Subject: Re: The Policy of GILS -Forwarded
Eliot Christian (echristi@usgs.gov)
Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 08:21:48 -0400
Message-Id: <Version.32.19980824081733.010c6c40@opsmail.er.usgs.gov> Date: Mon, 24 Aug 1998 08:21:48 -0400 To: gils@cni.org From: Eliot Christian <echristi@usgs.gov> Subject: Re: The Policy of GILS -Forwarded In-Reply-To: <35DC46A9.B1DD72B4@fgdclearhs.er.usgs.gov> References: <s5cf0947.020@USGS.GOV>
On 8/20/98, Doug Nebert <ddnebert@fgdclearhs.er.usgs.gov> wrote:
>
> I believe that the main shortcoming of the current GILS architecture
> is that GILS resource services themselves are not organized or
> discoverable through a single mechanism. In the old WAIS world,
> we had a Directory of Servers, effectively mapping out all the known
> information servers that could be connected to. The server of servers
> notion provided an initial approach to a very heterogeneous set of
> databases out there, but always provided a user with a starting point.
>
> In the geospatial data realm, we have required that Clearinghouse
> services (also using Z39.50) all register in a central registry (there
> are now 85 compatible servers with similar searchable attributes
> and formatted responses. The result of this is that Web-to-Z39.50
> gateways are provided with an updated list of all the searchable
> servers so that a single query may be made in parallel, through the
> commercial BlueAngel MetaStar Gateway, to many systems at the
> same time. Without this facility, the information access across
> the geospatial community would be inhibited and little better than
> maintaining lists of random searchable websites. We are planning
> to load the registry entries themselves into a Z39.50 service so that
> one can perform advised searches of servers based on server-
> level metadata.
>
> I'd suggest a similar approach for GILS, perhaps focused on subsets
> of the government information community (e.g. US fed, US nonfed,
> Australia, etc.) that would foster coordinated single-point search of
> many kindred information services. Singular GILS servers to known
> GILS clients don't very effectively flesh-out the broader information
> space. In conclusion, a GILS server-of-servers (in GILS of course)
> or selective Gateways would do the most to overcome this localized
> inability to see the wider GILS community as "one."
Hi Doug
The GPO Access system has assumed a role as a central registry
for the U.S. Federal GILS. Unfortunately, GPO itself has never
implemented the GILS Profile at either the client or server end--
they just use the old WAIS protocol.
Eliot Christian, US Geological Survey, 802 National Center, Reston VA 20192
echristi@usgs.gov Office 703-648-7245 FAX 703-648-7112 Home 703-476-6134
This archive was generated by hypermail 2a16 : Tue Mar 23 1999 - 03:55:43 EST