Old:Repository Development Plan 2006

Status: This page is outdated and of historical use only.

Dryad development plans are documented at Repository Development Plan and Release Notes. Dryad is now using Trello, an interactive tool for managing "cards" associated with Dryads high-level deliverables. For more information on Dryad's use of Trello, see Using Trello. Or simply start looking through the Dryad Trello boards.

Project Plan
9/28/06 - JG

The SILS Metadata Research Center is very pleased to join NESCent in a collaboration to develop “the” leading digital scientific data and research repository for the study and advancement of evolutionary biology.

This document presents a draft working plan to help us understand our collaboration, and guide our work together over the next 10 months.

The initial MRC and NESCent collaboration will involve three phases, with specific tasks to be accomplished during each period. The duration for each phase is listed below, followed by a summary of activities to be pursued and goals to be accomplished during each phase. The three phases break down as follows:


 * Phase 1: Startup, Planning, and Development (September 22-December 31, 2006)
 * Phase 2: EvolutionaryDigiData Repository Design and Metadata Research (January 1, 2007-May 14, 2007)
 * Phase 3: EvolutionaryDigiData Repository Implementation and Metadata Research (May 15-July 31, 2007)

Key activities and tasks for each phase include the following:

Phase One: Startup, Planning, and Development
Phase one will focus on information gathering, sharing, and initial evaluation of metadata structures and components of selected initiatives. This foundation work will inform the design and planning for an evolutionary biology digital scientific data research repository (EvolutionaryDigiData). Two initial tasks are to:
 * Identify the chief goals and objectives underlying the EvolutionaryDigiData repository.
 * Develop a functional model to guide the development of the EvolutionaryDigiData repository.

As part of this foundation work, we will explore and evaluate the KNB metadata framework and it’s feasibility for the needs of evolutionary biologists and an EvolutionaryDigiData repository. In developing a functional model, we will explore other similar initiatives (e.g. the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN) at Columbia University), as well as the applicability and usefulness of existing metadata models and frameworks (e.g., OAIS, Fedora, and UDDI).

Phase one will also include the planning of a NESCent/MRC sponsored Workshop to be held in early 2007 at NESCent. The workshop will bring together leaders from various scientific data sharing initiatives to discuss their successes and challenges, and help us plan for the next steps of the EvolutionaryDigiData repository. Workshop planning activities include defining the scope, establishing goals and intended outcomes, and identifying and inviting participants.

Phase Two: EvolutionaryDigiData Repository Design and Metadata Research Plans
Phase two will focus on repository design and metadata research plans. The main activities include:
 * Conceptualizing and developing the infrastructure for the EvolutionaryDigiData repository.
 * Developing a metadata research plan
 * Holding the scientific metadata workshop at NESCent (supported by NESCent and the MRC).
 * Writing an NSF proposal to fund the development of the EvolutionaryDigiData repository.

NESCent’s informatics staff and MRC staff will work together, to develop a proof-of-concept, beta system/infrastructure to support further development and growth of the larger EvolutionaryDigiData repository. The EvolutionaryDigiData repository will be developed independently or in conjunction with the KNB initiative, depending on the results from our analysis conducted during phase one. Our work will be based on the functional model developed during phase one.

During this phase, the MRC will develop a metadata research plan, and conduct preliminary metadata analyses related to the beta system to inform the future design of the EvolutionaryDigiData repository. The MRC will also develop a more extensive metadata research plan to coincide with the growth of the EvolutionaryDigiData repository, and the larger scope of metadata supporting scientific data repositories.

Phase two activities will include hosting the scientific metadata workshop at NESCent, and writing an NSF proposal to support the full development of the EvolutionaryDigiData repository.

During phase two we will also begin to disseminate our research and development work, and share our ideas, plans, and preliminary findings with larger metadata and scientific data communities.

Phase Three: EvolutionaryDigiData Repository Implementation and Metadata Research
Phase three will allow us to continue phase two activities on a more sophisticated/detailed level. By this time we will have had the opportunity to more thoroughly assess the KNB and other initiatives, and we will be in the process of integrating EvolutionaryDigiData repository model with the KNB community, or developing our own repository that could be interoperable, on some level, with the KNB system.

The metadata research plans developed in phase two will also guide our research activities. Areas of metadata study that have been currently identified as foci include automatic metadata generation; metadata quality evaluation; metadata interoperability and ontological integration; and the study of knowledge structure relationships (the relationships between data sets and published research). We are also interested in exploring scientists behavioral issues related to data sharing and open access with in the evolutionary biology community, and planning an usability study of for the EvolutionaryDigiData repository. The work during phase two will help us to determine the metadata research priorities, and the areas where analyses will best inform the future development and sustainability of the repository.