Acronyms and Vocabulary

API = application program interface, for example an API allows indexing of searching of DSpace content, using a Java freeware search engine called Lucene
http://jakarta.apache.org/lucene/docs/index.html .
BSD = Berkeley Standard Distribution, see www.opensource.org .
CDWA = Categories for the Description of Works of Art, developed by CIMI (Computer Interchange of Museum Information ) and AITF (Art Information Task Force), including elements for orientation, dimensions, condition, etc.
Celestial = software that harvests metadata from OAI-compliant repositories and re-exposes that metadata to other services - in effect an OAI cache.
CIMI = prior to December 15, 2003, Consortium for the Computer Interchange of Museum Information, developed CDWA.
CNRI = Corporation for National Research Initiatives www.cnri.reston.va.us .
Creative Commons = a non-profit offering alternatives to full copyright http://creativecommons.org/ .
Crosswalks = visual maps showing relationships among metadata in different databases to enable searching federated repositories, or more generally, mapped relationships between schemas.
CSDGM = Content Standard for Digital Geospatial Metadata, or FGDC-STD-001-1998, for describing geospatial datasets (topographic data, demographic data, GIS, computer-aided cartography files).
DA = digital archives.
DC = Dublin Core, a set of 15 metadata elements that can be used by any community to describe and search across a wide variety of information resources on the World Wide Web
DCMI = Dublin Core Metadata Initiative http://dublincore.org/
DIP = dissemination information package
DOI = digital object identifier, a name assigned to objects of intellectual property http://www.doi.org/ .
DRM = digital rights management.
Dublin Core LAP = Libraries Working Group Application Profile (descriptive attributes of a document such as author, title, etc)
EAD = Encoded Archival Description, an SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) DTD (Document Type Definition) for marking up the data in finding aids for online searching and display. Developed at UC-Berkeley, it is now maintained and supported as a standard by the Library of Congress and sponsored by the Society of American Archivists. The EAD can be used to represent complete archival structures, including hierarchies and associations. The kinds of functionality that EAD affords can also be implemented using Dublin Core, and it is also possible to migrate records from Dublin Core into the EAD format if necessary. More information on EAD is available at http://www.loc.gov/ead .
FGDC = Federal Geographic Data Committee, developed CSDGM.
Federated searching = searching across heterogeneous databases that follow different metadata standards rather than trying to convert all databases to one standard. Should be better than Z39.50 searching, which is keyword only, resulting in high recall, low precision.
GIS = Geographic Information Systems.
GNU = GNU's not Unix. Project started by Richard Stallman that has turned into the Free Software Foundation (FSF) to develop and promote alternatives to proprietary UNIX implementations, to build Unix(R)(TM)-compatible utilities and programs exclusively based on free program source code.
Granularity = level of detail, as in describing digital objects with metadata. E.g. for a video, identify the film as a unit, or each frame? describe a website as en entity, or each page within? depends on access need
Handle = persistent identifier or name for digital objects and other resources on the Internet. Can be used as Uniform Resource Names (URNs). URLs (locations) are not persistent.
Harmony Project = http://www.metadata.net/harmony/
IETF = CNRI's Internet Engineering Task Force .
= a framework to allow various schemes for transactions related to different genres such as music, journal articles, and books.
IR = institutional repositories
Jakarta Lucene = search engine, used by MIT for searching DSpace
Metadata standards: three important for web are 1) keyword and description metatags implemented by search engines, 2) Dublin Core Metadata Initiative, and 3) Resource Description Framework.
LOM = Learning Object Metadata, an IEEE standard to enable the use and re-use of technology-supported learning resources such as computer-based training.
METS = Metadata Encoding and Transmission Standard, an XML schema for describing complex digital library objects, allowing management of digital library objects within repositories and exchange among repositories.
MIME = Multipurpose internet mail extension (so mail can recognize file types like .doc .jpg etc.).
MPEG-7 = standard for metadata elements, structure and relationships used to describe audiovisual objects (still pics, graphics, 3D models, music, audio, speech, video, or multimedia collections).
MPEG-21 = standard to provide framework for interoperability of digital multimedia objects.
MODS = Metadata Object Description Schema, a derivative of MARC 21, for rich description of electronic resources.
MrSID = Multi-resolution Seamless Image Database, a powerful wavelet-based image compressor, viewer and file format for massive raster images that enables instantaneous viewing and manipulation of images locally and over networks while maintaining maximum image quality
NDLP = National Digital Library Program.
OAI = Open Archives Initiative.
OAICat = OCLC's open source framework http://www.oclc.org/research/software/oai/cat.htm OAI/PMH = OAI protocol for metadata harvesting, enabling ability to harvest other digital archives and to be data providers for other digital archives so they may harvest metadata
OAIS = Open Archival Information System, a conceptual framework for an archival system dedicated to preserving and maintaining access to digital information over the long term.
OCW = Open CourseWare at MIT
OKI = Open Knowledge Initiative at MIT.
ONIX = Online information Exchange, an XML-based metadata scheme developed by publishers for online book sales, and includes elements for evaluative and promotional information on books (reviews, blurbs, book jackets, etc.).
PURL = persistent URL
RDF data = Resource Description Framework - a metadata standard. A formal data model from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) for machine understandable metadata used to provide standard descriptions of web resources. It uses eXtensible Markup Language (XML). It is similar in intent to the Dublin Core, although perhaps broader in its scope and purpose. See the W3C RDF Page for further information.
RSS = RDF Site Summary. A lightweight multipurpose extensible metadata description and syndication format. RSS is an XML application, conforms to the W3C's RDF specification and is extensible via XML-namespace and/or RDF based modularization.
Schema = sets of metadata elements designed for a specific purpose, such as describing a particular type of information resource. There are schemas for describing web resources, electronic texts, digital objects, finding aids, learning objects, visual objects, multimedia, datasets, and so forth. Examples are Dublin Core, TEI, METS, MODS, EAD, indecs, ONIX, DCWA, VRA, MPEG-7, CSDGM, and DDI.
SFX = an open URL protocol link server from Ex Libris http://www.exlibrisgroup.com/sfx.htm
TEI = Text Encoding Initiative, developed guidelines for marking up electronic texts.
tuples = qualifiers and modifiers in a metadata structure
Unicode = provides a unique number for every character, no matter what the platform, no matter what the program, no matter what the language. See http://www.unicode.org/
URI = uniform resource identifier
URL = uniform resource locator, a type of URI
URN = universal resource name, a type of URI .
VRA Core Categories = metadata schema whose elements describe a work of art as well as visual representations thereof.
WebChoir = thesaurus management tool. See www.webchoir.com
Wrappers = environment where a search is done, and then links to other content are automatically available within the original interface, unlike federated searching. See http://www.njit.edu/publicinfo/press_releases/release_544.php
XML = Extensible Markup Language for describing data. Works with HTML to display data. XHTML may be the successor to HTML and the future language of the Web. See http://www.w3schools.com/xml/xml_whatis.asp .