On Mon, 16 Apr 2001 15:03:46 David Forslund wrote:
...
>>For example, the OIO Library also supports exchange of OIO forms. Perhaps
>>in the future, it will support exchange of GEHR archetypes, FreePM
>>templates, and DTD from OpenEMed system? Maybe even translating between them?
>
>We need to have some way of expressing these templates (or even translating
>between different template "languages".
Exactly. It seems that RDF is a good way to go. Can you think of anything more
appropriate at this point?
...
>>However, for portability to another OIO Library or a
>>non-OIO Library content server, we need an XML or RDF data export/import
>>mechanism.
>
>So the OIO Library ought to have a way of requesting the metadata in an RDF
>form. This could be very important for computers talking to computers
>rather than presenting the information to a person.
Yes. Once we decide on RDF, this part is not too hard. OIO is already using a Zope XML
document parser for the plug-and-play web-forms. I will modify it slightly to parse
the RDF.
...
>>Once that button is clicked, the RDF or OIO-form will
>>be downloaded! That is what I was referring to.
>
>But this seems to me to be the last step in the process. Adding a button
>for downloading in a particular format is easy, but deciding how to express
>metadata is the important part.
If we decide on RDF, I will install "the button" for each page in the OIO Library and
hopefully someone will find a use for it. The part that I worry about is no one is
going to use it. Implementing it is the easy part :-(.
What are you supposed to do with a RDF document anyways after you download it? :-)
...
>>Are you saying that the user should download both a RDF and another XML
>>document? Kind of like DTD + XML document?
>
>Something like this. XMI is certainly an alternative to this, but is
>considerably more verbose. But it should be possible to provide a
>one-to-one mapping between XMI and RDF.
Got it! Should we do RDF then?
...
>The same is true for XMI. Metadata containers can contain content,
>too. It may take discipline to just have the metadata.
If we are going to use the RDF document for swapping metadata between different
instances and installations of medical record systems, wouldn't it be more convenient
if the RDF document is self-contained?
Even for swapping "project information" say between Minoru, LinuxMedNews, and the OIO
Library, wouldn't a single RDF file be more convenient? What is the advantage of
transporting a RDF document plus an XML document?
>What is the meaning of a template?
A document that assists in the construction of other documents.
...
>>So, it boils down to generating an
>>RDF document or a HTML document from the same data source? If the OIO
>>Library generates a RDF document describing OpenEMed, for example, why
>>should it also generate another XML document describing OpenEMed?
>
>I'm not sure of the meaning of your question. It is valuable to have a
>Metadata repository (a la the MOF of the OMG) which only contains
>descriptions of the data contained (in a much smaller container) separate
>from the actual data.
Right. Continuing with this example, I would consider all of the OpenEMed information
now residing in the OIO Library as only a very abbreviated description of OpenEMed.
Therefore, OIO Library can be seen as only managing the "metadata" that pertain to
OpenEMed. Is this correct?
>That is what people are trying to do in creating templates or
>archetypes. The real data would be validated against the
>metadata much like it is with a DTD.
In this case, the metadata about OpenEMed was manually submitted and manually edited
by the Editorial staff at OIO Library. If there is a way to automagically abstract the
"metadata" directly from OpenEMed's website, then we can automate the metadata
construction process.
So, when we have a button that downloads the "metadata" for OpenEMed project, it
should contain a structured description of the OpenEMed project, rather than
describing another document that describes the OpenEMed project?
Thanks,
Andrew
---
Andrew P. Ho, M.D.
OIO: Open Infrastructure for Outcomes
www.TxOutcome.Org
Assistant Clinical Professor
Department of Psychiatry, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
University of California, Los Angeles
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