Les said:
> That's right - it's these differences that are crucial. The
> particular solution is a kind of database that is persistent,
> manageable, provides extensible metadata, offers public views...
>
> There's one overwhlemingly common system that we haven't
> covered that we ought to describe - a workstation's file
> system. It does storage and retrieval and update and metadata
> (extended attributes) and indexing (desktop search), and it
> definitely figures somewhere in ourr cacluations because it's
> what everyone uses for their day to day activities in universities.
And on a similar note, it seems to me storage systems like Amazon S3 lie
somewhere on this continuum too: S3 offers no native human-friendly user
interface, its metadata model is fairly constrained, and you get none of
the manipulation tools (format conversion, thumbnail generation etc)
that are often bundled with a DAMS, and none of the social tools you get
with Flickr, Slideshare, Scribd et al.
But it supports those basic functions. And in terms of reliability and
persistence, I know where I'd put my money.
Pete
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Pete Johnston
Technical Researcher, Eduserv Foundation
Web: http://www.eduserv.org.uk/foundation/people/petejohnston/
Weblog: http://efoundations.typepad.com/efoundations/
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Tel: +44 (0)1225 474323
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