地域研究のための資源共有化システムとメタデータに関する研究

Abstract

Area informatics is the new paradigm in area studies to facilitate accumulation and creation of knowledge in areas. In the process, a huge variety of databases such as catalogs, archives, full texts, images, movies, sounds, statistics, and so on, are being organized and published on the Web;these will be the sources of area-specific knowledge. However, it is difficult for researchers to find and access appropriate databases to retrieve resources effectively because each database is independent and dispersed on the Web; furthermore, their data structures and retrieval procedures are different.Resource Sharing System, an outcome of area informatics, is an innovative information retrieval system that has been developed to solve such problems. It is a server-side system that hides from users each database system's particular data structures and retrieval procedures by employing standard metadata and standard retrieval protocols.In this paper, area informatics is introduced through a brief overview of the relationship between area studies and information sciences. After discussing the structure of Resource Sharing System, the new notion of "metadata suites" is introduced and explained. This is a guideline to build databases to be included in Resource Sharing System. Finally, a sample metadata compiled by CIAS is presented and its availabilities discussed.