) Architecture• Technology• Reference Implementation

Looking Beyond…… the CRIS domain• Administrative systems at the institution• Local information systems (OAR etc.)• Community systems (ResearchGate etc.)• Clusters of Excellence (Idea League)• Virtual Organizations (Fraunhofer,

Helmholtz, Leibniz, Max-Planck)

CERIF-CRIS Connectivity

CERIF-CRISProjects, Persons, Org. Units,

Publications, Events,Research Programmes, etc.

CERIF-CRISProjects, Persons, Org. Units,

Publications, Events,Research Programmes, etc.

CERIF-CRISProjects, Persons, Org. Units,

Publications, Events,Research Programmes, etc.

CERIF-XML CERIF-XML

InstitutionalRepository

Research DataRepository

Finance HumanResources

ProjectManagement

Community CRIS

euroCRIS Strategy

euroCRISeuroCRIS

Enhance existing CRIS

Fill gaps withnew CRIS

Connect CRISwith a commonCERIF wrapper

Create standardized,reusable services

The Gap…

CERIF

Concrete System

Code of Good Practice

high

low

Ag

reem

ents

, S

tan

dar

ds,

Bes

t P

ract

ices

, R

e-U

se

… between model and implementation

What’s Missing?

Operating System

Database Management System

CERIF

Data Access Layer

Business Logic

User Interface

CERIF-XML

Sear

ch, H

arve

sting

, Ser

vice

s

Code

of G

ood

Prac

tice

Why is it important?

20CERIF

: 80 Development & Testing

What can be gained…… for euroCRIS as an organization?• Community building• Exchange• Reuse• Evolution• Spreading ideas & Connectivity… beyond CERIF

What can be gained…… for euroCRIS members?• Using building blocks• Reducing development & testing• Getting additional functionality• Opening ones system & content… even in combination with

commercial software

Requirements• Requirements engineering• (Functional) Software specification• Code of Good Practice (Updated)• Best Practice Examples / DRIS (Updated)• Available (commercial) solutions

Database Systems• Paradigms (Relational, Object-Oriented,

XML, multi-dimensional DBMS)• Systems (IBM DB2, Oracle, PostgreSQL;

commercial vs. Open Source)• Interfaces (ODBC, JDBC, Perl DBI, PEAR)• Query languages (SQL, OQL, XQuery)• Schema evolution / migration

Database Abstraction• Separating software architecture from

the (physical) database model• Encapsulation vs. normalization• Object-Relational-Mapping (ORM)• Schema evolution / migration• Convention over configuration (Coding

by convention) & tool support

Programming & Managing

• Re-use of modules and libraries• Generating CRIS Open Source code base• Share experience with colleagues

– Scalability (e.g. middleware)– Reliability (e.g. components)– Integrated Development Environments (IDE)– Development process (SCRUM, V-Model, MDA, …)

Software Architecture• Permanent evolution vs. re-use

– Development philosophy → architecture– Domain modeling → architecture– Software frameworks → architecture– Tools support → architecture– Programming languages → architecture

• Current buzz words: SOA/REST, Cloud Computing, RIA, BPM, Portal/CMS

Functional Modules• Self containment• Standardized interfaces• Standardized functionality• Standardized input (e.g. CERIF-XML)• Standardized output?• CRIS plug-in architecture needed

Workflow• Business Process Modeling (BPM)• Workflows at the UI level• Quality assurance in CRIS• Event/data-driven services• Drives re-usable software modules (e.g.

input verification, data acquisition) & processes

User Interface• Common / consistent user experience• Re-use of interaction patterns• Sharing solutions (e.g. CSS frameworks)• Sharing knowledge (e.g. accessibility)• Integration CRISs and services

Information Design• Common ways for expressing

– Semantic relationships– Temporal aspects– Qualities & quantities

• Software modules for visualizations– Network graphs– Timelines– Charts, …

• Experiences with commercial software

Statistics & Reporting• Defining recurring information needs• Standardizing on basic data formats• Statistics / reporting as a (re-usable /

commercial) service• Software modules• Layout templates (e.g. XSLT, XML FO)

External Access• Defining public CRIS services

– Functional specification– Interface specification– I/O format specification

• Services– Searching for entities– Data analysis / information extraction

Data Exchange• Harvesting interfaces• Entity extraction• Replication• Federation• Schema mapping

TG Roadmap• Establishing TG Mission• Recruiting TG Members• Initial Survey: Where are we now?

Where are we going?– Technologies used (DMBS, languages etc.)– Methodologies used (SOA, SCRUM, outsourcing etc.)– Gap analysis: Topics for support & exchange, common

modeling of CRIS architectures, abstraction layers, module specifications etc.