P088; Presented in Canberra, 27th March, 2008GR000: Presented in Fremantle on 20th October, 2008

GAIA RESOURCES

Experiences in mobilizing biodiversity data – the story of

HermesLite

Tim Carpenter and Piers Higgs

INTRODUCTION

• Motivation

• HermesLite• Overview• Architecture• Implementation

• Implementation at the WA Museum

• Issues

• Directions

MOTIVATION

• Based on our experiences with Museums:• Cost had to be minimal• No capacity to serve data• Need minimal infrastructural change• Remote management necessary

• Funding for WA Museum (WAM) was made available through the Australian Biological Resources Study (ABRS)

• Under existing support arrangements to the WAM, Gaia Resources undertook the actual work

HERMESLITE

Overview

• HermesLite is an application designed to help institutions serve data - in accepted formats and standards - where they don’t have the capacity or resources to do this themselves.

• Open Source• Written in Java• Easy to manage within an institution• Can be remotely managed

HERMESLITE

Overview

• Deployable in two configurations:• Data Retrieval mode: A liteweight,

extensible, configurable Java application to extract and send data to…

• Data Receiver and Storage mode: Extensible Java servlet application to receive, translate and store the data.

• The Data Receiver and Storage mode can also act as the Retrieval mode if databases are local.

HERMESLITE

Internal Collection Database

External Database

HermesLite

Retrieval mode

HermesLite

Receive & Store mode

XML

MapServer

TAPIRLink

HTTPS

Architecture

Internal ServerExternal Server

HERMESLITE

Implementation

• Data Retrieval mode:• Unpack distribution files onto server• Create a configuration file for each database• Set up Java Wrapper Service to run

appropriately• Data Receiver and Storage mode:

• Install HermesLite web application• Extend HermesLite classes• Drop in handler JAR to process data• Install other software, (e.g. TapirLink)

HERMESLITE

Implementation - Data Retrieval

• Configurationvia a simple properties filewithvariables

HERMESLITE

Implementation - Data Storage

• Extend HermesLite classes to process received rows againstchosen dataformat or standard

HERMESLITE

Implementation

• This can represent a considerable organisational change in the way data is delivered

• Be prepared to guide your organisation through this process

EXAMPLE

Western Australian Museum

• Considerable discussion, demonstration, etc (“social engineering”) – still ongoing after four months

• Selection statements for each database (restricting “sensitive” data) – being tuned all the time, curators define these

• Darwin Core format• Restricted the fields being delivered

EXAMPLE

Western Australian Museum

• Production went live on 11th October, 2008• Data services are IP restricted to OZCAM only

WAM Collection Database

Bureau Database

HermesLite

Retrieval mode

HermesLite

Receive & Store mode

XML

MapServer

TAPIRLink

HTTPS

WAM ServerGaia Resource Bureau Server

ISSUES

Two main issues struck during implementation:

• “Social Engineering”

• Life Sciences IDentifier (LSID) resolution

ISSUES

Social Engineering

• Are all parts of the organisation ready to publish their data? Consider:• Management?• Data custodians (curators)?• Information Technology staff/providers?• Customers (both “big” and “little”)?

• Requires considerable cultural changes to organisations, especially when revenue from data provision

ISSUES

LSIDs

• A bureau service has issues with LSID resolution:• Originating institution WAM

(www.museum.wa.gov.au)• Bureau service – hosting and resolving – at

Gaia Resources (www.gaiaresources.com.au)

• Difficulties in getting access to DNS records• Currently investigating opportunities to get

around this by using the OZCAM cache as the LSID resolver

DIRECTIONS

Future Directions

• Discussions with GBIF and the ALA about integrating with other provider toolkits

• Potential use within the Museum community in Australia under the Bureau service model

DIRECTIONS

Collection Database

Bureau Database

HermesLite

Retrieval mode

HermesLite

Receive & Store mode

MapServer

TAPIRLink

Bureau Server

Collection Database

HermesLite

Retrieval mode

SFTP

TAPIRLink

TAPIR XML

Collection Database

CSV

SFTP

HTT

PS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Would not be possible without:

• Funding from the ABRS

• Support from the WAM, both from management and the curators themselves

• Assistance and advice from the Faunal Collections Informatics Group members

MORE INFORMATION

For more information…

• Links and information available from the Gaia Resources web site, including links to the SourceForge project.

www.gaiaresources.com.au