Hi Matthew,
> Don't worry, I'll be fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with you on the > barricades before the registry is killed or indeed replaced. What we
Great to hear.
And I agree that future uses of the VO might mean separating the detail metadata from the registry entirely, even in the AstroGrid system. But for now, to match the responsiveness of existing applications while extending their functionality into the VO arena, we must be able to provide those apps with detailed metadata at the same time as the location and core-level metadata. What we cannot do is provide users with more functionality (able to get at any dataset anywhere) but at the expense of having to sit around and wait while the app gets the detail metadata after they've selected their datasets.
Even in the future when we have these radically new search techniques, I really do not think we will lose the need to cache detailed metadata alongside the core stuff. Let's face it, Google does not just store the location of pages with their titles, it stores fully detailed metadata about every single page. It is only when you go to the page itself that you might see slight differences based on cache vs actual.
Cheers,
Tony.
Matthew Graham wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Tony Linde wrote:
>> > metadata stores or we can separate these and keep the registry simple >> > and create a different kind of infrastructure for the data dictionary >> >> I have no problem with conceiving of splitting the location and >> description roles of the registry but let's not kill the registry >> *before* we've implemented its replacement. >> >> T.
>> Matthew Graham wrote: >>> Hi, >>> >>> I'm inclined to agree with Bob. We invented the registry as an >>> alternative to UDDI, which did not do exactly what we wanted, for >>> resource discovery and not as a generic metadata store. As I have >>> said before, we can overload the registry concept and use the >>> existing infrastructure (plus some epicyclic extensions) to provide >>> general metadata stores or we can separate these and keep the >>> registry simple and create a different kind of infrastructure for the >>> data dictionary stuff. >>> >>> Cheers, >>> >>> Matthew >>> >>> >>> >>> Robert Hanisch wrote: >>>> I don't really have the time right now to engage in this lively >>>> debate, but >>>> it does bother me to see history being rewritten in order to support >>>> certain >>>> points of view. >>>> >>>> The registry was conceived as a resource location service. The >>>> formative >>>> document describes resource metadata. The name of the working group is >>>> Resource Registry. There has been debate for a long time on how far >>>> to push >>>> the registry in the direction of detailed service-level metadata. The >>>> origins were simple, however. The "radical change to the way the VO >>>> works" >>>> is coming from adding increasing complexity and overhead to a simple >>>> concept. This is not unique to the registry, but it is clear in the >>>> case of >>>> the registry that even the simple stuff is not done well or completely. >>>> >>>> I have never been convinced by the arguments for including things >>>> like table >>>> column names and UCDs in the registry. The use case recently cited, >>>> that of >>>> dynamically building SEDs by locating catalogs with relevant columns >>>> would, >>>> I think, never be trusted by astronomers doing research. They trust >>>> NED >>>> SEDs because astronomers working for NED collect and curate the >>>> measurements. In the VO case, they need to assess the quality of a >>>> resource >>>> before deciding to use/trust its contents. >>>> >>>> I suggest that everyone take a deep breath, step away from their >>>> desks for a >>>> while, and try to recall what the VO is really about. Key issues >>>> are data >>>> discovery, interoperability, and a low barrier to participation. >>>> >>>> This should be an interesting Interop meeting! >>>> >>>> Bob >>>> >>>> >>>> >>> >>
--
Tony Linde
Phone: +44 (0)116 223 1292 Mobile: +44 (0)785 298 8840
Fax: +44 (0)116 252 3311 Email: Tony.Linde-at-leicester.ac.uk
Post: Department of Physics & Astronomy,
University of Leicester
Leicester, UK LE1 7RH
Web: http://www.star.le.ac.uk/~ael
Project Manager, EuroVO VOTech http://eurovotech.org
Programme Manager, AstroGrid http://www.astrogrid.org
Received on 2007-05-08Z19:01:11