Just getting a nice talk from Jim Gray on the implementation of the SkyServer database. The main SkyServer site is at http://skyserver.sdss.org/en/. Jim's own website for this project is at http://research.microsoft.com/~gray/SDSS/default.htm.
Interestingly enough, this resource itself is not in the NSDL, although it has an amazing collection of Astronomy educational materials. At least there are several entries in the NSDL that reference the SkyServer, including a Whiteboard report with a title that looks like it will take you to the SkyServer (it's the URL of the site), but actually takes you to a long Whiteboard report.
One of the interesting things about this project is that they are logging all the 15 million SQL queries they've received from the public in a database and making that database available. In fact, almost everything about the project and data is publicly and easily available in a form that can be easily queried (using SQL) by anyone.
This is a model we should definitely consider for the Data Warehouse.
I'm at the Microsoft Faculty Summit in Redmond, WA. We just heard a talk by Bill Gates on Microsoft Research, what they are currently interested in, and where the exciting MSR/CS challenges are over the next several years.
Along with a number of obvious candidates: Trustworthy Computing, Mobility, Terascale Computing, and Web Services, he also listed Social Computing, with IM and collaboration as examples. Some of the discussion was in terms of massively multiplayer games and virtual reality, but it is interesting to think about how close that is to issues faced in the NSDL. Maybe we should be thinking about the future of digital libraries in terms of a massively-multiplayer game or a virtual reality. Perhaps things don't have to happen in real-time, but the same dynamic of creation, collaboration, action, and organization may apply to both.
We may want to look into what is happening in the area of social computing to see if there is information that we can mine from that field.
I'm sitting next to Corky Cartwright at the Microsoft Faculty Summit 2003. We began discussing Java development environments. I mentioned Eclipse, one of my favorite environments. He's running a group at Rice that does a competitor: DrJava.
One of the most interesting aspects of this is that they are using the full range of Extreme Programming techniques for this project - all the way to pair programming. They use JUnit, Ant, and all the rest of the tools and techniques. One of their advantages is that their customer base (students learning Java) is local. Here's a blurb from the SourceForge site:
DrJava is a lightweight development environment for writing Java programs. It is designed primarily for students, providing an intuitive interface and the ability to interactively evaluate Java code. It also includes powerful features for more advanced users. DrJava is available for free under an open source license (GPL), and it is under active development by the JavaPLT group at Rice University.
I'm in Boulder, CO on NSDL business and once again, I'm staying at the Golden Buff Lodge (a Best Western at 1725 28th St.). It's a great place to stay: spacious rooms, not overly fancy; very reasonable prices; the excellent Golden Buff restaurant for breakfast; and, best of all, free high-speed Internet in the rooms. Just plug in the blue cable in the desk drawer, and you are off posting to your blog, googling up an answer to the most recent strange question that popped into your head, and generally getting a full fix. It's not fancy, but it's definitely recommended.
My major project at the moment is the National Science Digital Library - the NSDL. I currently manage the group that develops the Metadata Repository, the main aggregated information store that defines what is in the library. I've also worked on the main library portal, programming the search and browse interfaces.
Right now, we are automating the aggregation of metadata from collections, use the OAI-PMH protocol. When this effort is complete, new collections will be able to register with the library and have their catalog metadata automatically harvested on a regular schedule.
Well, I've just installed MovableType at the KrafftFamily.org website, and created my own Blog. Now I've just got to figure out what I want to say. My world divides into many categories these days, I don't know how many of them are actually of interest to people other than me. I guess I'll find out.