Formal foundations for systematic digital library generation

Abstract

Many digital library design, development, and deployment processes are not based on systematic generation activities. The utilization of generation processes enables the precise definition of digital libraries, identification of existing software components, co-generation of multiple digital libraries, and evaluation of a digital library's coverage and completeness. The foundation of a digital library generation process is in the formal framework in which it is described. Two notable formal frameworks have previously been proposed for describing digital libraries and their content, architecture, functionality, and related societies. These two frameworks are merged in this effort to provide the foundation for a generation framework in support of an emerging class of scientific digital libraries.