Convergence of Document Management, Records Management, and the Web

Convergence of Document Management, Records Management, and the Web Dennis E. Hamilton NuovoDoc System Architect AIIM DMware Technical Coordinator Dennis.Hamilton@acm.org http://nuovodoc.com/activities/A020401-japan.htm

Convergence of DM, RM, and Web • Web Standards Provide High Interoperability • Attraction of XML • Expansion of Interoperability and Interchange • WebDAV: Distributed Authoring on the Web • WebDAV: Managed-Document Capabilities • Opportunities: Metadata Agreements & Rules • Opportunities: Integration in User Practice • Standards for Stability and Predictability

Web Standards Provide High Interoperability • IETF: Internet Engineering Task Force is Guardian of Internet Interoperability • W3C HTML standards stable with valuable up-down interoperability • Latest application always available -- low deployment and update cost • Web Servers are inexpensive and widely available, with good scaling • Content development accomplished with little or no programming. Software skills not so critical.

Attraction of XML • Carries structure along with data • Public standard – users own and can preserve their own documents • Natural successor to SGML for publishing and HTML for Web presentation • Arbitrary introduction of new elements and attributes of those elements • Common format reused among applications • Simplifies programming with common libraries and utilities • Reduces fragility of electronic documents

Attraction of XML - II XML Modularity • XML 1.0 Standardizes Basic Structures • Name Space specification allows reuse of metadata element definitions • XLINK and XPATH provide connection of material • XML Digital Signature provides authenticity • XML Schema and XSLT Provide presentation and transformations Additional Modules More Specialized

Expansion of Interoperability and Interchange • Government and civil authorities migrating to Web and XML as part of eGovernment initiatives for coordination of all agencies • Financial institutions and commercial firms using XML for eBusiness and Business-to-Business transactions (replacing EDI) • Healthcare services and insurers adopting XML profiles for interchange and preservation of digital medical records • Increasing interchange between different application domains served by XML

Expansion of Interoperability and Interchange - II • Accountability for electronic records expanding in civil, public, and commercial systems • Electronic-document preservation expands with adoption of ISO 9000, CMM, and other quality processes. • Document Management and Records Management each require archiving and preservation. Common solution desired. • Commodity products are everywhere being used in mission-critical applications. • Documents become managed at any time, requiring interoperability into the future • Must assume that managed-document may be accessed by others in the future – cannot employ isolated technology

Expansion of Interoperability and Interchange - III • Began with US Freedom of Information • Validity of Digital Signature makes digital submission of documents as legal as paper submission. • Chief Information Officers of US Federal Agencies working to provide electronic access with equal facility and electronic interchange: Agencies, suppliers, and citizens. • http://www.xml.gov is key location • http://www.gils.gov collects interoperability materials • eGov is seen to depend on careful application of XML by US GAO. • Similar initiatives in eBusiness for working between companies: suppliers and customers.

WebDAV: Distributed Authoring on Web • Authors cooperating via Web server • Edit and manipulate as easy as navigate and view • Honor Web model • Extend HTTP, the Web’s foundation • Modular Specifications: • WebDAV for basic distributed authoring • DeltaV for comprehensive versioning and configuration management • ACL for fine-grained authorization • DASL for multi-collection search and access • Use XML Metadata Presentation

WebDAV: Enabling Interoperability • WebDAV Disguised as File Systems • WebDAV Uses Web Server Organization • Customization Permitted • Every WebDAV Resource (File) Has Extensible Property Set Every WebDAV Server Is A Web Server • WebDAV Capabilities Discoverable

WebDAV: History and Progress SPECIFICATION DEVELOPMENT • 1996 – First Working Group Meeting IETF Process Adopted • 1999 – RFC 2518 HTTP Extensions for Distributed Authoring – Proposed Standard Status • 2002 – March: RFC 3253 DeltaV Versioning Extensions to WebDAV - Proposed Standard Status • 2002 – RFC 2518 update for promotion to Draft Standard • 2002 – Security and Search continue

WebDAV: History and Progress IMPLEMENTATION AND ADOPTION (March 2002) • Clients 12 commercial, including MS Windows& Apple OSX 4 open-source5 open-source client SDK/libraries • Servers 12 commercial10 open-source4 open-source server SDK/libraries • 11 On-Web Servers • How So Widespread? Interoperability Confirmation Testing

Major WebDAV Clients • Microsoft: Office 2000/XP (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Publisher) • Adobe: Photoshop 6, Illustrator 10, Acrobat 5, In Design 2, Go Live 5 • Macromedia: Dreamweaver 4 • Remote File Access: • Apple: Mac OS X webdavfs • OS X also ships with Apache and mod_dav • Microsoft: Windows Web Folders • Wind River Software: WebDrive • XML editors • Excosoft: Documentor • Altova: XML Spy • SoftQuad: XMetal

Major WebDAV Servers Microsoft: IIS 5/6, Exchange 2000, Sharepoint Apache: mod_dav (over 95,000 sites) Oracle: Internet File System Adobe: InScope Xythos: Web File Server Novell: Netware 5.1, Net Publisher W3C: Jigsaw Endeavors: Magi-DAV IBM: DAV4J (DeveloperWorks) FileNet: Panagon ECM

WebDAV Resources • WebDAV • http://www.webdav.org/ • A central collection of pages and links to all things WebDAV. • WebDAV Working Group • http://www.ics.uci.edu/pub/ietf/webdav/ • Contains links to active documents, and a complete list of WebDAV-supporting applications. • Electronic Records Management Work • http://www.cse.ucsc.edu/~dgordon/ • Select Draft ERM Schema Paper (ERMSchemaPaper.doc) • AIIM 2002WebDAV Tutorial • http://DMware.info/WebDAV/

WebDAV: Benefits for Managed Documents • Fits File-System and Web Models • Provides Nested Collections of Individual Resources (files) – familiar user-controlled structure • Every Collection and Resource can have arbitrary sets of properties • Server implementation is permitted to add new “live” properties with specific meanings and policies for use • Publishing and revision of managed documents over Web

WebDAV: Limitations with Managed Documents • Discovery of Rules and Constraints not part of WebDAV. • Discovery of nature of properties not built into WebDAV. • WebDAV is not transparently available to Desktop applications. • Adding managed-document policies is disruptive. • Does not scale to high-performance managed-document operation • No Transaction Model

Opportunities: Metadata Agreement and Rules GAP • WebDAV allows arbitrary metadata – is basic carrier of properties. • No agreed mechanism for knowing what metadata required and rules to follow to satisfy management requirements. OPPORTUNITY • Supplement WebDAV with Standard Practice for discovery of metadata requirements and rules • Take advantage of DMA Experience • Use AIIM DMware for publishing practice

Opportunities: Metadata Agreement and Rules - II • Repository (WebDAV) Metadata-element definitions can be publicized by their creators. • Definitions can be maintained by creators or by community group. • Web can be used for definition sharing and access. Repository can carry local definitions. • Use XML “namespace” to locate definition from documents using the element. • Use metadata element to specify constraints and requirements by document class. • Make community agreement or standard for metadata-agreement framework. Practice can be decentralized.

Opportunities: Integration into User Practice GAP • Legacy applications not compatible with WebDAV • User must leave application to make WebDAV Access • Policies for creating and using managed document not automatically implemented OPPORTUNITY • Transparent intermediary between desktop and WebDAV invisible to application • Use DMware and ODMA-style cooperation

Opportunities: Integration into User Practice - II • Use Metadata-element definitions to guide correct creation of proper metadata elements by users. • Where possible, introduce file-system extension that allows all file-based applications to work transparently with document-management system. • Automatically interact with user when operation of standard application involves creation or modification of managed document. • File-system extension can be private or public solution. • Extension can apply metadata-agreement framework.

Standards for Stability and Predictability • AIIM Standards Efforts • http://standards.aiim.org/ • Digital imaging standards moving attention to metadata concerns • ARMA Standards Efforts • http://www.arma.org/standards/ • Looking at software and migration issues • NARA • http://www.nara.gov/records/ • Source of DoD 5015.2 and related US information • Addressing Electronic Records Archiving • OASIS: http://www.oasis-open.org/ • Digital Preservation: http://digitalpreservation.org/ • Metadata Registration Repositories: ISO/IEC JTC1 SC32 efforts

Convergence of Document Management, Records Management, and the Web