Work Package 4
D4.1
Workflows and research objects in Earth Science — Concepts and Definitions
Outline of the definitions and main concepts of workflows and research objects (ROs) for the Earth Sciences.
This deliverable introduces the Research Object (RO) concept into the Earth Science Virtual Research Communities (VRCs) participating in the EVER-EST project. An overview of the main concepts, technologies and models related to research objects is provided along with their contextualization and extension in line with the set of initial requirements elicited from the VRCs about the representation of such objects, their lifecycle management, and exploitation through the EVER-EST VRE. This work has been conducted in close collaboration with WP3 and WP5, and establishes a link between the requirements of the user communities and the technological solutions provided by the VRE infrastructure around the concept of research objects. The outcomes of this analysis provide the basis for the implementation of the subsequent tasks of WP4 and are expected to evolve throughout the project, taking into account the continuous software development and integration model that is applied.
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Workflows and Research Objects models in Earth Science
Analysis of the core concepts of research objects (ROs) taking into account the initial requirements provided by the virtual research communities (VRCs) participating in the EVER –EST project
Conducting an in-depth analysis of research object (RO) methods, tools and models has provided a better understanding of the adaptations, customizations and extensions necessary for implementation in a new domain. This document focuses on workflow and research object models, and introduces the extensions and customizations necessary for implementation of ROs in the Earth Sciences. It also provides an overview of the methodology including the further analyses and work carried out jointly with the EVER-EST user communities in WP3 and with technical partners in WP5 and WP6.
This activity has leveraged available resources and knowledge in the Earth Science community, maximizing the reuse of current terminology and metadata and ensuring the compliance of newly introduced terms with existing standards and potential future extensions. This approach aims to facilitate adoption of ROs by reducing the learning curve for potential users.
This work is also pushing the boundaries of the available generic models for representation of research objects, and making a significant contribution to extending their specification. Furthermore, a new branch of ROs has been created specifically for the Earth Sciences that provides specialized modelling support for research objects in this domain.
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Design, Implementation and Deployment of Research Objects Components for Earth Science Phase 1
Overview of the first release of the EVER-EST tools and services supporting the implementation and use of research objects (ROs) in the Earth Science domain.
The foundations of the research object (RO) concept, including the common ontology and data model, ensures data interoperability and reusability and enables knowledge sharing and reuse. This potential for enhanced sharing and re-use of their scientific results is a key motivator for the EVER-EST virtual research communities (VRCs) to integrate the research object model into their scientific processes.
To facilitate this knowledge sharing and re-use, the RO model needs to be an integral part of the ecosystem of tools provided for searching and exploring the research objects, assessing their quality, and ensuring authors receive credit for their reuse.
This deliverable describes the first release of the suite of tools developed to complement the research object model. Components include retrieval mechanisms to support searching and exploration of research objects, checklists to assess the quality of research objects in Earth Science, persistent digital object identifiers (DOIs) to uniquely identify research objects, and tools for tracking research objects citations in scholarly communications.
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Design, implementation and deployment of Research Objects components for Earth Science Phase 2
Description of the software components developed to support the findability, traceability, and quality monitoring of research objects in the Earth Science domain.
The research object model supports knowledge sharing and reuse largely through use of a common vocabulary described using a web standard data model specifically designed for data interchange, and a rich knowledge representation language. This model also supports the definition of data access levels and copyright information.
Deliverable D4.4 describes the software components developed to support implementation of the research object model. This suite of tools is designed to enhance research object sharing, reuse and preservation by improving their findability, traceability and quality assessment. Research object findability is improved by the semantic enricher process that generates metadata describing its content. This metadata is used in two complementary retrieval mechanisms: a semantic search engine to find research objects, and a recommender system that helps to explore the research object collection including the social dimensions of the research activity. Traceability is implemented using Digital Objects Identifiers that are integrated into the research object lifecycle, with the additional benefit that authors can receive proper credit for their work. Finally, the quality of research objects is assessed by regularly running customised checklists developed in consultation with the VRCs. Use of the tools available to monitor any variations in these assessments through time allows the necessary intervention to be made where decay of research objects is detected.
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