Developing the collection graph

Date16 November 2015
Pages610-623
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/LHT-07-2015-0070
Published date16 November 2015
AuthorTobias Blanke,Michael Bryant,Reto Speck
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library technology
Developing the collection graph
Tobias Blanke, Michael Bryant and Reto Speck
Kings College London, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose In 2010 the European Holocaust Research Infrastructure (EHRI) was funded to support
research into the Holocaust. The project follows on from significant efforts in the past to develop and
record the collections of the Holocaust in several national initiatives. The purpose of this paper is to
introduce the efforts by EHRI to create a flexible research environment using graph databases.
The authors concentrate on the added features and design decisions to enable efficient processing of
collection information as a graph.
Design/methodology/approach The paper concentrates on the specific customisations EHRI had to
develop, as the graph database approach is new, and the authors could not rely on existing solutions.
The authors describe the serialisations of collections in the graph to provide for efficient processing.
Because the EHRI infrastructure is highly distributed, the authors also had to invest a lot of effort into
reliable distributed access control mechanisms. Finally, the authors analyse the user-facing work on a
portal and a virtual research environment (VRE) in order to discover, share and analyse Holocaust material.
Findings Using the novel graph database approach, the authors first present how we can model
collection information as graphs and why this is effective. Second, we show how we make collection
information persistent and describe the complex access management system we have developed.
Third, we outline how we integrate user interaction with the data through a VRE.
Originality/value Scholars require specialised access to information. The authors present the
results of the work to develop integrated research with collections on the Holocaust researchers and the
proposals for a socio-technical ecosystem based on graph database technologies. The use of graph
databases is new and the authors needed to work on several innovative customisations to make them
work in the domain.
Keywords Databases, Research, Archives, Infrastructure, Collecting, Software
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The European Commission continues to invest significant amounts of money into
research infrastructures that bring together researchers across Europe and integrate
their efforts (European Commission, 2015). While in the past, research infrastructures
have been the sole domain of the sciences and have led to major scientific facilities such
as large telescopes, infrastructures nowadays are also organised for the humanities and
social sciences (Duşaet al., 2014). Their infrastructures are distinct from the large-scale
scientific facilities as they are often distributed in nature and are mainly based upon an
exploitation of the opportunities afforded by the digital transformation of research in
the social sciences and humanities. For example, in 2010 the European Holocaust
Research Infrastructure (EHRI), (see www.ehri-project.eu) was funded to support
research into the Holocaust (Blanke and Kristel, 2013; Speck et al., 2014). The project
supplements significant national initiatives to develop and integrate the archival
collections that document the event. Yad Vashem in Israel and the United States
Holocaust Memorial Museum, for instance, have collected and copied many records on
the Holocaust over the last decades. Both have also developed significant services to
allow for remote access to these resources. Through EHRI, Europe has launched its
own effort to integrate and provide access to Holocaust resources.
The Commissions definition of infrastructures as facilities, resources or services
that support integrated research has proven to serve the sciences as well as the
Library Hi Tech
Vol. 33 No. 4, 2015
pp. 610-623
©Emerald Group Publishing Limited
0737-8831
DOI 10.1108/LHT-07-2015-0070
Received 8 July 2015
Revised 11 September 2015
Accepted 16 September 2015
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/0737-8831.htm
610
LHT
33,4

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