Reuse Library Interoperability Group

Reuse Library Interoperability Group

[Richard Conn]

I'm posting this for the RIG.  Please respond to the address given at
the end of the posting.           
  -- Rick


The Reuse Library Interoperability Group (RIG) is a volunteer,
consensus-based organization composed of members from government,
academia, and industry.  Its purpose is to cooperatively draft
standards for the interoperability of reuse libraries.

Several reuse libraries, both public and private, already exist
today.  The advantage is that a diverse approach will speed
technological innovation, permit specialization within given
subject areas, and provide a variety of interfaces, fee
structures and distribution mechanisms to suit a variety of
users.  The disadvantage, of course, is that libraries would have
to duplicate their holdings.  The solution is to permit libraries
to interoperate so that a user of any library can access, under
appropriate terms, the holdings of any other library.  This kind
of interoperability permits one to view the storing of components
as an activity which is distinct from the value-added cataloguing
or processing of those components.  The result may be an industry
where, freed from the requirement to store huge amounts of data,
an entrepreneur can find a variety of value-added niches, e.g.,
providing evaluations of components stored elsewhere, cataloguing
special purpose collections, providing diskette and hardcopy
distribution, providing consulting and integration services, etc.
The RIG's goal is to draft standards which will facilitate
interoperability.

Currently (July 1993), the RIG has thirty-five organizational
members.  Although the RIG does not categorize its members, for
purposes of description, they could be viewed as falling in the
following groups: reuse libraries (8), government agencies (5)
and private corporations and consortia (22).

Of course, the technical work of the RIG is ultimately performed
by individuals.  Nearly 100 individuals participate in the RIG's
Technical Committees either in person or by correspondence.  Most
of the individuals are employees of member organizations; some
(notably academia) participate on their own.  The RIG meets six
times per year and conducts business via email between meetings.

There are five technical committees working on various aspects of
library interoperability:

TC1 is establishing a common basis for describing and
characterizing reuse library interoperability.  The RIG's first
Technical Report is a glossary of terms created by TC1 to form a
lexicon for describing interoperability.  The glossary especially
seeks to differentiate the reuse library itself from the
mechanism used to manage the contents of the library, a
distinction which has sometimes been blurred.  TC1 continues work
on a set of matrices which will characterize the commonalities
and differences among some existing libraries and tools.

TC2 is developing data models for describing information which
reuse libraries should be prepared to interchange.  The RIG's
first proposed standard, the Basic Interoperability Data Model,
is a model for the minimum data which a library should be
prepared to exchange.  So far, IBM Programming Systems and
Westinghouse have announced plans to support the BIDM.  The ASSET
library is using the BIDM for its planned National Software Reuse
Directory, sort of a reuse "yellow pages".  The interoperability
planned by CARDS, ASSET and DSRS will be based upon the BIDM.

TC3 is developing meta-models for library interoperability.  The
concept is that various libraries who do not share a common data
model would describe their data models in terms of a common meta-
model.  This level of description would facilitate the exchange
of information among heterogeneous libraries.

TC4 will develop metrics for interoperability.  They are
currently developing a document describing an approach to
measuring interoperability.  The document provides several worked
examples.

The newest technical committee, TC5, is describing protocols for
electronically interchanging the data contained in the TC2 data
models.  Currently, they are focusing on the X.500 standard for
this purpose.

The individual technical committees are grouped into a Combined
Technical Committee which has procedures for enlarging the
consensus reached by the individual TCs.  This ensures that every
member of any RIG technical committee has the opportunity to
affect the product of any of the other committees.

The RIG also has an Executive Board which provides administration
and management for the organization.  The thirty-five
organizational members mentioned previously are actually members
of the Executive Board.

Membership in the RIG is free and is open to any organization or
individual who supports the goals and the charter of the RIG.  To
obtain information about membership, one should contact the RIG
Secretariat:

     Applied Expertise, Inc.
     1925 N. Lynn Street, Suite 802
     Arlington, VA 22209
     Phone:    (703) 516-0911
     Fax:      (703) 516-0918
     Internet: ddikel@ajpo.sei.cmu.edu

Electronic copies of RIG documents may be obtained from ASSET or
from AdaNet.  Hard copies may be obtained from AdaNet by
submitting an electronic request or by calling (304) 594-9075.

-- 
Richard Conn, ASR and PAL Manager  |  conn@wuarchive.wustl.edu
Opinions expressed herein are my own and not necessarily those of anyone else.