OpeniWorld:eLearn2008
Interoperability Summit and Developer Boot Camp
Developer Boot Camp
Verbena Consulting instructor Jeff Kahn will be leading the Developer Boot Camp sessions of the OiW at MERLOT event. The course focuses on the use of the Open Knowledge Initiative Repository Open Services Interface Definition (Repository OSID), in combination with other education standards and industry best practices, to address several solution spaces:
(1) Exposing content to consuming applications. This section shows developers how to expose content from a repository, including browse, search, metadata, upload, and download, using an interoperability standard developed by O.K.I. and refined and validated across the industry. When developers are working with a content system that already has a programmatic mechanism for this work, the training focuses on fitting their existing approach into a OSID implementation. When developers have a content system with no programmatic mechanism for browse and search, additional discussion can cover best practices and design suggestions. Sample topics include:
• Mapping content systems to one or more "Repository" objects
• Authentication and Authorization approaches
• "Repository" object metadata
• "Repository" configuration
• Browsing a "Repository"
• Basic and Advanced Searching of a "Repository"
• Repository "Assets" and their metadata
• Navigating the result set
• "Asset" versions, metadata inheritance, and "shadow" metadata
• Strategies for improving how "Assets" appear in federated searches
• Retaining your brand
• Using the OSID Testing Framework for Test-Driven Development
• Packaging OSID implementations for a Registry
(2) Federated search of content systems from a user-facing application. The operations can be performed in a dedicated federated search tool, a pedagogical tool, a presentation tool, etc. Examples of user-facing applications with this capability include a Blackboard Build Block for Federated Search, The Visual Understanding Environment (VUE) from Tufts University, Visualizing Cultures from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the presentation tool, Pachyderm, and others. Developers may have an existing application that needs a federated search function or a modification of this support. The application may be dedicated to discovering content in a specific repository and may need to introduce an extensibility strategy to support content from new sources. Developers may not have an application written yet, but know that federated search, browse, etc, will be required. Sample topics include:
• Discovering new sources of content; installation and update
• Configuring (including authentication and authorization) instances of Repository OSID implementations
• Browsing one or more repositories
• Search a single repository or a federated search
• Reconciling different levels of search support, metadata schema, and asset types across repositories
• Organizing result sets from a federated search
• Exposing repository brands in federated search results
• Working with an implementation registry: discover, install, update, uninstall, configure
(3) Creating a registry of OSID implementations or applications. Some organizations want to manage OSID implementations or applications in a registry. The registry acts as a catalog for discover and a quality control measure. Sample topics include:
• Discussion of the Registry OSID and its reference implementation
• Discussion of options for a repository of implementations and applications
• Review of suggested catalog metadata
• Manual installation options to compliment use of the registry
(4) The Repository OSID has been as a component in a number of use cases. A discussion will review:
• Federated submission
• Asset migration
• A Case Study of moving from raw assets to an extensible system
Format
The Boot Camp will include a mix of brief lectures and hands-on development. Developers are free to work with instructor-provided sample code, but are also encouraged to bring specific content system or application projects. Based on the length of the course and the number of participants, there will be time for coding and an interoperability "plug fest".
Deliverables
Participants in the course will receive copies all appropriate materials, including documentation and source code. Participants can join a graduates-only mailing list, which provides a support community with no expiration date.
Requirements
Participants must complete appropriate pre-work prior to attending the Boot Camp. Pre-work will be posted to the Boot Camp Wiki. Participants must provide their own computers and development environment. The meeting room requires Internet access, a laptop project, and suitable power for the number of participants. The maximum number of participants is 10.