IMPLEMENTING A ROBUST ARCHITECTURE
FOR A CENTRALIZED PORTAL SYSTEM
The PORTAL to TEXAS HISTORY
Hosted by the University of North Texas Libraries
Administrators
work with the
diverse
contributors to
set guidelines
for metadata
creation and
quality control..
Metadata
entry is
facilitated by
a specially
designed
client
program.
Metadata can
be directly
entered into
the Portal via
WWW.
Records are
built upon an
XML schema
within the
Portal
architecture.
A PHPenabled
Apache
webserver
serves as the
backbone of
the Portal.
Masters are
stored on an
offsite
archived that
is indexed by
the metadata
records.
Summary:
Architectural complexity of the portal system may have a significant impact on
the overall efficiency, interoperability, preservation, and provenance issues.
UNT’s Portal project uses open source software configured to support the
needs of various participant institutions and their diverse users. The metadatabased content management software relies heavily on the flexibility of XML data
structures, allowing for a significantly more efficient approach. The advantage
of such a robust architecture is that it integrates all of the useful operations (from
data/metadata entry, to access and preservation) in a more coherent and
systematic way.
Users have
the flexibility
to access
various
customized
interfaces
tailored to fit
their needs.
Advantages Include:
& Allows compliance (with minimal modification) with
widely used standards.
& Facilitates interoperability and collaboration.
& Ensures the seamless integration of heterogeneous
resources and services.
& Provides innovative approaches to tackle several key
issues that emerge in building and managing flexible
library portals.
Daniel Gelaw Alemneh
University of North Texas
Digital Projects Department
P.O. Box 305190
Denton, Texas 76203
[email protected]
(940) 369-7809
(940) 565-2599 (fax)