ITR-Promoting Semantic Interoperability of Metadata for Directories of the Future

目录提供了一种定义明确的通用机制，用于描述组织内的企业资源，并使个人和应用程序能够发现这些资源。LDAP(轻量级目录访问协议)目录服务通过定义元数据(架构信息)和访问协议来实现数据共享。虽然这样的目录使能服务可以在组织内提供，但在主组织之外提供或访问这些服务需要对目录元数据的目录体系结构和标准进行重要的协调。这项研究的基础是，跨组织元数据的监测、分类和适当的可视化可以帮助确定实践模式和不断发展的标准，并促进和便利这种元数据的重复使用，这反过来又可以导致标准的自动、动态发展。利用自组织映射和使用遗传算法优化的潜在语义分析/潜在语义索引等技术，开发了与人类专业知识相匹配的元数据自动聚类的解决方案。这些解决方案都经过了实验验证。元数据的可视化是原型。这项研究预计将有助于加强目录元数据的互操作、语义解析、标准演变和管理，这是有效的组织间协作和访问部署在万维网上的数据、应用程序和资源的基础。研究结果将通过会议和期刊出版物以及一个项目网站传播。

Directories provide a well-defined, general mechanism for describing enterprise resources within an organization and enabling their discovery by individuals and applications. LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) directory services enable data sharing by defining both the metadata (schema information) and an access protocol. While such directory enabled services can be provided within an organization, offering or accessing these services beyond the home organization requires significant coordination of directory architectures and standards for directory metadata.This research investigates an alternative to current approaches to enabling interoperability of directory metadata. The research is based on the proposition that monitoring, clustering, and appropriate visualization of cross-organizational metadata can help identify patterns of practice and evolving standards, and promote and facilitate the reuse of such metadata, which in turn can lead to automatic, dynamic evolution of standards. Solutions are developed for automated clustering of metadata at a level matching human expertise, employing such techniques as Self-Organizing Maps and Latent Semantic Analysis/Latent Semantic Indexing, optimized using genetic algorithms. The solutions are experimentally validated. Visualization of metadata is prototyped.The research is expected to contribute to enhancing interoperation, semantic resolution, standards evolution, and management of directory metadata that is fundamental for effective inter-organizational collaboration and access to data, applications and resources that are deployed on the World Wide Web. The results of the research will be disseminated through conference and journal publications, and through a project Web site.