XMDR: eXtended MetaData Registry
Karlo BerketLawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
The eXtended MetaData Registry (XMDR) project is concerned with the development of improved standards and technology for storing and retrieving the semantics of data elements, terminologies, and concept structures in metadata registries. Extensions to the ISO/IEC 11179 family of metadata registry standards provide support for more diverse types of metadata and enhanced capabilities for semantics specification and queries. A prototype XMDR implementation demonstrates the feasibility and utility of constructing an extended metadata registry, i.e., one which encompasses richer classification support, facilities for including terminologies, and better support for formal specification of semantics. This prototype registry also serves as a reference implementation for the revised versions of ISO 11179, Parts 2 and 3 to help guide production implementations. We will present the design and implementation of the prototype and our experiences in loading existing metadata registries, terminologies, and ontologies into the XMDR system.