Computer Science Technical Reports
CS at VT

Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, Societies (5S): A Formal Model for Digital Libraries

Goncalves, Marcos Andre and Fox, Edward A. and Watson, Layne T. and Kipp, Neill A. (2003) Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, Societies (5S): A Formal Model for Digital Libraries. Technical Report TR-03-04, Computer Science, Virginia Tech.

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Abstract

Digital libraries (DLs) are complex information systems and therefore demand formal foundations lest development efforts diverge and interoperability suffers. In this paper, we propose the fundamental abstractions of Streams, Structures, Spaces, Scenarios, and Societies (5S), which allow us to define digital libraries rigorously and usefully. Streams are sequences of arbitrary items used to describe both static and dynamic (e.g., video) content. Structures can be viewed as labeled directed graphs, which impose organization. Spaces are sets with operations on those sets that obey certain constraints. Scenarios consist of sequences of events or actions that modify states of a computation in order to accomplish a functional requirement. Societies are sets of entities and activities and the relationships between and among them. Together these abstractions provide a formal foundation to define, relate, and unify concepts - among others, of digital objects, metadata, collections, and services - required to formalize and elucidate "digital libraries". The applicability, versatility and unifying power of the 5S model are demonstrated through its use in three distinct applications: building and interpretation of a DL taxonomy, informal and formal analysis of case studies of digital libraries (NDLTD and OAI), and utilization as a formal basis for a DL description language.

Item Type:Departmental Technical Report
Keywords:digital libraries, theory, foundations, taxonomy, definitions, applications
Subjects:Computer Science > Digital Libraries
ID Code:653
Deposited By:Administrator, Eprints
Deposited On:24 August 2005